The first initial ” F.” stands for Frederick Dieterich who, according to 1910 census records, arrived in the United States from Germany in 1881. By the early 1900’s he was living in New York City’s Borough of Queens where the first directory listings I can find for him were in Trow’s 1903, 1906, 1907 and 1908 business directories. He appeared under the heading: “wines, liquor and lager beer saloons,” at two locations:
– Williamsburg Rd. ( now Metropolitan Ave.) corner of Hillside Avenue, Richmond Hill and
– Hillside Avenue c. Cottage (now 131st Street), Jamaica
Hillside Avenue serves as the border between Richmond Hill and Jamaica in this section of Queens, suggesting that these two locations were very close, maybe across the street from each other.
Later, New York State’s list of liquor tax certificate holders for years ending September 30, 1909, 1911, 1914, 1915 and 1917 all include Dieterich’s address as “Junction of Hillside Avenue, Williamsburg Road and Cottage Street.” At the same time, the Queens telephone book listed Fred Dieterich with the occupation “hotel” with an address of simply “Hillside Ave.”
All this suggests that Dieterich was the proprietor of a hotel that likely included a saloon located on the border of Richmond Hill and Jamaica, Queens in the early 1900’s.
In 1920, Dieterich is listed in the Queens telephone book without an occupation, likely a victim of National Prohibition.
The bottle I found is a champagne style beer with a blob finish. It likely dates on the earlier side of the 1903 to 1920 range.