Featured in this lot is this vintage 1953 Premium Grain Belt cone top beer can from the Minneapolis Brewing Company in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Grain Belt can trace its ancestry to the incorporation of the Minneapolis Brewing and Malting Company in 1890. Four breweries in the Twin Cities were combined to create the company. They constructed a sizable new brewery for themselves in Northeast Minneapolis in 1891 and outfitted it with the most cutting-edge machinery at the time. Their name was shortened to Minneapolis Brewing Company by 1893. Golden Grain Belt Old Lager was introduced the same year and soon rose to popularity. The brewery attempted to survive Prohibition by making near beer, but it was ultimately forced to close its doors in 1929. 1933 saw the end of Prohibition, and Grain Belt resumed production. This is when they coined the slogan “the friendly beer with the friendly flavor.”. The brewery increased its subsequent decades' success and become even more well-known than before. Early in the 1950s, sales started to lag, so the brewery released a new recipe they called Grain Belt Premium. Grain Belt Premium had already established itself as the company's flagship after only a few years, and in 1967 the business changed its name formally to Grain Belt Breweries. Sadly, the business once more experienced low sales, and the Grain Belt brewery permanently shut its doors in 1975. After the Minnesota Brewing Company purchased the rights to Grain Belt's labels in 1991, the company was able to survive this experience of almost certain death. Although having some success, sales started to decline again, and Minnesota Brewery closed its doors in 2001. However, Grain Belt’s story wasn’t over yet. In 2002 the August Schell Brewing Company of New Ulm began brewing Grain Belt. The beer experienced a resurgence, and today has become a permanent fixture. The can shows a red and gold color scheme with the famous bottle cap logo and "Grain Belt" in white lettering on top of the logo. Below the logo it reads, "The Friendly Beer" in black lettering. Below the slogan it reads in small black lettering, "Minneapolis Brewing Co. Minneapolis, Minn". The can shows good condition for its vintage age with a small dents and no creases. The can has no cap. It measures 2 5/8" in diameter and 5 1/2" in height.