Beer Label, Cook's 500 Ale, F.W. Cook Brewing Co., Race Car, NOS, Original, Vintage 1950s

This gilded 1950s label for Cook's 500 Ale sold more than beer — it sold speed.

This is a label only. No frame is included. It is suitable for framing and we recommend doing so to preserve its condition.

• Maker: F.W. Cook Brewing Co.
• Materials: Paper, Gilded Print
• Dimensions: 4.5 inches Wide
• Origin: Evansville, Indiana, USA
• Era: Circa 1950s
• Condition: New Old Stock (NOS). Unused, excellent mint condition. Please review photos closely before purchasing, as all sales are final.
• Quantity: Six available

This is an original New Old Stock label for Cook's 500 Ale, featuring a race car crossing the finish line under a checkered flag. Never used, never attached to a bottle, found at the F.W. Cook Company itself. The image is pure mid-century American confidence: a race car at full speed, the checkered flag dropping, gold ink catching the light. Cook's leaned into the Indianapolis 500 — Evansville is just 170 miles south of the Speedway, and this label knew exactly what it was doing. The gilding is intact and visible in the photographs.

The F.W. Cook Brewing Company has a story worth knowing. Founded in 1853 by Frederick Washington Cook and Jacob Rice as the City Brewery, it grew over the following decades into a full city block operation on 7th Street — ice house, malt house, stable, offices. After Rice's death in 1885 it was renamed F.W. Cook Brewing Co. It survived two major fires (1891 and 1905), survived Prohibition, completed an extensive renovation in 1950 — and then quietly closed by 1957. This label comes from those final years. The Cook's name was revived in 2018 by Copper Mountain Beverage, but these labels are the original article.

Frame it for a bar, a rec room, a racing display, or alongside other vintage breweriana. A wonderful gift for a breweriana collector, a racing enthusiast, a lover of mid-century Americana, or anyone whose bar wall deserves something with a real story behind it.

Browse our other vintage beer labels and breweriana to round out your collection.