What is a shell of beer?

Answer 1

From Cornelia Corey over at realbeer.com:

Question: What is a "shell of beer" and where did this expression come from?

Cornelia: That's one I've never heard before. My research indicates it is a local expression for a small serving of beer instead of a large. A server's question might be would you like a "shell or a pint." It is apparently used in Michigan in the St. Clair County area. I was not as successful finding where the term originated.

Being from that area I can verify this to be true. A "shell" was a small (10-12oz) Pilsner style glass. You could also order it as a "short" beer.

Working in Detroit in the late-Seventies, we often used this term at local restaurants and bars. You're correct that it was a "short" beer. It was my understanding that the term came from the maker of the glasses, which cast a sea shell logo into the bottom of each glass.