Breweriana Pins and Buttons
Description: The Sweet Water Brewing Company, opened in 1872 as the Green River Brewery, one of the first in the Wyoming Territory. Hugo Gaensslen purchased the brewery in 1892 and continued to operate it until 1899, when he leveled the structures. Leaning on architectural inspiration from his native Germany, as well as the Chicago Water Tower from the neighborhood he originally immigrated to, he built his modern new brewery with local sandstone blocks and reopened as the Sweet Water Brewing Company. In 1904 and 1905, the brewery won medals at the World’s Fair, and Sweet Water's beers were increasingly in demand. When Prohibition went into effect, Sweet Water did what many breweries did to stay afloat and produced non-alcoholic beverages.
Description: The Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company was founded in 1849 with their brewery based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and once the largest producer of beer in the United States. Its namesake beer, Schlitz, was known as “The beer that made Milwaukee famous” and was advertised with the slogan “When you’re out of Schlitz, you’re out of beer.” Schlitz first became the largest beer producer in the US in 1902 and enjoyed that status at several points during the first half of the 20th century. This design comes from an NOS iron-on that was painstakingly recreated in all of its 70s glory.
Description: Despite its German roots and dubious first brew date, the famous lion's brew label was just that by the mid-'70s when it was brought stateside and the flavor profiles changed dramatically but still maintained the impression of 'made in Germany.' Of course, those n Germany continued to enjoy the real deal for decades to come, but for the most part, export brew was no longer on the menu.
Description: The Acme Brewery was incorporated on April 11, 1907, with Leopold F. Schmidt, president; William Schuldt, secretary and manager; and Jacob P. Rettenmayer as both treasurer brewmaster. The beers became a local favorite before eventually making their way out to a national audience. Acme survived prohibition like many breweries by manufacturing sodas as well as legal near beer versions of their brews, which were popular as they were easily spiked by consumers with grain alcohol to get something closer to the real thing. The brewery went on to survive two world wars before finally closing their doors in 1972 as completion from larger national breweries put the squeeze on their business.
Description: Named after the Student Corps of Germanic university cities, and brewed in Covington, Kentucky, Student Prince Beer began brewing in 1933 after the end of Prohibition. The signature brew was a sparkling Amber ale produced in what was known as Baden style of brewers from Rhine River Valley wine country of Southwest Germany. The first ads for Student Prince called it the aristocrat of beverages, and the royalty of bottled beers. It was also described as a beer brewed for those who know good beer. Ads described a sparkling amber beer, made with toasted, or kiln dried hops, with a subtle hop flavor, and that it, despite the modern brewing equipment, was slowly aged in oak barrels, a signature of Baden style brewing.
Description: SPG was originally brewed in Bremen, Germany, and was introduced to the U.S. market in 1965. The distinctive label depicting a woman wearing a traditional dirndl was introduced with the advent of bottled beer. The local artist commissioned for the label drew his inspiration from the styles worn by local waitresses at the time which are still worn as traditional folk apparel today. Over the years the label became more stylized (and busty) as SPG became an export-only beer, catering to American consumers. In time, brewing was moved stateside, changing the overall flavor considerably, something that is attributed to no longer sourcing water from the Alps.
