The Acme Brewery of San Francisco was established in 1907 by Leopold Schmidt, owner of the Olympia Brewing Company of Tumwater, WA. Acme's story actually begins with Schmidt's entry into the San Francisco market five years earlier.
Urban Explorers discovers a hidden box containing old beer cans. A rare find is waiting to be discovered here in Tempe Arizona. Beer Can collecting is the hobby of collecting cans, both aluminum and tin plate cans. There are many types of cans that can be collected from around the world, each with many different brands as well as brand variations and themes.
Among the most popular cans to collect are soda ones, beer ones, and car oil ones, the latter of which are sometimes branded with well-known petrol company names. Other cans that may be considered as collectibles are milk cans coffee cans, syrup, salted peanuts, crayon and advertisement-oriented lithograph tins.
The Beer Can Museum, located in East Taunton, Massachusetts, is a collection of more than 5,000 different beer cans, along with beer can folk art and crafts, beer can clothing, beer can telephones and radios, and a beer can and breweriana related library. In November 2013, it was included in Travel & Leisure's list of 'America's Strangest Museums.'
Cans dating back to the mid-1930s are on display, as are beer can oddities, test cans, TV and movie props, and obsolete and current trends in beer packaging (e.g. antique cone tops and the newly released alumabottles). The collection is private, but tours can sometimes be arranged by appointment.
The collection was started in 1978 by the museum's director and curator, Kevin Logan. The museum hosts an annual "Museumfest" in the summer, where recent contributors are treated to a barbecue, museum tours, and an awards ceremony.
The oldest can in the collection is a Krueger Ale can from the 1930s which is similar to the first beer can ever produced in 1935. On display as well are older cone tops (such as a Brockert Ale "J-Spout" can from Worcester, Massachusetts and a Star Banner Ale cone top from Boston) and obsolete "flat top" cans from the early days of beer can production. The museum is enhanced by a significant collection of breweriana (beer related collectibles) such as hanging pub towels in the rafters, thousands of coasters or "beer mats", beer trays, and a bar displaying both colorful cans and beer glasses from around the world.
In Oct. 31, 1902, Schmidt hired Aherns, Pein & Bullwinkel as San Francisco agents for his Olympia Beer Company. In Feb. 1903, after a limited introduction of his product, Schmidt shipped 100 casks, each packed with six doz. quarts of bottled beer, to his agents. This was followed by repeat orders, creating the certainty that a S.F. market was assured for Olympia Beer.
Acme Brewing Co. and the National Brewing Co. had joined the California Brewing Association in 1917, but the CBA had to change their name in 1920. Then in 1932, with Repeal eminent, the corporation was able to resume operating as the California Brewing Ass'n.
Acme's management chose to be proactive in promoting beer sales and were the first brewery to start newspaper advertising of beer, even before Repeal became an actual fact. The ad shown at right is one of the ads that set the whole west coast talking about Acme, weeks before Prohibition was ended, on April 7, 1933.
They ultimately became the most prolific and consistent brewery advertiser in newspapers. They then expanded their media blitz through numerous radio spots and innovative billboard advertising. These aggressive and on-going campaigns made Acme the most famous, and popular brand of beer in the West.
One short-lived campaign in 1947 boasted, "Fine Beer Since 1860". The assumption made by many was that Acme had been around since then, but the ads didn't actually say that, just implied as much. This 1860 reference acknowledges the family tradition of brewing brought to Acme Breweries by its executive management. This heritage rests primarily on two brewing families: Adams and Schuster.
Acme invested heavily in advertising and used ad agencies to come up with their ever-changing campaigns. For a few of the more long-lived campaigns and their approximate years of use go to my illustrated guide to the many Acme campaigns.
In late 1935, the California Brewing Assn. built a three story, art deco style building (shown here) to house their general offices and sales department for the San Francisco plant. They also moved their Hospitality/Tasting room to this new building.
Currently the building houses the African American Art and Culture Complex, where the murals adorning the interior walls of old Tasting room remain to this day. It is a triptych (multi-panel) mural, depicting the cultivation of hops and the production of beer.
#tempearizona #urbanexplorer #beercan
