San Francisco Brewery History

Breweries and Bottles

2010-05-19T09:03:00.001-07:00

The following article was give to me by Warren Friedrich at
2nd annual bottle camp event last weekend. It is taken from the San Francisco Call edition of July 20, 1890. It serves as further proof of the confirmation that many of the beer bottles of that era were being manufactured in Germany, but if tariffs increased would provide local manufacture with a competitive edge. Warren further indicates the proposition must have been unsuccessful, as no future articles have been found that would indicate this venture moved forward.

Buffalo Brewery Bottle In Aqua Brings $432.

2010-05-18T19:20:00.000-07:00

This bottle recently sold on e-bay for $432. and was found in Pennsylvania, which is a long way from home. It also has what appears to be an applied top very similar to a Boca Beer. Normally Ambers Buffalo Brewing Bottles sell for $10-$20 but I have never seen this variant in aqua and apparently neither did the purchaser, who paid a premium but ended up with a unique bottle. I have not posted in quite a while, but Warren Friedrich gave me some new information on the German Beer Bottles at Lou & Leisa Lamberts Bottle Camp which was a great event and I will post it tomorrow.

Charlotte & Don Smith Buffalo Brewery Auction

2010-05-18T18:47:00.000-07:00

This is the Buffalo Calendar Gypsy Girl which closed at $10,020. with buyers premium and I am happy with my purchase.

This Indian Die Cut brought $13,200 with buyers premium and was a unique piece.

The Buffalo Stained Glass Window was a real art piece and brought $16,800 with buyers premium. I was the underbidder, but I just couldn't pull the trigger with my other purchase, and will probably regret it down the road, but hey there is only so much wall space in the house.

Buffalo Calendar from 1901 brought $18,000 with buyers premium. Congratulations to a certain unnamed tooth extractor on a great purchase.

The Buffalo Reverse Glass sign from early 1900's brought $22,500 with buyers premium and was the highest price realized from the auction.

You rarely get the opportunity to purchase quality brewery items for your collection. But when the prices are on the higher side its difficult to pull the trigger. A unique collection built over a lifetime of Buffalo Brewery memorabilia was recently auctioned by Witherells Auction in Sacramento, CA - also the home of the Buffalo Brewing Company. Prices were very strong, and althought I bid on a number of items, I was only successful on the Gypsy Girl 1902 Calendar, which will go on the wall next to my others. Lets take a quick look at some of the high dollar items. I know all of the items are shown in the Witherells Book "The Best of the West".

Good western brewery advertising has really seemed to hold its value, and has the added benefit of looking like art hanging in your home. I always have company stop and ask about each piece, its history, value, and place of origin, and its a real conversation starter. All of the items totaled in excess of $150,000 not including buyers premium of the 70 some items.

Pacific Brewery

2010-01-19T09:56:00.000-08:00

Since John's post showing Buffalo Brewing Co's beer service at the 1894 Mid-Winter Fair in San Francisco touched on Sacramento's best known brewery, I thought that it would be a good time to discuss another lesser known brewery from our capital city.

The Pacific Brewery was first opened at the northwest corner 9th and P Sts in 1858 by J.B.Kohler, G. Ochs, and P. Lorenz. Kohler died in 1859 and Lorenz in 1862. Ochs operated the brewery by himself until it was purchased by L. Knauer and Son in 1869. The father died in 1881, leaving his son, Fred, to operate the business. F.C. Knauer was an astute businessman and expanded the brewery, improved the machinery and hired more workmen. He did an extensive business around the Sacramento area, providing barrel goods to his customers. The brewery ran successfully until 1898, at which time it closed it's doors for good. Why it closed we'll never really know, but it was probably due to the efforts of competitors and the fact that they produced no bottled beer. By that time, beer in bottles was popular and Buffalo was at the forefront of this consumer demand. Many other local bottlers were agents for other breweries throughout the West and across the US.

Pacific Brewery advertising and ephemera remains non-existent, with only a single advertising sign and a handful of glasses surviving. This circa 1890s piece is unique and thankfully graces our wall. It retains both tin bands but has no date, other than a pencil name at the bottom, 502 O'Farrell, '89. The subject of three lovely young women recalls the sirens of Greek mythology who attempted to lure Odysseus onto the rocks with their melodious song.

Mid Winter Fair Served Buffalo Brewery Lager Beer

2010-01-17T17:07:00.000-08:00

This photo is of the San Francisco Fire Patrol with their wagons at the Mid Winter Fair, Held in 1894 in San Francisco. The sign on the building to the left in the photo clearly displays the well known Sacramento Brewery and proves this was a national event and Buffalo Brew would have been served from the barrels to the glass, for immediate consumption by the patron. Just a nice image that I fetl was worth sharing.

Reno Brewing Company Sign

2009-12-29T18:47:00.000-08:00

This sign was found by Ted and Richard Siri in Nevada some years ago. They tell me everytime they went to Nevada they stopped by a store to purchase drinks and food, and on the ice-box was this sign nailed to it. They tried for sometime to be able to purchase the sign, but no luck then one day, they offered the women who owned the establishment an offer she could not turn down, someone had made her an offer and richard said he would double it and he did - he owed her something like $180.00. The sign is a great remainder of Western Brewing History, and I am proud to hang it in my collection. The Brewery was established in 1903 and ceased operations in prohibition. I would date the sign as somewhere in the 1903-1910 range. It is the only existing sign I have seen in this style and I love the Sierra Beer gold lettering.

Philadelphia Labeled Bottle

2009-10-02T13:05:00.000-07:00

This is an interesting bottle in that it just emphasizes that the brewers and bottlers utilized whatever was at hand to put their product into. This is the Deucher and Kalban who bottled Philadelphia Lager while at 245 Second Street, San Francisco, CA in the mid 1880's. This specimen was found in the foothills of the gold county years ago, but I though it might ve of interest to those who have not previously seen it. An early survivor in fairly good condition.

Split Size Seal Rock Bottling Brings $325.

2009-09-28T19:24:00.000-07:00

Now even the most advanced collector will have to admit this was a very nice color on this split. I think this is a strong price on a nice piece, and the single factor that drove the price was the yellow color. I doubt this would have brought $75. in regular amber. Nice top shelf piece....not sure what the hell this really means ....as the higher the shelf the smaller the pieces when it hits the floor, but i see the term used on flea bay all the time. I guess I need to increase my allowance if I am going to compete in the future, must be in a heavy funk, as I did not even bid on this one either. Its nice to be back on line feeding the blog though.

Sample Size Fredericksburg Beer Brings $$$$$

2009-09-28T19:18:00.001-07:00

An e-bay offering on Sunday night closed with a bid of $1325.00 on a miniture sample size Fredericksburg Beer with full label bottled by Oakland Bottling Works with embossed Oakland Bottling Works amber bottle. Nosebleed territory, I did not bid on this one, but it shows interest is still strong, for minitures and sample sized bottles. With full label this made it a drooler, but knwoing what the last one went for, even I was shocked at the going price....whoever bought it congratulations. Maybe the attraction is in a recession collectibles seem to offer enjoyment as well as a hedge.

Pomona National Show Report 2009

2009-08-04T18:01:00.000-07:00

The show is over and here is the total for my spending....best find $25.00 for a whiskey barrel tag from John Morrison of Clubhouse Whiskey Fame. You can see photos of it posted on the glob top whiskey blog by Roger Terry. It was dug in Nevada of all places many years ago. $65.00 for a copy of the trademark from Roger for this whiskey, which had really nice graphics. $45.00 for early admission and $400. for a Will and Finck Shaving Mug from San Francisco from Bobby McDearmon. He paid $350. for it in 1998, as I found the receipt for it, so $50. more over the ten year period seemed fair. Total expenditure at the show itself $535. but the memories are priceless. Actually thats the least I have spent at any show in recent memory, and the feeling of going home with your pockets full ain't too bad either....... Dave Guthrie purchased a nice Postel from Ken Morrill and I sold Dave a split applied top John Fauser, US Bottling Co., S.F. Cal. Ken also had a Beer Steam bottling Goepert in Amber Quart one of the early 1880's beers. Ken purchased a pint Lemps Bottling San Francisco from Mike Henness, so everyone seemed to pickup at least one item to bring home. The show was a smaller show for a National Show, and I will personally look forward to Reno next year, as I always seem to come home a winner from that one. While I fully support the FOHBC, I think the hobby has a lot of grey hair, and we really need to mentor younger collectors to perpetuate the hobby, otherwise we all stand to lose what is a terrific way to appreciate history and build a collection. I finally got to meet Warren Friedrich, who spoke on Western Bitters and his forthcoming book on Western Glass Manufacturers, which appears to be a very well researched volume of work. My hats off to you Warren, as I can appreciate the amount of work and research that goes into something like this. The worst part of the show was the sound of an entire table of glass crashing to the floor which made all attendees go silent...the legs of the tables had not been secured and the announcement came immediately for all dealers to check their legs to insure they were locked and could not collapse. Several others found their legs also unsecurred. Whose responsibility will this be? The show or the seller, position unclear at this juncture.........time will tell. The showed also lacked a significant number of regulars, many of whom are solid diggers, buyers and others who add to the inventory, Lou& Leisa Lambert, Ken Salazar, Mike Dolcini, Marty Hall, Tom Quinn, Judy Miyasaki, Louie Pellegini, Mike Mcintosh, Steve Abbott, The Bell Brothers, Tom Jacobs, etc.... all on vacation or digging I guess.

Metzler Motivation for Everyone

2009-07-25T14:39:00.001-07:00

Hermann Metzler is listed in the San Francisco Directory as a Bottler of Beer in the year 1887 only. His place of business is listed as 2110 Taylor Street, San Francisco, CA. This is a little pre-pomona national bottle show motivation for all of us to realize that the white whale is still out there. The amber is from my collection as well as the lime green coloration. The top left green photo is a more true respresentation of the actual color, the the lower right photo shows the embossing better. This piece was dug by Vince Sierras in Oakland, CA and he said it got his blood pumping so much he dug the backyard of the home throughly to see if he could find any othe pieces, but it was not to be. There was a Charles Metlzer listed as propreitor of the Golden Gate Brewery as early as 1862 at 713 Greenwich through 1881 at 717 Greenwich, which probably changed as a result of error or street renumbering. A great bottle with lots of character and appeal, to early beer collectors this says it all with the Eagle sitting on top of the Beer Barrel. I dug a small pit of these all broken in the early 1980's in Cow Hollow on Steiner off of Union Street, and never saved a piece, even though some were fairly whole. There are probably less than ten wholes specimens known of this bottle, I can count four that I know of which includes mine. Let me know if you have one so we can get an accurate representation of how many whole ones exist. Sorry, I have not been posting regularly, but work has been very busy lately, and alas this is a hobby.

Applied Lip Label-only Fredricksburg Bottle

2009-07-19T08:30:00.000-07:00

Here is an applied-lip quart Freddie with a San Jose label. Some foil remains as well as part of the small label around the neck. I picked this up years ago at a monthly antique show in Sunnyvale, California.

Mini Freddie Sells for $985. on E-Bay

2009-07-13T18:56:00.001-07:00

Four views of this nice sample fredericksburg beer which sold on E-Bay on July 12, 2009 for $985.00. The label is what made the difference on this piece which normally sells between $100-150. Probably bottled by Lange Bros. in San Francisco, it had written in pencil 1889 and the phone number of 4366. Someone went home with a pround new addition to the collection.

Mondial Liberty another photo

2009-06-23T21:20:00.001-07:00

Here is a better photo.

Mondial Liberty Beer

2009-06-23T21:10:00.000-07:00

Was able to land this phenominal piece from San Francisco. I have been told (thanks JOHN) that the bottlers of this beer were located on Lombard St. between 1914 and 1919. This sign obviously from an Italian family who migrated to the city in the 1870's. You can see how World War I is prominent in the artwork of this sign. I collect SF beer advertising but mostly 1930's and 1940's stuff. This sign came to me and I couldn't pass it up. Please email your posts If you have anything to add...This sign was found at an estate sale of a former doctor in San Diego a couple of months ago.

Wilmot Brewing Co.

2009-06-11T16:33:00.001-07:00

Awhile ago I mentioned having a copy of the Wilmot Brewing Co. label, which I finally found in my files. Charles Willmott (yes, I believe that is the way he usually spelled his name) was born in England about 1823. By 1860 he was in San Francisco and proprietor of the Burton Ale Brewery in North Beach. As noted earlier he was instrumental in the formation of the Swan Brewery but left in 1876 and formed the Wilmot Brewery. I am not sure how long the Wilmot Brewery lasted but by at least 1892 Willmott was involved with the San Francisco Stock Brewery. He died June 12, 1911, in San Francisco at age 83.

Willmott married Mary Jones who was English born as well. They married either late 1860 or early 1861, likely in San Francisco, for their first born appeared in 1861. The couple eventually had 12 children, nine of whom were still alive in 1900. Mary Willmott died in San Francisco December 28, 1911.

Swan Brewery Trademarks for all Products

2009-06-08T15:03:00.000-07:00

After Eric mentioned the Trademarks, I went to digging through my files and found my copy of the original trademarks for Swan Brewery for February 7, 1879. It lists not only the XXX Ale, but Pale Ale and Brownstout.....Heavy English style ales, that I doubt I personally would have enjoyed. Mr. George Hudson is listed as the President of the Company when the trademark was filed.

More Archival losses

2009-06-08T14:44:00.000-07:00

I was cruising through the trade mark claims and decided to have a few pulled to see what sort of labels were remaining. It was disgusting to find that most of the early labels had been pilfered. I have seen these labels in other visits and was contemplating having a few copied. Jacob Denzler's claim of 11 May 1881 is one that stands out. His trademark was for the bottle with the three beer guzzling bears and the beer it contained, Philadelphia Export Lager Beer. The label envelope contained only traces of dust. The whiskey trademarks are worse, with bitters a close second. Complete files were stolen in the 1970s, and especially hard hit was A.P. Hotaling. The only complete file of his is the 1881 trademark for the A No 1, OK and Pure Old Rye bottles with the barrels on them.

Swan Brewery Ad from Theatre Program 1877

2009-06-08T11:27:00.000-07:00

This advertisement is from the Figaro Theatre Program from 1877 in San Francisco. Swan Ale, everybody drinks it and everybody likes it. I think there are currently around 40-50 swan beers in collections. It is by no means a rare bottle, but it does have a desirability factor that collectors appreciate. We should do a inventory count. I have three total, two in shades of green, and one in amber with the taller lip. Anyone else care to add in? Most seem to be dug in San Francisco, anyone dig any specimens from other cities ot towns?

The Brewers and San Francisco Glass Production

2009-06-08T10:38:00.000-07:00

This post is reconfirmation of TQ's original German Connection as taken from the Bureau of Labor Statistics from 1890. It includes interviews with a numer of the brewers who expound on the virtues of the german glassworks producing a superior and cost effective glass products. It further states that almost all beer and wine bottles coming into San Francisco are from Germany. It is a great read for anyone interested in California Glass Production.

Swan Brewery 1877 Chinese Labor Dispute

2009-06-04T14:56:00.000-07:00

Attached is an article from 1877 talking about the threats the Swan Brewery received due to its employment of Chinese labor which caused a great deal of attention at the time from movements led by Dennis Kearny against the "heathen chinee". Some paid blackmail to keep from being burned out of their operations. The govt. actually had a Chinese exclusion act passed in 1882 which prevented further immigration by Chinese and prevented naturalization or citizenship. San Francisco had a large Chinese population and was heavily prejudiced against the foreigners.

More Swan Brewery

2009-06-04T10:53:00.000-07:00

John's photo of the Swan Brewery Co. billhead got me to look a little deeper. Charles Wilmot was a brewer in San Francisco as early as 1869 (per directory listings). He formed a partnership with Thomas Shepherd in either late 1870 or early 1871, under the name of Swan Brewery Co. Apparently they met with some good success and decided to "go public" in 1875 when the partnership incorporated and took on additional trustees. Some of these people are separate stories in themselves. More about that later.

Not long after incorporation Charles Wilmot left Swan Brewery Co. (July 1876). It is likely this is when he he opened his Wilmot Brewing Co. The Swan Brewery Co. filed for bankruptcy in August 1881.

Swan Brewery Letterhead 1871

2009-06-04T09:50:00.001-07:00

This is a photo of a Swan Brewery Letterhead dated 1871, indicating brewers and bottlers of Pale Ale, XXX Ale & Porter. For five dozen cases of Porter the cost is $15.00, which works out to who knows what depending upon how many bottles were in a case, doubt they had six packs in those days.......courtesy of the Wells Fargo Museum in Old Town San Diego, which has had this invoice on display for at least ten years. Tried to get this out of them, but no luck......Sorry about the quality of the photo but it is behind glass and covered by plastic, so gentlemen this is as good as it gets.

Swan Brewery Trademark Feb. 4, 1879

2009-06-04T09:10:00.000-07:00

Eric McGuire was kind enough to send me a copy of the trademark for Swan Brewery and the following comments.

The Swan Brewing Co. trademarked a series of labels for their products on 4 February 1879. The attached is an example of one. The question remains whether the company bottled beer in its embossed bottles prior to this date. The company's bottles don't have the words "trade mark", so it is possible the mold was cut prior to 1879.

Eric, when I was surfing the web some years ago, I hit upon a micro brewers site that took me to a restuarant set up in an old train car located in Old Town Sacramento, and in the bar area was two labeled Swan Beers on two black glass bottles, so I suspect they used any bottle they could up to the point they cut their own molds. Went to look for them last time I went to old town, but the restaurant was closed, so I have not a clue what happened to them. Being that it is in a State Park, perhaps they sit in a vault gathering copius amounts of dust.

I have gone by the site of the brewery which is on a corner just across the street from Mission Delores, where an apartment building now sits. Anyone out their ever dug it or nearby? Must have one hellacious bottle dump full of Swans and Wilmots......the stuff dreams are made of. They put up a condo project in the 1980's just down the block on Guerrero and Warren Wood and I tried digging there but the clay soils and summer weather proved impossible and we never even saw a shard......Ned and Andrew what are you waiting for? Opportunity knocks........

San Francisco's First Beer Bottle 1877

2009-05-30T16:42:00.000-07:00

When the question arises who was the first brewery to bottle beer in San Francisco, the answer is invariably I have no clue as some enterprising forty-niner brewed some beer and bottled it, but the bottles were never embossed so if would be impossible to confirm any claim. But if you refine the question as to who was the first to bottle beer in their own embossed bottles, we can narrow it down to three possibilities as follows: The Swan Brewery is listed as an operating a Brewery in San Francisco from 1874-1881, it is listed under bottlers in 1875, 1877 and again in 1881. The Wilmot Brewing Company is only listed as being in the Brewery Business from 1877-1880 with no additional listings under bottlers. The final potential candidate is Feldman & Co. an extremely rare bottle listed under bottlers in 1877 only. I am not sure anyone can say with certainty that the Swan Brewery was the first to bottle in their own embossed bottles, but I can say with certainty it was one of these three companies.

San Francisco Stock Brewery 1868-1898

2009-05-30T15:38:00.000-07:00

The San Francisco Stock Brewery was in business on the South East Corner of Powell and Francisco Streets and is first listed in City Directories in 1868 and last listed in 1898. It remained at this location for its entire time. Shown here are a couple of early advertisements taken from early periodicals including the Wasp and the California Demokrat. The officers of the Company are listed as F. Bruns, President, George Bruns, Secretary and Charles Willmot, Brewer.

S.F.Stock Brewery Advertisment 1893

2009-05-30T15:20:00.000-07:00

This next image is from the California Demokrat , Tuesday May 30, 1893 a periodical focused on the German community and published in the native tongue. The S.F.Stock Brewery produced a Vacuum Beer, a method of lager beer manufacture which proved to be very popular. There exists a broken piece of an old 1880's applied top beer with a similar image of the State Seal with part of the Bottlers Name, which may have originated from this Brewery. It makes sense as this was the Trade Mark of the Brewery.

S.F. Stock Brewery Advertisment 1888

2009-05-06T20:00:00.000-07:00

This ad for the San Francisco Stock Brewery was taken from my copy of "The Wasp" of Saturday, July 21, 1888 a periodical of the time that made satirical comments on the politics of the day. What a great image of the brewery with its fermentation and bottling rooms.

San Francisco Brewery History Blog

2009-05-06T19:33:00.000-07:00

This blog is being constructed for the purpose of exchanging information among collectors and historians of San Francisco Beer Bottles and Advertising. It is hoped we can illuminate the history and individuals behind these early enterprises which have been with San Francisco since the time of the Gold Rush. Our focus will be to concentrate on the bottling of beer in embossed bottles and the advertising which accompanied these products starting in the late 1870's until Prohibition brought about the closure of these early breweries. I am just a guy who enjoys old glass and San Francisco History, from my earliest days digging bottles in the redevelopment areas to today. It's nice to build a collection of Breweriana and share it with fellow collectors, but in this way I sincerely hope we can expand our audience to historians and all those who wish to contribute to this knowledge base. As a friend of mine once said, "knowledge is of no use, unless shared with others". For those of you who would like to contribute stories, facts, please reach out to me at joneill@croins.com and I am happy to share with you the password to this site to let you add your contributions.