Pabst Blue Ribbon

This is South Chicago Heights resident Bill Bramanti. He had a his coffin specially made to look like a can of his favorite beer, PBR. He's 67 and in good health, so in the mean time, he uses it as a cooler.

I recently heard a radio interview with Bill and he sounds just like one of the guys on Saturday Night Live in the Bears Fans skits and his good health is not so good - he has had several heart attacks.

Pabst was originally called "Select," but people started asking for that "Blue Ribbon" winning beer. In 1882, after winning several first place awards for taste, actual silk blue ribbons were hand tied to the bottles - the words "Blue Ribbon" were officially added to the bottles in 1895.

Pabst was the first brewery to put beer in cans in 1935. This was Blue Ribbon beer but it was called "Export" when sold in the can. The first cans had a picture of a can opener on the side with instructions on how to open the can of beer with the can opener.

Today, this classic American brew has been adopted by a whole new generation of PBR drinkers. Currently, PBR is one of the fastest growing domestic beer brands.

If you are ever in Milwaukee you should visit the Pabst Mansion. It was the home of Captain Frederick Pabst and his family. It is beautiful and is worth the visit.

There are so many interesting architectural, artistic and historical things around the mansion, including these old bottles from when the brewery made and sold Pabst Extract and Pabstonic, the latter is enriched with vitamins, too.

The gift shop has quite an assortment of Pabst souveniers - including these nice hats my cousin Vincent and I are wearing.