Colt 45

Anheuser-Busch in the 1950's developed a way to pasteurize their beer giving it a longer shelf life. This made Budweiser that much more of a threat to the National Brewery forcing them to come out with a new beer that would help even the competition. Anheuser has been building breweries all over the country especially the east coast to expand their business. In 1963 the National Brewery introduced Colt 45 and was originally a higher priced beer then Natty Boh. The beer was popular throughout Baltimore and in other parts of the country. Colt 45 also sponsored the Baltimore Colts because of the name and of course because it was a Baltimore brew. The beer, or malt liquor, is now cheap and is often considered a fast and affordable way for one to get drunk. Colt 45 is far from a brew one could call enjoyable but is still popular among Baltimoreans.

Brennen Jensen, "A Beer to Call Your Own: Tales from the Rise and Fall of National Brewing," Baltimore City Paper, January 16, 2002. http://www.citypaper.com/news/story.asp?id=3445 (accessed December 13, 2009).

Photo From:
Joseph Pisani, "After Work Bad to the Bone: From gas-guzzling engines to extra-strength booze, consumers still crave products that do no good to their health, environment, or their pocketbooks, "Businessweek, Not given, under "Page 4," http://images.businessweek.com/ss/06/06/hardees_badthings/source/4.htm (accessed December 13, 2009)

Fox News Documentary on Natty Boh

This is a brief history segment of Natty Boh from a Fox 45 documentary that really gives some good insight to the past of the brewery. Even though the brewery shut down and left Baltimore it has still left a strong impact on the city. The beer seems as though it is here to stay within the city because it employed so many happy workers and supplied so many loyal customers. There is an interview with an older gentleman who started working there in 1947 and said, "that was the beginning of one of the greatest periods of my life." I really appreciate the words from someone who actually worked and lived in Baltimore during the height of the breweries success. The decline of the brewery is quite sad but at the same time its not because of the mark it has left. Overall, it really is a nice little piece that I enjoyed watching very much.

smallavatar. "Natty Boh Documentary." October 31, 2007. Online video clip. YouTube. (accessed December 13, 2009) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STBPDNmcODk&feature=related

Gunther Beer Commercials Part 2

Natty Boh Commercials

The National Brewing Company

Of course the most popular and well known brewery of Baltimore is the National Brewing Company located on Brewers Hill in the neighborhood of Canton. The brewery is famous for producing National Bohemian Beer or "Natty Boh" is still favored and sold in practically every bar and liquor store in the city. The official website of the National Bohemian Beer has a great little history page that gives some brief information about the breweries past http://www.nationalbohemian.com/history/Default.aspx.
This is only a portion of the information that I found on the website that I will provide on this post. The brewery began to brew Natty Boh in 1885 although their mascot "Mr. Boh" was introduced after prohibition. If you look throughout the city you can see Mr. Boh which has become somewhat of a prized symbol in the city. The National Brewery was also the first brewery to produced canned beer in six packs in the late 1940's. In 1965 the brewery became the official sponsor of the Baltimore Orioles and was proudly served at Memorial stadium and even today at Camden Yards.
This website also has a really nice picture page of the "Natty Boh" and "Mr. Boh" logo's taken throughout Baltimore. One reason why this brewery and beer has such an important impact on Baltimore's Brewing History and the city's culture is the poll that is taken on it's website. The poll asks, "Why do you drink Natty Boh?," and the best answer was "Baltimore Pride". "My Parents Drank it," "It's affordable," and "It's really good," were the next three answers in descending in order.

No Author Given, “History,” NationalBohemian.com, http://www.nationalbohemian.com/history/Default.aspx (accessed December 12, 2009).

Gunther Beer and Orioles Photo

This photo is really interesting because it was taken in 1959 the year the Theodore Hamm bought the Gunther Brewery. If you look behind the team you can see Gunther Beer being advertised on the score board. The advertisment probably didn't stay up there for very long because Hamm eliminated the production of Gunther Beer shortly after he took over and started selling his own brew instead. This photo also represents how influential Gunther Beer was to Baltimore and to the Orioles. I am sure during this time fans were drinking Gunther while watching the Orioles play in Memorial Stadium oppossed to todays beer of choice Bud or Miller Light.
Photo Courtesy of Enoch Pratt Library, State Library Resource Center Baltimore, Maryland

Gunther Brewing Company. “1959 Baltimore Orioles baseball team at Memorial Stadium, Baltimore.” Digital reproduction of 1 black-and-white photograph, 21 x 26 cm. Baltimore: Enoch Pratt Library, Date Original 1959, Date Digital 2003-05-19. From Enoch Pratt Library, Maryland Digital Cultural Heritage, 1951-1960, http://collections.mdch.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/mdaa&CISOPTR=114&CISOBOX=1&REC=14 (accessed December 10, 2009)

About the video posted below

The Google Video that I found below originally came from a website called TVDAYS.com but when I went to the actual site and searched for the video I found nothing. I am also uncertain of the actual date more or less the year when this video first aired. I wanted to post these comments on the same post as the video but I am unsure how to do that. I have to embed the HTML script of the video to the post and if I type up anything else the video doesn't show up... so that was really annoying. Overall I think the video is a little cheesy but it's old and in black and white so what do you expect? I believe this is how you cite a Google video - Gunther Beer [Commercial]. Retrieved December 10, 2009, from http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-73880865837109734&hl=en##

Gunther Beer commercial that I found on Google Videos

Gunther Beer Advertisements from Baltimore Historical Newspaper

I thought I would go ahead and post a couple of old newspaper ads featuring Gunther Beer from the Historical Baltimore Sun. Unfortuately I can only post the link to the document oppossed to actually posting the document on my blog because I don't know how to do that. I really wish I could actually post them on this blog but the images are PDF files so it's impossible to copy and paste them. So all stundents will need to use their Library Card number to view these old newspaper ads. The first one is just really neat to look at and compare to today's beer advertisments.
http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1657584252&sid=1&Fmt=10&clientId=41152&RQT=309&VName=HNP

"Display Ad 5 -- No Title." The Sun (1837-1985), July 15, 1908, http://www.proquest.com/ (accessed December 10, 2009)

This newspaper ad is also really cool because it was published in 1933 when prohibition ended. According to the newspaper ad Gunther Beer was in high demand and couldn't supply Baltimore customers fast enough. This ad supports how popular the beer was to the city and how happy they were to have their beloved beer back. On the bottom of the ad it says "Brewed and Bottled in Baltimore since 1881." So now I know when the brewery was first established! http://proquest.umi.com.proxy-ub.researchport.umd.edu/pqdweb?index=5&did=1671037252&SrchMode=1&sid=2&Fmt=10&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=HNP&TS=1260505767&clientId=41152

"Display Ad 26 -- No Title." The Sun (1837-1985), April 8, 1933, http://www.proquest.com/ (accessed December 10, 2009).

Gunther Beer

It was difficult to find secondary sources on the Gunther Brewing Company but here is some basic information that I found. The name of the Brewery before prohibition was originally called "Guenther" which probably meant that German immigrants founded the Brewery much like the American Brewery. The location of the Brewery is on 1211 South Conkling Street and is now used for cold food storage by the Tulkoff Family Partnership. I could not find an exact date when the Brewery was established but it appears it was sometime in the 1850's and produced beer up until 1976. The Brewery was bought out by Theodore Hamm in 1959 who owned a large Brewery in Minnesota and wanted to expand his business to the east coast. Hamm eliminated the original Gunther Brand which turned out to be a horrible business move because he lost many of Baltimore's loyal customers. Hamm didn't stay in Baltimore for very long and sold the brewery three years later to the F & M Schaefer Brewing Company. Schaefer reintroduced Gunther Beer back to Baltimore and regained former customers for quite some time after that. F & M Schaefer realized over time that is was too expensive to constantly maintain and upgrade older facilities like the one in Baltimore and decided to build a brand new modern brewery outside of Allentown, Pennsylvania. They then sold their property and operations in 1976 and beer there was no longer produced.

No Author Given, "Facts About... Gunther Brewing. Parcel 5, 'Ale, Pilsner, Stout Buildings' (Voluntary Cleanup Program)," Maryland Department of the Environment, http://www.mde.state.md.us/assets/document/Gunther_Brewery_parcel_5.pdf (accessed December 8, 2009).
Anthony Pompa, "Gunther Brewing Company Baltimore, Maryland," Beer, Breweries, and Breweriana of Upstate New York, http://heritage575.tripod.com/gunther_history.html
(accessed December 8, 2009).
Will Anderson, "The F. and M. Schaefer Brewing Company," BeerHistory.com, http://www.BeerHistory.com/library/holdings/schaefer_anderson.shtml (accessed December 9, 2009).

Newly Restored American Brewery

This is a picture of the newly restored American Brewery thanks to the help from Humanim. This is such a great picture to post because it is probably what the brewery looked like during it's first few years of operation. There are more pictures to view from this link from the Baltimore Sun http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bal-brewery-pg0522,0,7356115.photogallery and this photo is from the same photographer Jed Kirschbaum, “The American Brewery Building Restored,” Baltimore Sun, May 21, 2009. http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bal-brewery-pg0522,0,7356115.photogallery (accessed December 1, 2009).