Can Label, Mansfield's Evaporated Milk, Original, NOS Lithograph, Antique, 1910's, RARE

Before the grocery store. Before the supermarket. Before the can aisle existed at all — someone printed these by hand, one color at a time.

This is an original evaporated milk can label — a circa 1912 stone lithograph for Mansfield's Brand, United Milk Products Corporation. It has never been used. Never wrapped a can. It is New Old Stock in excellent mint condition — found in the same box under the stairs of an old cannery being demolished that yielded the Bess Brand label. Both labels survived together. Both are here.

The label is beautiful in a way that belongs entirely to its era. A cow's head — Jersey or Guernsey, rendered with quiet authority — is framed above and below by a decorative border of red squares and lines within a deep blue surround. The red, white, and blue palette is not accidental: this is American dairy industry design at the moment it found its visual language, and that language is unmistakably patriotic. The label carries a copyright of 1912. Stone lithography of this period required months of hand-work per plate. Very few examples of this age survive in any condition, and in this condition — mint, unhandled, over a century old — they are genuinely rare. Three available.

Frame it as early Americana, as dairy history, as patriotic decor with genuine antique age behind it. At 9.75 by 4.0 inches it suits a narrow frame and works in any room that honors American history. A natural companion to the Bess Brand label from the same United Milk Products cannery stock.

A wonderful gift for an Americana collector, a dairy history enthusiast, a patriotic decor collector, or anyone who understands that 1912 is a very long time ago and labels this old in this condition are not found twice.

A note on can label collecting: Original lithographic can labels from this era are far scarcer than crate labels — produced in smaller quantities, more fragile, and less often preserved. NOS examples like this one represent the finest of what survives from American food industry history.

• Brand: Mansfield's Brand / United Milk Products Corporation
• Type: Evaporated milk can label — stone lithograph
• Copyright: 1912
• Made in: USA
• Dated: circa 1912
• Dimensions: 9.75" wide | 4.0" tall
• Condition: New Old Stock (NOS) — unused, excellent mint condition. Age-appropriate yellowing consistent with period. Please review all photos carefully — we cannot accept returns.
• Framing: Ideal for a narrow frame — ready to display