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A Curiosity in Cans: Cash’s Bar in Michigan’s Thumb
In the quiet village of Ubly, Michigan, during the 1940s, one local bar stood out not for its drinks — but for its décor. Known as Cash’s Bar, this tavern transformed into a promotional art piece, entirely decorated with branded beer cans. From floor to ceiling, the bar became a living billboard for the emerging canned beer industry.
Thanks to two surviving photo postcards, we get a rare glimpse inside this can-covered marvel and give us a rare glimpse into a one-of-a-kind tavern that doubled as a marketing shrine to the emerging canned beer industry.
Everything inside Cash’s Bar—from the stools and tables to the walls and ceiling—was adorned with beer cans. But these weren’t just tossed together. The cans were arranged in geometric patterns, stacked into miniature buildings, and even spelled out advertising slogans like “Buy Better Beer in Keglined Cans”. It was part art installation, part promotional campaign.
The Rise of Canned Beer – and the Keglined Revolution
Canned beer was still a novelty in the 1930s and ’40s. Innovations by the American Can Company, such as the “keglined” interior coating, made canned beer taste better and last longer — a huge selling point for breweries. These cans revolutionized beer packaging during the Prohibition recovery years and WWII, and Cash’s Bar served as a high-profile endorsement of the technology—right in rural Huron County.
Cash’s Bar embraced this innovation wholeheartedly. The décor featured meticulously arranged cans in geometric patterns, towers, even mini-buildings spelling out slogans like:
“Buy Better Beer in Keglined Cans”
It wasn’t just decoration — it was strategic marketing.
Video – Ubly, Michigan History: Life in a Huron County Farm Town, 1900–1920
Beer Can Art Meets Marketing Genius
Inside one of the vintage images, two men — likely bartenders or owners — stand surrounded by walls of branded cans and towering displays. The bar’s back wall prominently showcases Breweries Ale drums and placards promoting benefits like:
- No breakage
- No deposit
- No return
Cash’s Bar may have been an early example of brand activation — perhaps in partnership with a local distributor or even a national beer brand.
What inspired this decor is unknown, but it’s likely that Cash’s Bar partnered with a distributor or manufacturer to build a local showcase for the new packaging trend. This would have aligned with national marketing campaigns at the time aimed at convincing consumers to accept beer in cans instead of glass.
Today, other than these postcards and a matchbook cover for sale on Etsy, no trace of Cash’s Bar appears to remain in Ubly. No modern listings or references exist to suggest the business survived beyond the mid-century. Still, these two striking images offer a glimpse into a moment when rural Michigan was at the cutting edge of beverage marketing—and when a small-town bar could become a visual landmark in the fight for the future of beer.
Ubly in the 1940s: A Local Hub with Big Ideas
Ubly, nestled in Huron County in Michigan’s Thumb region, was primarily an agricultural town. At the time, local bars served as community centers, and Cash’s Bar likely attracted attention beyond county lines.
Its transformation into a visual showcase mirrored national campaigns encouraging Americans to embrace beer in cans over bottles — a significant shift in post-Prohibition and WWII America.
Comparative Curiosities: Other Decor-Driven Bars
Bars with striking, theme-based interiors weren’t unheard of in the 1940s and ’50s. Across the U.S., brands supported unusual bar concepts to win loyalty. Examples include:
- Schlitz’s “Tavern of Tomorrow” (Midwest, 1950s)
- Bars with cork walls, bottle cap murals, and even beer can chandeliers
Cash’s Bar Ubly, however, may be the only known tavern fully clad in branded cans in Michigan — making it a unique footnote in American bar history.
Why It Matters Today
Cash’s Bar Ubly is more than a novelty — it’s a forgotten chapter in:
- Michigan’s hospitality history
- Beer marketing evolution
- Rural design innovation
It also speaks to how even small towns contributed to national shifts in packaging, branding, and consumer habits.
Additional Information:
We’re still researching more details about the ownership and fate of Cash’s Bar. If you have stories or memories to share, drop them in the comments.
Ubly, Michigan, is located in Huron County and has long served as a hub for agriculture and small businesses in the Thumb region.
These postcards were likely created as promotional materials, possibly commissioned by the American Can Company or a beer brand distributing in Michigan.
