Tag: blob top

Creedmoor Beer, 321-323 Rutledge St., Brooklyn

Always located in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. the Creedmoor Beer Company began operations sometime in the late 1870’s at 369 S 2nd Street before moving to 321-323 Rutledge Street, the address embossed on the subject bottle, in 1883.

The company was not a small brewery as you might expect from their name but in fact, a manufacturer of carbonated beverages whose menu of products was described in the August 15, 1885 edition of the “Brooklyn Daily Times.”

The Creedmore Beer Company’s list of carbonated beverages includes root beer, pop beer, raspberry beer, birch beer, ginger ale, mead and lemon cream soda. Only the choicest of extracts, made from roots, barks, herbs, etc., are employed in the manufacture of these beverages, which are absolutely free from any deleterious ingredients. Havemeyer & Elders’ Moller, Sierck & Co.’s and North River Refining Company’s confectioner’s “A” sugar only is used in making the syrups, which are carefully strained and purified.

Their plant location, generally  described in advertisements as Rutledge Street, near Broadway is depicted on this this Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, dated 1887 (just to the right and below the “R” in Rutledge).

Who exactly owned the business is not clear, however, according to another “Brooklyn Daily Times” item, this one published in their July 31, 1886 edition, it was managed by a man named David U. Quick.

Mr. D. U. Quick, the Manager of the Creedmoor Beer Company, whose well-appointed establishment is located at 321 and 323 Rutledge Street, near Broadway, Brooklyn, E. D. has had a long experience in the manufacture of carbonated water and fully understands the requirements of the trade, which he conscientiously endeavors at all times to meet, therefore the character of their goods for reliability and purity can always be depended upon. Hence the company’s well-merited success.

The above description was included in what was certainly a newspaper advertisement presented to look like a news item, a tactic the company employed on more than one occasion in the “Brooklyn Daily Times” during 1885 and 1886.

One such item, published on  June 6, 1885, appealed to the temperance movement, stressing the non-alcoholic nature of their products.

One of the surest indications of the advancement of a true spirit of temperance is to be found in the rapidly increasing consumption of what are known as carbonated beverages. Although non alcoholic and therefore non intoxicating in their nature, they possess certain qualities that make them especially desirable as quenchers of thirst, and being composed chiefly of the extracts of roots and barks noted for their tonic and exhilarating effects, the use of these beverages if pure can be indulged to any rational extent, without the least injury to the most delicate and sensitive physical organizations. In fact, pure carbonated waters are highly recommended by medical men generally, on account of their healthful and refreshing effects on the human system.

Still another, published in the “Brooklyn Daily Times’s on July 10,1886, associated those “healthful and refreshing effects ” with the digestive system.

The inestimable value of pure carbonated beverages in all cases of feeble digestion and lack of tone in the stomach is universally acknowledged. All of the ailments prevalent in warm weather, Dyspepsia, Diarrhea, Acidity of the Stomach and kindred affections are due to but one source, namely , lack of vigor and vitality in the digestive organs. Every person who has given the subject any study is fully aware that nothing equals in efficacy in all such troubles a beverage impregnated with a pure carbonic acid gas. Between the debilitating and enervating effects of alcoholic and ice cold drinks and the invigorating and healthful carbonated beverage there should be no hesitation in choosing. Absolute purity is of vital importance, and this can only be assured where a firm has the greatest facilities and a determination that their goods shalll be the finest that skill and cleanliness can make them. All this can be said of the Creedmoor Beer Company, of 321 and 323 Rutledge Street, near Broadway, Brooklyn.

Creedmoor classified advertisements that ran in several 1886 and 1887 editions of the “Brooklyn Daily Times” made the case much more succinctly.

Carbonated waters impart vigor and tone to the stomach and exhilarate the system.

Sometime in 1889 the company moved to 67 Kent Avenue (sometimes listed as 42 N. 10th St.). By then their business card, found in the 1890 edition of Brooklyn’s “Lains” Business Directory,” identified  the company as dealers in cider and vinegar in addition to carbonated water manufacturers.

The company apparently had a short stay on Kent Avenue, disappearing from the directories by 1892.

One Final Note: The “Historical Guide to Long Island Soda, Beer & Mineral Water Bottles & Bottling Companies – 1840-1970” by George Fisher, indentified a “Creedmoor Beer”  bottle embossed with an address of 369 South 2nd St. in Brooklyn. The description of the bottle as presented in the guide is shown below.

While I cannot find a directory listing that associates the Creedmoor company with that address, I did find their manager, David Quick, listed with the occupation “root beer” at 369 S 2nd Street in the 1879/1880 Brooklyn city directory. This all but confirms that the company got its start in the late 1870’s at that location..

The subject bottle was blown in a mold with what looks like a tooled blob finish. It’s 10-1/4 inches tall and 3-1/2 inches in diameter. The embossed address of 321 – 323 Rutledge Street dates it between 1883 and 1889 when the company was located at that address.

 

 

 

 

Conrad Witzel, 558 & 560 St. Ann’s Ave., New York

Conrad Witzel, and later his Son, William C. Witzel, operated a mineral water manufacturing and bottling business in the Bronx, New York from the mid-1890’s up through sometime in the mid-20th Century.

Located at a single location, 558-560 St. Ann’s Avenue, for approximately 50 years, a feature on the Witzel’s, found in the August, 1921 edition of a publication called the “Edison Monthly” suggested that the company had been there so long that the Bronx literally grew up around their bottling plant.

The bottling plant has been occupied by the Witzel organization for more than a quarter of a century. In the early days it was embowered in an apple orchard, and fields stretched wide on either side. Now it has in the tall buildings which line the thoroughfare dignified architectural neighbors; for the growth of the Bronx has been phenomenal.

The founder, Conrad Witzel, according to census records (1910) was born in Germany in 1860 and arrived in the United States in 1882. Prior to settling in the Bronx, Witzel lived on East 25th Street in Manhattan where several New York City directories between 1887 and 1893 listed his occupation as a “driver.” During this time he apparently worked for a brewer named Andrew Koch & Sons, as evidenced by this story that appeared in the December 23, 1888 edition of the “New York Tribune.”

A WOMAN KNOCKED DOWN BY A WAGON

Mrs. Sarah B. Harring, age fifty, who lives at No. 87 Madison Ave., in attempting to cross Broadway in the neighborhood of Hudnut’s pharmacy, yesterday noon was struck by the front wheel of a two-horse wagon, owned by Andrew Koch & Son, at No. 455 First Ave., and driven by Conrad Witzel. a German whose home is at No. 322 East Twenty-fifth St. She was taken into the pharmacy and an ambulance from Chambers Street Hospital telegraphed for. On the arrival of the ambulance-surgeon it was found that Mrs. Harring’s injury consisted of a slight contusion of the left leg. Witzel had been taken to the Church St. station, but as Mrs. Harding had said that she had tripped and stumbled and that the driver was in no way to be blamed for the accident, he was discharged. With the assistance of a friend, the injured woman went to her home.

Sometime in 1893 or 1894 Witzel moved to the Bronx where he was first listed as a mineral water manufacturer at 558 St. Ann’s Avenue in the 1894-1895 New York City directory. A small operation, according to New York State’s Factory Inspection Report for the fiscal year ending November 30, 1900 the company employed a total of three people. One, categorized as “Male – Under the Age of 16,” was likely his son, William, who was born in 1889.

By 1910 William was certainly involved in the business, listing his occupation as a “driver” in 1910 census records.  Like his father he was almost certainly a wagon driver, that is until 1915 when the business transitioned to using the “Autocar.” This October 15, 1915 “advertisement, found in the “American Bottler,” pictured what was likely  both father and son in their recently purchased “Autocar.”

By then, William was apparently in partnership with his father, as evidenced by directory listings as early as 1912 that named the company as C. Witzel & Son. The listing as it appears in New York City’s 1915 Copartnership and Corporation directory is shown below.

The company operated under this name until May, 1919 when, with Conrad Witzel likely retired, William C. Witzel, along with an employee named Oscar Hoenig  formed a co-partnership, continuing the business under the name of C. Witzel & Co.

Not  long afterwards, according to the “Edison Monthly” feature, the partnership committed to modernizing their bottling plant.

…a partnership conference was held at which the various elements in the manufacturing and marketing phases of the business were considered. With respect to the manufacturing end, there was unanimity of opinion that the beverages which bear the firm’s name should be permanently standardized for purity.

The feature went on to describe their modernized plant and how it worked.

First a system, modern in every detail, was installed for cleansing bottles. To operate this a ten horsepower motor was provided and connection was made to the service of the New York Edison Company. Progressive simplicity characterizes the working of this department.

The bottles are placed in double rows. like two files of soldiers, on a circular platform. The switch is thrown in and the platform begins to move, carrying the companies of bottles into the drenching shower of a rinsing bath. From this they pass along to receive an internal douche of hot water which is directed into the neck of each bottle with force enough to reach every part. Passing on they enter a tunnel charged with live steam, an accepted method of germ destruction. Emerging with the glisten and polish which is proof to the eye of cleanliness, they finally appear at the end of the journey in position to receive their thirst-relieving charge at the filler machines….

Such is the efficiency and economy of this part of the plant that it is possible to handle ten thousand bottles in an ordinary work day.

The feature went on to say:

The 100-gallon filters are in another part of the building. The water is piped into them from the bottom, passes upward and through the filter bed and, seeking its level, finds an outlet again at the bottom. To supplement the filter and make sure that every bottle of beverage is strictly pure the modern electric sterilizer was added to the plant.

A compact three-party tandem mechanism it is and in position it looks as if it were on a mantel piece. At one end stands a one-horsepower alternating current motor not much larger than some mantel ornaments. Alongside of it is a direct current generator, almost a twin in size of the motor. At the other end stands the ultra-violet ray device.

The motor is started and immediately the bulb which is directed against a water tight glass receptacle inside the sterilizer, bursts into light. The finger on the ammeter dial moves slowly toward the figure 5, the light growing brighter each instant. As the 5 is passed the circuit is automatically closed and the water valve connected with the sterilizer opened. The ultra-violet rays by this time have reached the required intensity. The water rushes in, the flowing stream passing under the direct rays. Such bacteria that may exist in the water are destroyed. The sterilized water passes under pressure to the tanks which are directly connected to the filling machines

The upper floor of the establishment is devoted to offices, storerooms, sugar boiling and syrup blending departments. Cane sugar alone is used for sweetening. One room is piled high with it. The syrups are made from the juices of fully ripened fruits and the greatest care is taken to make contamination impossible. Syrups are stored in covered crocks and are piped direct to the tanks where the beverages are made. The idea of cleanliness one obtains throughout…

The business  continued to operate under the partnership until the early 1930’s when disagreements between the partners resulted in a court ordered dissolution of the partnership on March 17, 1931. Subsequently, according to New York State Supreme Court records, (Hoenig v. Witzer), the business was put up for sale at  public auction on July 18, 1931 and all indications are that Witzer was able to buy it back.

Shortly afterwards he incorporated the business under the name Wm. C. Witzel, Inc., as evidenced by this August 15, 1931 item found in the “Beverage News.”

The 1939-1940 Bronx Telephone Book (one of the few I have access to) continued to list Wm .C.  Witzel, Inc. at the 558 St. Ann’s Avenue address.

Ten years later, William Witzel, still in the beverage business, listed his occupation in 1950 census records as “Proprietor, Mineral Water Distributor.” By then the business had apparently moved to East 161st Street, as evidenced by this item that appeared in the May 12, 1950 edition of New York’s “Daily News.”

Having moved out of his long time factory sometime in the 1940’s suggests that by then he was no longer manufacturing mineral/soda water and was simply serving as a distributor. How long he remained in business on 161st Street is not clear.

William Witzel ultimately passed away on March 27, 1971, with his death notice appearing the next day in New York’s “Daily News.”

The subject bottle was blown in a mold and contains roughly 8 ounces. It exhibits a blob finish suggesting that it was in use during the early years of the Witzel operation.

 

 

 

J. F. Hughes, 233 West 33rd St., New York

John F. Hughes was a mineral water manufacturer whose business operated on the west side of Manhattan from the late 1880’s up until 1914 when it was one of six companies that joined together and established the New York Bottling Company, Inc.

Born in Ireland in 1862 or 1863, Hughes arrived in the United States in 1869 at the age of six and by 1880, according to census records was living with his parents on Rutgers Street in Manhattan.

When exactly he started in the mineral water business is not exactly clear. According to an advertisement Hughes ran in the “Purchaser’s Guide and Commercial Register” included in the 1896/1897 New York City directory, his business was established in 1887 (lower left hand corner of the ad).

That said, I can’t find him listed in the New York City directories until 1890 when he was included under the heading ” Mineral Waters” with an address of 233 West 33rd Street in Trow’s 1890 Business Directory . He was certainly in business by the spring of that year as evidenced by this classified advertisement he ran in the May 6, 1890 edition of the “New York Herald.”

Located between 7th and 8th Avenues, the business remained at that location until sometime in 1894 when it relocated to 146 – 148 West 31st Street, between 6th and 7th Avenues. Hughes remained in business there up until 1914, during which time he ran annual advertisements in Trow’s New York City Directory. The advertisements all suggest that he limited his inventory to non-alcoholic beverages. One of the earliest I can find appeared in Trow’s 1895/1896 edition.

Later directories exhibited this updated advertisement which replaced the earlier one sometime around  1910.

On April 1, 1914 John F. Hughes combined his business with five other bottling concerns and the consolidated business was incorporated under the name “New York Bottling Company, Inc.” The announcement appeared in the January 15, 1915 edition of the “American Bottler.”

A consolidation of the following prominent New York City bottling concerns took place on April 1: A. Ludorff, S. A. Ludin & Co., (New York Bottling Company Co.), W. E. Seitz & Co., John F. Hughes, Henry Kracke (Globe Mineral Water Co.) and the A. Liebler bottling Co., Albert Ludoff is president and J. E. Ludin is Tres.

The 1915 NYC Copartnership and Corporation Directory listed the consolidated company as a New York corporation with Albert Ludorff, president, John E. Ludin, treasurer and R. E Schoder, secretary. Capital $750,000.  It went on to list three addresses: 532 W 20th, 417 E 90th, and 402 w 126th, suggesting that Hughes’ 31st Street location was not utilized by the new corporation. Hughes continued to be associated with the corporation in some capacity, actually serving as president for several years in the early 1920’s.

According to an April 6, 1929 story in the “Brooklyn Daily Eagle,” The New York Bottling Corporation was acquired by the Carl H. Schultz Corporation in November, 1928 and soon after both were folded into the American Beverage Corp.

More information on the New York Bottling Company , along with information on several of the firms that made up the 1914 consolidation can be found by visiting another post on this site.  New York Bottling Co.

The subject bottle was blown in a mold and exhibits a blob finish. The bottle’s embossing includes the 233 West 33rd Street address dating it between the late 1880’s and 1894 when the company was at that address.

Another  bottle, recently offered for sale on the Internet, exhibits the company’s 146 – 148 West 31st Street address used from 1894 to 1914.

H. & J. F. Meyer, New York

Herman & John F. Meyer, partnered together in a mineral water manufacturing and bottling business in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan from 1869 to 1876. According to 1880 census records both Meyer’s were born in the Hanover Region of Germany; John F. in 1833, and Herman in 1836, and I suspect that they were somehow related, likely brothers. That being said, they apparently took very different paths to their 1869 partnership.

Herman Meyer can be found in the New York City directories as early as 1852-53, partnered with John F. Rottman in the soda water business. The partnership of Meyer & Rottman was listed at 566 Greenwich Street (1853 – 55) and later at 94 Thompson Street (1855 – 60). By 1860 the partnership apparently ended when Meyer apparently headed north to work on Rottman’s farm in Rockland County. This classified advertisement puts Meyer there as late as 1865. The ad, announcing that the farm was for sale appeared that year in the March 20th edition of the “New York Herald.”

At the same time, back in New York City Rottman continued in the soda water business where he was listed individually as late as 1865-66, now with an address of 100 Thompson Street.

Meantime, John F. Meyer found himself in Augusta, Georgia where he likely arrived sometime in the early to mid 1850’s. His oldest son, William, was born there in 1857 so he had certainly settled in Georgia by then. During his time in Georgia Meyer served as the proprietor of a soda water manufacturing and bottling business under his name. His advertisement appeared in the 1859 edition of the “Directory and Business Advertiser” for the City of Augusta.

Meyer’s listing in the same directory indicated that he both lived and worked at the same location at 99 Broad Street.

In 1865 -66, John F. Meyer was not listed in Pughe’s Directory of Augusta (the next directory I have access to) suggesting that by this time he had made his way north to New York City where, in partnership with George W. Ruther, he apparently took over Rottman’s business at 100 Thompson Street. The Meyer & Ruther partnership was listed at that address from 1866-67 up through 1868-69 at which time the partnership apparently dissolved.

Enter Herman who, with Rottman’s Rockland County property apparently sold, was back in New York City where he and John F. Meyer formed the partnership of H. & J. F. Meyer, the name embossed on the subject bottle.

The Meyer’s business originally listed an address of 96 Laurens Street in the 1869-70 directory, later listing 139 South Fifth Avenue from 1871-72 up through 1875-76. Almost certainly located just south of Washington Square Park, that section of Laurens Street was renamed South Fifth Avenue in 1870 so it’s likely their change of address did not represent a physical move. (In the 1960’s, South Fifth Avenue in this area was renamed again, and is now called LaGuardia Place.)

In 1876, a notice dated February 2nd announced that the Meyer’s partnership had been dissolved. The notice was published the next day in the “New York Daily Herald.”

Census records in 1880 suggest that Herman went on to be a “barkeeper” while John F. continued as the sole proprietor of the soda water business, relocating it to 55 West 18th Street in 1879-80 and later to 528 (sometimes 530) Washington Street sometime in 1888 0r 1889.

In 1900 The NYC Copartnership and Corporation Directory began referring to the business as “the firm of J. F. Meyer,” and naming the principals as “Wilhelmina (his wife) and George W. (his son)  only,” suggesting John F. had passed away, likely sometime in the late 1890’s. By 1906, only George W. was named as a principal. The business remained listed in this fashion in the Copartnership and Corporation Directories until 1915 after which I lose track.

The bottle I found is an 8-ounce pony with an applied blob finish. It certainly dates to the 1869 to 1876 period of the H. and J. F. partnership.

David Stevenson Brewing Co., 40th St. & 10th Ave., New York

David Stevenson established a brewery on Manhattan’s west side and served as its proprietor for over 30 years until he passed away in 1884. After his death the brewery continued to operate until National Prohibition likely forced its closure in 1920.

Born about 1807 in Ireland, David Stevenson first appeared in United States  census records in 1850. Those records indicate that his then four year old son, also named David, was born in New York, so its safe to say that David, Sr. had arrived in the United States by the mid-1840’s and possibly earlier.

His business was first mentioned in the 1850/1851 New York City directory where he’s listed as a “brewer,” located  on the corner of Tenth Avenue and West 39th Street. According to a publication called “One Hundred Years of Brewing,” published in 1903, that first year he turned out about 1,200 barrels of ale.  Not just a brewer, in the early 1850’s Stevenson also included distiller and rectifier among his early occupations, all of which were conducted at his Tenth Avenue location.

In 1854, the August 23, 1854 edition of the “New York Tribune” announced that those Tenth Avenue facilities were impacted by a major fire.

About a quarter before 3 o’clock yesterday afternoon a fire broke out in the range of frame buildings corner of Tenth Ave. and Thirty-ninth St., occupied by David Stevenson, as a Malt-House, Brewery and Rectifying establishment. The flames spread with astonishing rapidity, and notwithstanding the exertions of the firemen of the District, who were early on the ground, the distillery portion of the establishment was burned to the ground. A portion of the frame shed extending along the avenue to Fortieth St. was also destroyed. The upper part of the building corner of Thirty-ninth St. was occupied as a dwelling by Mr. Stevenson. The greater portion of his household goods were destroyed.

Another story, this one in the “New York Times,” provided some additional details.

 The fire originated from the iron coal furnace being hot and thereby causing the woodwork of the basement to catch fire. The flames spread with astonishing rapidity, and before ten minutes had elapsed the entire premises were enveloped in flames, and all efforts of the Firemen to save the property were of no avail. The buildings extended down Thirty-ninth Street some 250 feet, and about 150 feet on Tenth Avenue, and were all filled with heavy stock of distilled liquors, pure spirits and other materials of a combustible nature…

The brewery survived the fire but there’s no mention of “liquors” in any of Stevenson’s subsequent directory listings, suggesting the fire put an end to his distilling/rectifying operations. This assumption is further supported by his advertisement found in the “Commercial Register” of the 1861/62 directory that simply mentions ale and porter.

In the mid-1870’s the New York City directories began associating David Stevenson Jr. with the business suggesting that around this time Stevenson’s son began playing a significant role in the management of the brewery. He ultimately assumed ownership when his father passed away in 1884. Unfortunately, in October, 1892 Stevenson, Jr. also passed away at which time James McClenahan, the Stevenson estate’s trustee, took control. He operated the business until December 28, 1893 when he transferred it to a newly formed corporation called “The David Stevenson Brewing Company.”

James McClenahan went on to serve as the corporation’s first president.

I suspect that it was sometime in the 1890’s when the brewery began producing lager beer in addition to their ales and porters. (The company was not listed as a lager beer brewer in the 1890 business directory but was in 1897) The addition of lager had certainly occurred by 1896 as evidenced by their advertisement that year in “The World Almanac and Encyclopedia.”

Another 1896 advertisement, this one found in the New York Protective Association’s Labor Day Program, makes it clear that by then the company was also bottling their product, having established a bottling department on Tenth Avenue and 40th Street (the location embossed on the subject bottle).

By the turn of the century, the brewery complex encompassed a total of 27 New York City lots, employed 110 full-time workers (based on both 1898 and 1901 New York State Factory Inspection Reports.) and was producing 140,000 barrels annually (100 Years of Brewing). Based on the images found on their turn of the century calendars it’s also apparent that the wood frame buildings of the 1850’s had all been replaced with brick and mortar.

McClenahan continued to serve as president of the company throughout the first decade of the twentieth century, but not without controversy.

In 1905 Stevenson Jr.’s son, (Stevenson Sr.’s grandson) also named David, brought suit against McClenahan for what he called systematic fraud demanding that as trustee of the Stevenson estate , he sell back to the estate the brewery property which he had transferred to the Daniel Stevenson Brewing Company in 1893. The facts behind his demand were summarized in an April 17, 1906 story in the “New York Tribune.”

It was shown yesterday to Justice Blanchard after the death of Mr. Stevenson’s father, in 1892, the business of the brewery was carried on by McClenahan for two years at an annual profit of $200,000, for the benefit of the estate. Then, as trustee of the estate, McClenahan transferred the brewery property to the corporation he had formed, the corporation giving a mortgage of $1,500,000 in payment.

Mr. Beard, of Mr. Stevenson’s counsel, said there was presented in the transfer of the property a systematic fraud by which McClenahan meant to obtain full possession of the property for nothing. Without investing or risking a dollar, Mr. Beard said, McClenahan had transferred the brewery which earned $200,000 a year to a corporation which he controlled absolutely, giving to the estate a mortgage on which the estate received only $75,000 a year. McClenahan, it was declared, was thus able to make the estate pay him $125,000 a year, and the money had been used since the mortgage had been given to reduce the mortgage to $1,000,000. At the present time, therefore, the estate was receiving only $50,000 a year from the brewery, while McClenahan was receiving $150,000 a year, and in a few years he would pay off the mortgage and own the brewery if the courts did not compel him to relinquish his hold and give back the property to the estate.

Surprisingly, a year later, the April 11, 1908 edition of the “New York Tribune” announced that the parties had reached an amicable ending, with  McClenahan continuing to serve as president and two Stevenson’s, David and Malcom, elected 1st and 2nd vice-presidents, respectively.

McClenahan continued to be listed as president up through 1912 but by 1915, was apparently no longer associated with the company and David Stevenson was listed as president. Four years later in 1919 David passed away at the age of 45.

The David Stevenson Brewing Company continued to be listed at the brewery’s address of 521 10th Avenue, with Malcom Stevenson now named president, as late as 1925. That being said there’s no evidence that I can find that indicates any attempt to brew near beer. A review of 1920’s newspaper items suggests the company remained active simply managing/selling their real estate holdings that included a large number of former saloon properties.

Also listed at that address beginning in 1920 was  the Stevenson Refrigerating Company, with Malcom Stevenson also named as president. So I suspect  that the brewery itself transitioned into the cold storage business at the same time they were selling off their saloon properties. The Stevenson Refrigerating Company was still listed at that location in 1933 after which I lose track

Today, there’s no sign of the former brewery complex, as its former footprint now accommodates a portion of the ramp system connecting the Port Authority Bus Terminal with the Lincoln Tunnel.

The bottle I found is a champagne style beer. It’s blown in a mold with a blob finish and  exhibits the “David Stevenson Brewing Company” name. Recognizing that the business incorporated under that name in late December, 1893 the bottle certainly dates no earlier than 1894.

Louis C. Ott, Rockaway Beach, L.I.

 

Louis C Ott was a hotel owner in Rockaway Beach (previously called Oceanus) from the late 1880’s until the late 1910’s. He was also active in the local democratic party serving as a NYS Assemblyman in the early 1890’s and later as a Town Supervisor in the late 1890’s and early 1900’s. Also active in the community, he served as a fire warden and a member of the Board of Representatives of the “Oceanus Hook and Ladder Company No. 1.”

Ott’s hotel business appears to have been closely tied if not one and the same with the liquor and beer trade. The first mention of Ott that I can find is as a liquor tax certificate holder with the town of Hempstead. (Note that at the time Rockaway Beach was under the Jurisdiction of Hempstead and not yet a part of NYC.) He was listed with the classification “hotel”and located in Rockaway Beach, but no address was given. His certificate was paid up through September 4, 1890, which leads me to believe the business started at least a year or two earlier, sometime in the 1880’s.

Sometime during this period, Ott became an agent and bottler for the Joseph Fallert Brewing Company. Advertisements in the local newspaper, “The Wave” between 1896 and 1898 bear this out and the 1899 Trow Business Directory listed the business on Hammels Avenue (now Beach 85th Street) under the heading “Bottlers of Lager Beer.”

Whether Ott’s relationship with the Fallert Brewery dated back to his 1890 liquor tax certificate is not clear, but by 1899, it appears that the two entities had a falling out. On April 26, 1899, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle announced a judgement against Ott in favor of the Joseph Fallert Brewing Company for $7,308.40.

In 1900, Ott took over a hotel previously run by an Assemblyman from New York City. That year, in May, “The Wave” reported:

Supervisor Louis C. Ott will shortly open the hotel corner of Eldert Avenue and the Boulevard, formerly conducted by Assemblyman Honeck.

The 1903 Trow Business Directory for Brooklyn and Queens listed Ott at the Eldert Avenue (now Beach 87th Street) address under the heading “Wines/Liquors/Lager Beer.”

Around 1904 Ott’s listed location changed again and he was named in various newspaper articles as the proprietor of the Grassy Point Hotel located at Broad Channel on the Jamaica Bay trestle. Both the 1904 Trow Business Directory and the 1910 census records listed him at this location. In fact, The August 16, 1911 issue of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported that he spent his 57th birthday there.

Louis C. Ott, former Assemblyman from the Sixteenth District of Brooklyn celebrated the fifty-seventh anniversary of his birth at a family dinner at the hotel of which he is proprietor, the Grassy Point, on Broad Channel on the evening of Tuesday last. The table was placed lengthwise of the long dining room, covers being laid for twenty-four. The decorations were asters and gladioli, a huge horseshoe of asters  being placed on a table just back of the host, a gift from friends and sent with many wishes for good fortune.

More than just a hotel, Grassy Point was a resort that included a restaurant, dancing, bowling alleys, billiards, a fishing station, bathing, boating and ball fields. A photograph contained within a 1908 advertisement left no doubt that by then, Ott had switched his allegiance from Joseph Fallert to Trommer’s.

Ott apparently operated the Grassy Point Hotel through at least the mid-teens. Ott was listed with a Broad Channel Hotel in the 1910 NYC Telephone Directory but not in the 1914 edition. By 1920, census records showed him widowed and living on Long Island in the Valley Stream/Lynbrook area with a son-in-law. He died while living on Long Island in July, 1924.

The Grassy Point Hotel remained in operation until it was destroyed by fire in January 1939. According to the January 5, 1939 issue of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, the damage had been extensive enough to require rebuilding of the structure. At the time of the fire, the operation consisted of only a restaurant and grill. No rooms were rented.

Ott, a New Yorker of German heritage, had nine children, including six sons. Four of those sons were members of the U.S. armed forces during World War I and at least three were involved in active combat. According to an October 30, 1918 article in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle:

Pvts. Harry and Walter Ott, sons of Louis C. Ott of Mineola Ave., Valley Stream, L.I., have both been wounded. They were drafted in 1917 and trained at Camp Upton before departing for France. Walter is 22 years old and Pvt. Harry is 25. Both were engaged as chauffeurs prior to their entrance into the service. Walter, who is a member of Co. G 308th Inf. was wounded on August 17th. Just when Harry was hurt is not known. He wrote his father a note from a hospital ship stating that he had been injured and that he was on his way to London. A third brother, Sgt. Andrew Ott, is stationed at Camp Sevier in South Carolina, giving instruction on gas masks. He too, was drafted in 1917, sent to Camp Upton, where he received his sergeant’s chevrons, and finally to France. There he was gassed and after three months of continual trench duty ordered to return to America. He was a member of Company D, 305th Inf. He is 27 years old and was formerly a silversmith, employed by the Gotham Company in Manhattan. A fourth brother, Robert Van Wyck Ott, is eligible for the new draft and is expecting his call momentarily.

The bottle I found is a champagne style beer with an applied blob top. The slug plate refers to Rockaway Beach, Long Island. This would indicate it was made in 1898 (the year Rockaway Beach became part of NYC) or earlier and most likely contained the Joseph Fallert brand.

 

 

John Kessler, Woodmere, Long Island

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Census records reveal that John Kessler immigrated to the United States from Germany in the early 1880’s and in 1900 listed his occupation as a salesman.

According to a notice published in the April 20, 1904 edition of the Brooklyn Times Union, at that time the Hempstead Town Board leased Kessler one acre of marshland in Woodmere. Shortly afterwards he apparently constructed, and began operating a hotel on the marsh. Census records listed him as the owner of a hotel located “out in Woodmere Bay,” and as late as September 30, 1912 he was a liquor tax certificate holder: “Hotel, Woodmere Bay, south of Woodmere Dock.” I’ve found that many local hotel owners in this era were liquor tax certificate holders and bottled their own beverages.

Kessler passed away sometime around 1914 and apparently his wife Margaret continued to run the business. In the years ending September 30, 1914 and 1915, Margaret Kessler, not John, was listed as the liquor tax certificate holder.

In the 1920 census Margaret was listed as a widow living with her daughter on West Broadway in Hewlett and apparently no longer involved in the business

I found two champagne style beer bottles with tooled blob finishes. Both fit the early years of the business, say 1904 to roughly 1910, after which I would have expected a crown finish.

I haven’t seen an example of this one on the Internet adding to the evidence that this was a small local business.

A. Wolff, Central Bottling Co., 55th St, bet 2nd & 3rd Ave. New York

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The A stands for Anthony (Anton) Wolff.

Wolff is first listed in the 1880 NYC Directory as a maltster with a home address of 330 East 47th Street. In the 1884 directory he’s listed as beer with a home address of 226 East 56th Street.

Then from 1886 through 1912 he’s listed in various NYC directories as a bottler (or sometimes beer) on East 55th Street. He listed several addresses over the years, all on 55th Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenue, primarily 204 East 55th St.

The March 28, 1889 issue of the newspaper “The Daily Graphic” Lists 24 Bottle Registration Notices from different bottlers. A Wolff is one of them. His states:

To All Whom it May Concern: I Anthony Wolff doing business and trading as the Central Bottling Co, certify that I am engaged in bottling and selling lager beer, ale and porter and other beverages, and use and have the sole right to use my name, marks and devices branded, stamped, etched, blown or otherwise produced upon my bottles and boxes, a description of which distinguishing names and marks is as follows: Glass bottles on which is “Central Bottling Co” and “A Wolff”; other bottles with “Central Bottling Co”; other bottles “A Wolff”. Boxes on which is “Central Bottling Co” and “A Wolff”. CENTRAL BOTTLING CO. By A WOLFF.

The business is listed in the Annual Report of Factory Inspectors of the State of New York in 1896 and 1898. In 1898 they listed 6 male employees.

Several New York State newspapers covered a fire that included Wolff’s plant that occurred on August 25th, 1898.

The explosion of a large ammonia tank used in the making of artificial ice set fire at an early hour this morning to Jacob Hoffman’s Crescent Brewery, a 5-story brick structure at 206 and 208 East Fifty-fifth Street. The flames spread with marvelous rapidity and the Central Bottling Company’s plant, of which A. Wolff is the proprietor, at 202 East Fifty-fifth Street soon caught fire. Within a very short time the entire block surrounded by Third Avenue, Fifty-fourth and Fifty-fifth streets were doomed.

The surrounding tenements, all filled with sleeping people, next ignited and the bewildered tenants began to pour out into the streets by the hundreds. Alarm after alarm was turned in by the police, and by the early arrivals of the firemen, until four alarms had sounded and 18 engines and five hook and ladder trucks were on the scene. As a precaution several ambulances were called from Bellevue and other hospitals. Many thrilling rescues of frightened men, women and children were made by the firemen.

Wolff’s business must have survived the fire because he remained at 55th Street through 1912.

In 1912 the American Bottler reported that Wolff resigned his membership in the organization that year. He’s not listed in the 1914 NYC Copartnership and Corporation Directory, so I have to think the business ended in 1912.

In the NYC Copartnership and Corporation Directories between 1905 and 1914 there is also a Central Bottling Co listed at 617 11th Avenue (it’s listed under Central). In the same directories Wolf is listed under Wolff as “Wolff A., Central Bottling Co. (RTN) (Anton W. Wolff).” Based on this there doesn’t appear to be a connection.

204 E 55th Street lies within the current footprint of 909 Third Avenue. Interestingly, a bar/restaurant called PJ Clarke’s is located directly across the street at 205 E 55th Street. A New York fixture, Clarkes is well over 100 years old, claiming to be unchanged since 1884. I gotta believe it was Wolff’s lunch spot!!

The bottle I found is a champagne style (12 oz) with a tooled blob finish. It fits within the 1886 to 1912 time frame of the business.

J. Wittmann, Woodhaven, New York

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The J stands for Joseph Wittmann.

Joseph Wittmann, Queens Ward 4, appears in census records from 1900 to 1930. Over that period, he listed himself as a bottler, proprietor, manufacturer and retail merchant of mineral/soda water. According to a September 28, 1940 Brooklyn Daily Eagle article announcing his death, Wittmann was born in Brooklyn and lived in Queens for 46 years. He died in 1940 at the age of 76.

The business apparently started in Brooklyn in the late 1880’s. Joseph Wittmann, bottler, was listed in the Brooklyn directories between 1889 and 1891 with an address of 729 Flushing Avenue. He was not listed in the 1887 Directory.

Sometime between 1892 and 1898, the business moved to Thrall Pl, corner of Broadway, Woodhaven, where it’s listed in the 1899, 1903,1907, 1908-1909 and 1912 Trow Business Directories of the Borough of Queens under mineral water. It was also listed in the Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island Section of the New York Telephone Directory as Carbonated Beverages through at least 1928. By this time, the address was 97-40 91st but I don’t think the location changed because Thrall Place was renamed 91st Street. Based on the census records the business could have lasted into the 1930’s.

I found three mouth blown bottles, all embossed “Woodhaven”. Two are large (28 oz); one has a tooled blob finish and the other a tooled crown finish. The third is smaller (8oz) with a tooled crown finish. The larger bottles used slug plates while the smaller one is a private mold. All three fit the earlier years that the business was in Woodhaven

I’ve also observed machine made (28oz) bottles in the bays as well.

Welz & Zerweck High Ground Brewery, Brooklyn, N.Y.

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Welz and Zerweck traces its roots to John Welz who was listed as early as 1858 in the Brooklyn City Directories as a brewer located at 132 Scholes.

The company was featured in the “Illustrated History of Greater Ridgewood” published in 1906. The feature included information on it’s early history.

The original brewery was established in 1859 by the late John Welz.

The brewery was first established in Scholes Street and Graham Avenue, in the old “Dutchtown” section of Williamsburg. Two years later it was moved to the building on Myrtle and Wycoff Avenues.

In 1897, the brewery was made a limited corporation with John Welz, president; Chas C.D. Zerweck, vice-president, and Harry Roth, secretary and treasurer. These three officers also comprise the Board of Directors and are the owners of all the company stock.

It was called the Welz Brewery until 1883 when Charles C.D. Zerweck and John Welz’s son, also named John, took over the business. Zerweck, a German immigrant, had joined the Welz Brewery in 1878. The business was first listed in the Brooklyn directories as Welz and Zerweck in 1884.

Well and Zerweck was listed in the 1890 Lains Business Directory of Brooklyn and the Trow Business Directory for the Borough of Brooklyn in 1899, 1903 and 1907 (the only years I could find). It was also listed in the “Copartnership and Corporation Directory of the Boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens 1913-1914; John Welz President, Charles Zerweck VP, Henry Roth Treasurer, Capital $1,500,000. Certainly a closely held company, the 1913 -1914 officers were the same ones that were listed in 1897 when the corporation was formed. The address was always listed as Myrtle, corner of Wycoff, or sometimes 1562 Myrtle.

The feature in the “Illustrated History of Ridgewood” goes on to talk a little bit about the growth of the company in both size and volume of business.

If the old adage “tall oaks from little acorns grow” was ever appropriately applied, it is so applied to the Welz & Zerweck Brewery.

By turning out the best beer that the concern could possibly give to consumers the establishment grew, and from an output of 5,000 barrels a year in the beginning, the concern is brewing and selling more than 300,000 barrels per year, and the new additions that have been made allow a capacity of 500,000.

The entire plant and buildings, which include ice plant, brewery, bottling department, shipping department and offices, cover over four acres of ground.

The beer is sold in every part of Long Island and the Greater City, and is shipped to distant parts, such as the Southern States and Puerto Rico.

Perhaps the best illustration of Welz and Zerweck’s growth from the early 1860’s until the turn of the century are two photographs that attended the feature. The first and largest showed the plant as it existed when the feature was written in 1906. The second, inserted into the lower left hand corner shows the original 1862 building at the Myrtle and Wycoff location.

The brewery complex was located right on the border between Brooklyn (Kings County) and Queens County. This results in an interesting story I found in the December 6, 1894 issue of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. It concerns a saloon and hotel that made up a part of the brewery complex until it was demolished around that time. It was entitled “The House That Stands in Two Counties”

The old building attached to the brewery of Welz & Zerweck at Ridgewood, for years used as a barroom and hotel, has been razed and in its place will be built a large and modern structure. A part of it stood on the dividing line of Queens and Kings counties and it is said that years ago, when the excise law was strictly enforced in Brooklyn the bar, which on weekdays stood on the Kings county side, would on Sunday be removed to the town of Newton, a few feet away. For many years past, however, the change of the bar has been discontinued, it being allowed to remain permanently , it was claimed, on the Queens County side

I haven’t seen many newspaper advertisements for their beers, but one in the February 15, 1912 issue of the“Forest Parkway Leader Observer” listed a wide range of products including: Gabrinus Brau, Pilsner Beer, Export Beer, Standard Beer and Sparkling Ale and made it a point that“our beers and ales are brewery bottled only.” They were were all $1.00 per case.

Another advertisement, this one in a May 1910 issue of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle touts: “Gambrinus Bock Beer – Better than Imported.”

Welz and Zerwick apparently maintained branches or maybe sales outlets on Long Island as well. An advertisement for one of them in Sag Harbor was printed in the November 26, 1910 issue of the “Sag Harbor Corrector.” The advertisement showed that prices outside of Brooklyn were higher by 20 to 50 percent ($1.20 to $1.50 vs $1.00).

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It appears that the business continued to operate under the Welz & Zerweck name during the early stages of Prohibition. A June 21, 1921 article in the “Beverage Journal” provided a review of brewery activities (during prohibition) and stated that Welz and Zerweck was making cereal beverages. They were still listed in the Copartnership and Corporation Directory of the Borough of Brooklyn and Queens in 1922, with both Welz and Zerweck as directors, but by 1925 the business had shut down.

According to the May 7, 1925 issue of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, the brewery complex, located at Myrtle and Wycoff was demolished to make way for a new theater and office complex.

The Welz and Zerweck Brewery, one of the oldest landmarks of the Ridgewood section, occupying the triangle formed by Wycoff Ave., Myrtle Ave. and Madison Street., is shortly to be razed to give way to the construction of a modern theater and office building with a street row of stores it was learned today.

The transaction was said to involve nearly $1,000,000 and the purchasers to be a syndicate of business men in Brooklyn and Queens…

The Welz and Zerweck plant has stood on its present site for more than half a century, and until prohibition, was one of the most flourishing Brooklyn breweries. In passing, however, it has been more fortunate than many other breweries. A subway was built through Wycoff Ave. with a station at Myrtle Ave., and a business center for a population of 100,000 has sprung up around the site, making the property of even greater value than ever during the pre-Volstead days.

It is understood that the new theater building will be from five to eight stories high and that work on it will commence in a month or so.

A year later, on May 11, 1926 they held an auction that included:

The last of their former saloon properties…for which, having sold their brewery and retiring from business, they have no further use.

Finally it appears that the the Welz and Zerweck brands were absorbed by Liebmann’s. According to a March 29, 1933 article in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Liebmann’s didn’t plan on continuing with them when National Prohibition ended.

Before Prohibition put a snag in the beer business Liebmann’s has absorbed many famous brands of beer and breweries. They were Peter Doelger’s, Welz & Zerweck’s, George Ehret’s, Obermeyer & Liebmann’s plaza brew, Beadelston & Woerz and the Krumenaker bottling works – and some 30 other brands. With the possible exception of Peter Doelger’s, all of them will remain absorbed, and they will reappear – are now being bottled –  as Liebmann’s.

I found one bottle with a tooled blob finish, several aqua tooled crowns and one brown tooled crown.

I’ve also found a machine made example that exhibits a standard slug plate.