Brooklyn brewery – Bay Bottles

Consumers Park Brewing Co., Brooklyn, N.Y.

Established on November 29, 1897, the Consumers’Park Brewing Company was a syndicate of saloon owners that operated Brooklyn’s Consumers’ Park Brewery from 1900 until 1913. This early 1900’s photograph of the brewery recently appeared on an internet sale site.

The circumstances that lead up to the formation of the company were laid out in a December 23, 1897 story published in Brooklyn’s “The Standard Union.”

The production of beer and ale by the large breweries during the past few years has reached an output that hardly seems possible. The output has become centered in the hands of a few large brewers, who by combination have put the output in their own control. A number of the heavy consumers, including a class of dealers who use from 1,000 to 5,000 barrels annually, conceived of an idea of forming a syndicate to manufacture for their own use beer and ale, thus accruing to themselves the profit that heretofore went to the large brewers. It was this proposition that first gave life to what has now become a regularly incorporated company since November 29, 1897, under the name of “The Consumers’ Park Brewing Company…”

The company’s plan, which included much more than just the manufacture and distribution of their own beer, was detailed in a January 13, 1898 “Brooklyn Daily Eagle” story.

The block bounded by Franklin and Washington Avenues, and Montgomery Street, is owned by the company. It is in one of the best parts of the city and adjoins Institute Park and the Botanical Gardens. It is but a stones throw from the Willink entrance of Prospect Park. On this site an immense brewery will be erected, but its promoters say there will be nothing about it in appearance that will not be in keeping with the location. Architecturally the brewery will be an ornament. The grounds around it will be beautifully laid out in walks and drives and here and there a fountain. A hotel will be built with broad verandas running around it and a band will give concerts twice a day. The cuisine will be of a high order, it is promised.

There will be a beer garden with tables under small trees, where Brooklynites can drink beer and listen to the music in the hotel. For those who care to dance there will be built a large ballroom, and there, too, an orchestra will be stationed. There will be a bicycle ring and bowling alleys. Particular attention will be paid to the class of people admitted.

Two years later, with the brewery scheduled to open in the first week of January, the company had assembled over 200 stockholders. The upcoming opening was announced in the December 31, 1899 edition of the “Brooklyn Daily Eagle.”

The new plant of the Consumers’ Park Brewing Company, the stockholders of which number more than 200 saloon keepers in this city and vicinity, and which was organized to fight the trust is to open its doors for business on January 6. On that date the first beer made by the new brewery will be delivered, and it is expected that the saloon men interested in the concern will substitute beer of their own manufacture for that of other brewers.

Advertisements for the “opening” that also included an invitation to inspect the new brewery appeared in several local New York and New Jersey newspapers that week.

Herman Raub, a restaurant owner and hotel keeper, was serving as president of the Consumers Park Brewing Company at the time the brewery opened its doors that January.

That being said, he almost didn’t make it through the opening day festivities when the temporary platform he was seated on collapsed. The January 5, 1900 edition of “The Times Union” told the story.

A bad accident marked the formal opening and inspection of the Consumers’Park Brewery at 946-973 Franklin Avenue, yesterday. The company entertained guests on Wednesday and the festivities continued yesterday afternoon. During the afternoon for the amusement of those assembled the heavy truck horses were put through their paces in the brewery yard and the trucks loaded with kegs. The guests were seated on a temporary platform where they could see. Right in the midst of the performance the platform collapsed and the occupants were thrown heavily to the ground.

Raub survived the event with a broken foot and went on to serve as president until 1907. This photograph of Raub, along with the company’s entire board of Directors appeared in the July 1, 1900 edition of the “Brooklyn Daily Eagle.”

Shortly after the brewery opened, the promised hotel, cafe and concerts were all up and running on the brewery grounds, as evidenced by announcements that began appearing in the Brooklyn newspapers in the Fall of 1901. The following, touting a concert by the “Tyrolean Zither and Warbler Sextet,” appeared in The December 22, 1901 edition of the “Brooklyn Daily Eagle.”

In case you’re interested, the show was reviewed in the January 19, 1902 edition of the “Brooklyn Daily Eagle”

The Tyrolean Zither and Warbler Sextet had made quite a hit in their Sunday concerts at the Consumers’ Park Brewery, opposite the Willing entrance to Prospect Park. They appear in national costume and the snap and sparkle of their music are very pleasing.

The above advertisement finished up with the phrase::

Always on Draught, the adjacent Consumers’ Park Brewing Co.’s AMERICAN STANDARD BEER.

A lager, according to their January, 1900 grand opening announcements, that brand was being produced at the brewery from day one.

The “American Standard” Beer, light and dark, one of the best brews in the market, will be on draught at all our customers’, on and after Saturday, January 6, 1900.

Four months later, in the Spring of 1900, the company introduced a Bock Beer as well. This advertisement inviting the retail trade to their “First Bock Beer Festival” appeared in the April 1, 1900 edition of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.”

Their Bock Beer Festival ultimately went on to become an annual spring time event, however, it was their “American Standard” that was the brewery’s number one seller. A story commemorating the company’s one year anniversary provided some details. It appeared in the January 5, 1901 issue of the “Standard Union.”

The Consumers’ Park Brewing Company’s opening a year ago will be recollected by many. Since that time the officers, headed by the president, Herman Raub, have made the company one of the leading breweries in Brooklyn. A few days ago the company published a statement which shows that the sales for the first year nearly reached 72,000 barrels, and that a dividend of 7 percent, was payable Jan. 15, 1901. This is a remarkable showing, considering that a year ago the company was a novice, and credit is due to the management for its ability and intelligence in obtaining such satisfactory results.

While the above advertisement mentioned a first year production of 72,000 barrels, an advertisement included in the same edition of “The Times Union” strove to be more accurate. It was, in fact, only 71,953 11/12 barrels.

“American Standard’s” main clientele was the company’s 200 or so stockholders, however, they did have at least one unique customer and from a marketing perspective they certainly made the most of it. Consider the following story that appeared in the February 24, 1902 edition of “The Brooklyn Citizen..”

BROOKLYN BEER FOR PRINCE HENRY

It Was Ordered from the Consumers’ Park Brewing Company and Delivered in Style.

All the beer used on board of the Kaiser’s yacht Hohenzollern is supplied by the Consumers’ Park Brewing Company, of Brooklyn. It is certainly a recognition of the progress of American industry if these German sailors select a strictly American beer to quench their thirst and the brewing company can justly be proud of this fact.

The Consumers’ Brewing Company had a wagon built specially for the purpose of sending the beer on board. The special delivery wagon attracted considerable attention going through the streets of New York and Brooklyn. Being decorated in white and gold, showing the imperial crown and the German colors on each side, it certainly presented a most impressive appearance. The brewery had no difficulty in selecting four beautiful horses from its large stable, as all the horses are first class in every respect. The horses’ harnesses are richly ornamented with silk ribbons and rosettes. In order to promptly deliver the beer the managers of the brewery had two of its best drivers, dressed in tasteful uniform, placed in charge of this fine team.

Versions of this story appeared in several Brooklyn newspapers that day each of which was followed up with this advertisement.

At some point the brewery even added a “Hohenzollern Brau,” to their beer menu, as evidenced by this October 5, 1907 advertisement found in the “Brooklyn Daily Eagle.” By that time they were also making a “Double Stout” and “India Pale Ale” as well.

In 1907, Herman Raub was forced out as president by the company’s Board of Directors, replaced by August Ludeman. Raub’s August 6, 1915 obituary in the “Brooklyn Daily Eagle” suggested that the reasoning behind his removal was never revealed:

Mr. Raub lost out in the Consumers’ Park Brewery venture. After he had organized it and had long been its president and general manager he was forced out for a reason that has never become public by the board of directors in 1907. He took the case to court at the time in an attempt to prevent his removal but was removed before he could serve an injunction he had obtained.

Six years later, in 1913, the Consumers’ Park Brewing Company merged with the New York and Brooklyn Brewing Company. The merger was reported in the January 3, 1913 edition of the “Brooklyn Daily Eagle.”

Another step toward the consolidation of the breweries of Brooklyn has been taken by the directors of the Consumers’ Park Brewing Company and of the New York and Brooklyn Brewing Company, who have drawn up an agreement for the merger of the two concerns into what will be styled as the Interboro Brewing Company.

The stockholder vote held on January 15, 1913 was unanimous and the plan moving forward was summarized in a January 23, 1913 “Brooklyn Daily Eagle” story.

The plant of the New York and Brooklyn, which in itself, represents a merger of several minor brewing companies. will eventually be shut down, all of the output henceforth to be manufactured at the Consumers plant, which is said to be one of the finest in Brooklyn. While no definite plans have yet been formulated as to the ultimate disposition of the New York and Brooklyn’s plant, it is probable that a new company may be formed and the plant converted into an artificial ice plant,

The new Interboro Brewing Company is now the third largest brewery in the borough.

Over the next several years, the brewery operated under the Interboro (sometimes Interborough) Brewing Company name. During this time, newspaper stories suggest that the former Consumers Park facility was noted more for their safety violations than for their product. The one receiving the most attention involved a smoke condition that continuously impacted nearby Ebbets Field, home of the Brooklyn Dodgers. The situation was described in a March 16, 1916 “Times Union” story.

The Interborough Brewing Company of 964 Franklin Avenue, was fined $250 today in the Court of Special Sessions for violating the Sanitary Law. Frank H. Schmitz, of 99 Hawthorne Street, engineer of the concern, pleaded guilty.

Charles Ebbett, Jr., claimed that the dense smoke coming from the plant of this company had caused $40,000 damage to Ebbetts Field.

“We had to paint all the fences and the stands,” said Mr. Ebbetts. “Because of the coating on them caused by the black smoke from this brewing company. We lost a lot of patronage too, because people got tired of having their hats and cloths ruined and getting cinders in their eyes.

Schmitz told Justices Salmon, Gavin and Edwards that he has ordered a better grade of coal, but that as yet he had been unable to have it delivered to him.

Whether the better grade of coal helped is not clear however the situation likely resolved itself when the brewery shut down sometime in 1917 or 1918. At that time the rationing of fuel as a result of World War I, not to mention looming Prohibition, was taking its toll on the brewing industry. A September 7, 1918 story in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle made it clear that the Interboro Brewing Company had been extremely hard hit.

An official of the Interborough Brewing Company, formerly the Consumers’ Park Brewing Company, said:

“The situation is very hard on us. Of course we are closed now and have been for some time. We closed because of high taxes and the lack of fuel and material. We were among the first to comply with the suggestion of the Breweries Board of Trade to consolidate and the Ebling plant has been making our beer.”

An advertisement in the May 6, 1919 edition of the “Brooklyn Daily Eagle,” signaled the official end of the plant that had opened on January 6, 1900.

Several of the original brewery buildings remain to this day. This is evident by comparing the early 1900’s photograph of the brewery with a similar view from today, courtesy of Google Maps.

The two buildings in the foreground of todays view are clearly visible as the third and fourth buildings in the older photo. The larger building is also visible in both photos however it appears that the original pitched roof has been removed.

The bottle I found is a champagne style, approximately 12-ounces in size. Machine made, it likely dates to the latter half of the 1900 to 1913 time frame when the brewery operated under that name.

The embossing on the bottle includes the company’s trademark, described like this in the November 20, 1899 edition of the “American Brewer’s Review:”

Essential Features: The representation of a broken triangular feature, composed of three diamond shaped figures, arranged with their adjacent points or apices touching.

The trademark (no. 33,658) was dated October 31, 1899 in the U.S. patent records; several months prior to the brewery’s grand opening.

Joseph Eppig Brewery, Brooklyn, N.Y.

The Joseph Eppig Brewery started business in 1888 and continued until 1914. The brewery was one of many businesses featured in an article on “Industry and Commerce” published in the May 23, 1908 edition of the Staunton (Va.) Daily Leader. Much of the information and several of the quotes that follow were gleaned from that feature.

The brewery’s founder, Joseph Eppig was born in Germany on June 21, 1844 and came to the United States in 1857.

After working for a number of years on the farm of an uncle who had located near Baltimore, he decided to enter the employ of an elder brother, Leonard Eppig, who had founded a brewery in Brooklyn. Joseph Eppig showed unusual aptitude for the business and speedily was made brewmaster, which important post he held for seventeen years.

Early in the year 1888 Mr. Eppig, who for a long period had cherished hopes of going into business for himself, realized his ambition, and in partnership with Frank Ibert established the Joseph Eppig Brewery…

The 19th of March is a red letter day in the history of the brewery for it was on that date in 1888 that the first delivery of beer was made from that plant

Eppig & Ibert was listed in the 1889 Brooklyn City Directory with an address of Central Avenue, corner of Grove Street but the partnership was short-lived.

In less than twelve months Mr. Eppig bought out his partner, and thereafter was the sole owner.

Ibert would go on to open his own brewery nearby on the corner of Evergreen Avenue and Linden Street.

The Joseph Eppig Brewery office of 176 Grove Street was listed in the Brooklyn directories and later, phone books, up through 1914. The brewery itself ran the entire length of Central Avenue in the block between Grove Street and Linden Street.

Early in the company’s history, they were one of a handful of New York City brewers who supported brewery worker’s demands for shorter hours and ultimately they became one of the first brewers to recognize union labor. Their agreement with the brewers’ union was printed in the April 18, 1892 edition of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. (It certainly highlighted the need for unions at that time!)

AGREEMENT OF UNION BREWERS

The brewers’ union has made an agreement for a year, to take effect today, restricting the employees to union men, making ten hours a day’s work, six days in the week, with two hours on Sunday, with wages at $16 and $18 a week. The Brooklyn breweries affected are those of Frank Ibert, Joseph Eppig, George Grauer, and the Fort Hamilton Company.

The brewery brewed two brands of beer that were only sold locally.

Two brands of beer are there brewed – the “Standard,” a light beer, and the “Wuerzburger,” a dark brew. They are sold on draught and also bottled by the brewery for family and hotel trade. Nothing but lager beer is brewed.

The business of the Joseph Eppig Brewery is confined to local trade and nearby points in Long Island, delivery being had in various distributing centers Hollis, Jamaica, etc.

The business never incorporated. A family operation it was run by Joseph Eppig until his death in September, 1907 after which his family continued the business.

Since the death of its founder the Joseph Eppig Brewery has been conducted by Katherine Eppig, his widow, as executrix of the Joseph Eppig estate. She is assisted by her sons, Theodore C. and C. John, the former being business manager and the latter supervising the practical end of the plant.

In 1914 the Eppig estate sold the brewery. An item announcing the sale appeared in the August 9,1914 edition of the Brooklyn Citizen.

Among the latest Brooklyn transactions are the following: the J. Chr. G. Hupfel Brewing Company, of No. 229 East Thirty-eighth Street, Manhattan, purchased from the estate of Joseph Eppig the plant of the Joseph Eppig Brewing Company in Brooklyn. The property consists of two large brick and one frame structures, occupying an area about 200′ x 500′ in Central Avenue, Grove and Linden Streets.

The bottle I found is champagne style and approximately 12 oz. The embossing includes a trademark that appears to be an eagle with a beer keg dangling from its mouth by means of a short length of rope. Machine made it was likely made in the last 10 years of the business.

On a final note – Joseph’s brother Leonard, also a long-time Brooklyn brewer, was listed in the Brooklyn directories dating back to the early 1860’s. His April 10, 1893 obituary in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle stated:

In 1867 he was instrumental in organizing the firm of Fischer and Eppig, establishing a small brewery on the corner of Central Avenue and George Street…In 1879 he purchased Mr. Fischer’s interest in the firm.

This was certainly the brewery where Joseph served as brewmaster for seventeen years (roughly 1870 to 1887) prior to leaving in 1888 to start the Joseph Eppig Brewery.

Listed at 24 George Street and later at 193 Meserole Street in Brooklyn, I’ve seen it referred to as Leonard Eppig’s Germania Brewery and the Leonard Eppig Brewing Company.

The Eppig name was recently revived by a craft brewery located in San Diego California called J & L Eppig Brewing. According to their web site (eppigbrewing.com) it’s run by members of the Eppig family. Their slogan is:

Eppig Brewing – Established 1866 – Reinvented 2016

Trommer’s Evergreen Brewery, Brooklyn, N.Y.

trommer

The story of Trommer’s Evergreen Brewery begins with John F. Trommer, a German immigrant, who for many years served as the brew-master at Brooklyn’s William Ulmer Brewery. A story in the June 15, 1895 edition of the (Brooklyn) Times Union featuring several Brooklyn brewers included a piece on William Ulmer that mentioned Trommer.

Mr. John F. Trommer is the brew-master. This gentleman was born in Germany. His experience has been with leading plants. His connection with William Ulmer extends back a long period. This firm clearly appreciates the efforts of Mr. Trommer. Said a Philadelphia brewer: “Mr. Trommer is one of the most skillful brewers on the continent. He appears wedded to the William Ulmer Brewery, and whenever I have been in Brooklyn, I have always found this man, honest as the day is long, at his post, advancing in every possible way the best interests of the brewery.”

Ultimately Trommer did leave Ulmer and went out on his own, purchasing the plant of Stehlin and Breitkopf sometime in 1896. The brewery listed at 1632 Bushwick Avenue had just been completed in the summer of 1895 when Joseph Stehlin suddenly passed away in December of that year. Unfortunately, less than a year later, on May 2, 1897, Trommer also passed away at which time his son George took over.

The brewery operated under the name Breitkoph & Trommer for a short time before incorporating under the name John F. Trommer Evergreen Co., in August, 1897. The announcement appeared in the August 2, 1897 edition of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.

Another Brewery for Brooklyn

The John F. Trommer Evergreen Co. of Brooklyn was incorporated with the Secretary of State today with a capital stock of $175,000. The directors are: George F. Trommer and Caroline Trommer of Brooklyn; William G. Ringler, Lorenz Zellar and Edward Miehling of New York City.

Around the same time the company submitted a trademark application for the “Evergreen Brewery” name. Later that year the registration was published in the November 20, 1897 edition of the (Brooklyn) Standard Union.

George Trommer continued to be listed as President and his mother, Caroline Trommer, as Treasurer in the “Copartnership and Corporation Directory” of the Boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens 1913-1914. How long they remained active in the business is unclear but George continued to list himself as a brewery executive in the 1940 census records. Caroline passed away in 1930, George in 1956.

The Evergreen Brewery expanded around the original Stehlin and Breitkopf plant location at the corner of Bushwick Avenue and Conway Street, and throughout the years they continued to list their address as 1632 Bushwick Avenue. In addition to the Brewery, the complex included a restaurant and beer garden. A 1903 artist rendering of the brewery complex was resurrected 60 years later in the June 20, 1963 edition of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.

An advertisement in the October 5, 1907 issue of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle provided actual photographs of the beer garden entrance and interior of the restaurant. It called the restaurant “one of the best appointed restaurants in Brooklyn”

Another advertisement, this one published in the June 1, 1913 edition of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle went much further, calling the complex “A Great Family Resort, Cool, Inviting, Entertaining, Always.”

The advertisement went on to provide a colorful description of the complex that now included, among other things, bowling alleys.

It can accommodate and entertain 4,000 people at one time. The entire property consists of 200,000 square feet. The main ballroom accommodates 1,000 couples.

The Gardens surrounding the main building are set with numerous maple trees and hedges of California privet, which afford shade and country atmosphere to one of the prettiest “summer spots” in Greater New York. It is the finest park of the kind in the City; illuminated at night by countless colored lanterns and incandescent lights.

Trommer’s has been for years and is, the rendezvous for automobilists for the hasty snack and full course dinner. The restaurant is completely equipped for the entertainment of large parties and its cuisine and service is unsurpassed. The Bowling Alleys in the main building are open for dates during the coming season. Fine instrumental music every evening by Fred A Reese’s Instrumental Band. Vocal entertainment by male singers every evening and Sunday afternoon and evening.

If you would spend a pleasant afternoon or evening come to Trommer’s. Take your wife and family. All cars – surface and elevated- transfer within one block of the door.

The Evergreen Brewery was one of just a few breweries to make an all-malt beer with 100% barley and wheat malt and hops (no other additives like corn, rice, cane sugar, etc.). A May 23 1908 feature on Commerce and Business in the Staunton (Va) Daily Leader included a piece on the Evergreen Brewery that stressed this point.

“Quality, not quantity,” is their motto. No effort is made to rival competing companies’ bulk of output, but when it came to grade of beers they determined to establish an unsurpassed standard, that they have succeeded is attested by the constantly increasing demand for Trommer brews, despite the fact that they are only to be had at a higher price than is ordinarily charged.

Nothing but the finest quality of malt and imported hops and yeast, besides water, enter into its components. On principle Mr. Trommer refuses to substitute rice or corn for the more expensive malt, or to use glucose or chemicals. The net result is a beverage which for absolute purity, fine flavor and wholesomeness has no superior among either foreign or domestic beers.

The June 1, 1913 Brooklyn Daily Eagle advertisement mentioned three Grand Prize Pure Malt Beers and went on to tout a new addition – our “Augustiner Brau.”

We wish to inform you that we have produced, in addition to our celebrated three perfect brews of Grand Prize Pure Malt Beers Pilsner, Muenchner and Bavarian (the foremost bottled beers for family, restaurant, hotel and club use) a new brew of very finest quality – our Augustiner Brau – “…a rich nutritious, liquid food, contributing to the strength of body and nerves.”

During Prohibition Trommer’s managed to expand the business by lending money and giving support to potential owners of hot dog restaurants as long as they’d feature Trommer’s (de-alcoholized) White Label Malt Brew.

Business was so good that sometime in the early 1930’s they opened a second plant in Orange NJ.

In 1933, with the end of Prohibition looming, this March 23rd (Brooklyn) Times Union story announced that Trommer’s was one of the first brewers to obtain a permit to bottle the real thing.

With the amber brew sloshing merrily into the great beer vats of the city’s breweries, three of the biggest beer plants in the east-located in Brooklyn-were among the first eight in the State to get permits to bottle the thirst quencher and store it until the legal sale date at 12:01 A.M. April 7.

Trommer’s, the Schaefer Brewing Co. and Piel Bros. were the borough plants whose permits were issued today by the Bureau of Industrial Alcohol in Manhattan, which is handling the permits. These plants, which had been making near beer with its vitality drawn out under Prohibition ruling, now may let the stuff sizzle up to 3.2 before bottling.

Trommer’s continued to use the “White Label” brand name after Prohibition ended and by the mid-1930’s they were advertising it in their new “stubby” style bottle that was now “no deposit and no return.” This and similar advertisements were prevalent in the 1936 editions of New York City newspapers.

Their bottle may have changed but the commitment to an “all malt” product never did. This partial advertisement published in the May 21, 1948 edition of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle continued to stress that White Label was “brewed solely of malt and hops.”

The late 1940’s began to spell the end for Trommer’s. According to a June 10, 2014 Post on brownstoner.com, in 1948 and 1949 two separate strikes by brewery workers shut down the NYC breweries including Trommers. The second strike lasted for 72 days, allowing out of town brewers to get a foot hold within NYC. Worse for Trommer’s was the strikers who had taken over the facility didn’t take care of their unique strain of yeast (required for fermentation) and it died. Trommer’s had to begin a new strain of yeast and this radically changed the taste of their beer.

Trommers ultimately sold the Orange N, J. plant to Liebmann’s (Rheingold) in 1950. The sale was covered in the November 29, 1950 edition of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.

Trommer’s Sells New Jersey Plant

With the sale of its Orange (NJ) plant to Liebmann Breweries, Inc., the John F. Trommer Brewery firm will conduct all of its operations at its borough plant, 1632 Bushwick Ave., early in 1951.

An official of Trommer’s said today that all deliveries will be made from the Brooklyn plant. With the increase in its operations, capacity of the Bushwick Ave. facilities will be increased…

The promise to increase capacity at the Brooklyn plant never materialized and on February 9, 1951 the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported that they sold their Bushwick Avenue facilities to Piel Brothers.

William Piel, chairman of the board of directors of Piels Bros., well known brewers for almost three-quarters of a century, announced yesterday the purchase of the Brooklyn brewing properties of the John F. Trommer Co. This acquisition joins together two famous names in brewing, Piels Bros., founded in 1883 and John F. Trommer Co., founded in 1897, who have been neighbors in Brooklyn for over half a century…

Terms of the purchase will give Piel Bros. ownership of Trommer’s fixed properties, inventories and good will, including the right to brew and distribute under the Trommer label, which Piel Bros., will continue to do…

Trommer’s White Label Beer advertisements that included the Piel Bros.’ name began appearing soon after. This White Label ad appeared in the September 13, 1951 issue of the New York Daily News.

The Trommer’s Brooklyn plant apparently closed in the mid-1950’s and was demolished sometime in the mid-1960’s. The Trommer label was acquired by the Schaefer Brewing Company sometime in January, 1975. According to the January 24, 1975 edition of the (Allentown Pa.) Morning Call:

Schaefer is the one to brew Piels beer

The F & M Schaefer Brewing Co. has signed an agreement “to make and sell the entire volume of Piels and Trommer brands of beer,” a company spokesman said yesterday.

When negotiations were under way, Schaefer reported an agreement would provide for manufacture and marketing of the two brands at the Lehigh Valley Brewery of Schaefer in Fogelsville. It would almost double the present Folgelsville production and bring it close to the rated capacity of the plant here of 2.5 million barrels annually…

The trademarks, trade names and brewing formula of Piels will be preserved.

It’s not exactly clear to me exactly when the Trommer name and label disappeared from the market. It disappeared in newspaper advertisements well before the Schaefer acquisition.

I’ve found a total of four differently embossed Trommer bottles, all champagne style tooled crowns (12 oz). Two, both brown, have the embossed name “John F Trommer (one script and one block letter slug plate) and the other two, one aqua and one brown, are embossed Trommer’s Evergreen Brewery. The aqua version includes their “star bearing the letter E” trademark.

Recognizing all four versions are tooled crowns I don’t think the various designs are any indication of age. They all likely date from the early 1900’s.

The May 23, 1908 Staunton Daily Leader feature included a description of the Trommer bottling operation around the time these bottles were likely in use.

Besides brewing beer, Mr. Trommer has a perfectly appointed bottling department. To those unfamiliar with the pains here taken to insure perfect bottling this department is a revelation. The wonderful bottle cleansing machine is rivaled by the equally interesting pasteurizing machine, while the contrivance which puts two labels on a bottle at once as fast as a man can feed the machine is scarcely less a marvel of ingenuity.

And this October 5, 1907 Brooklyn Daily Eagle photograph included a photograph of the Trommer bottling operation at that time.

I’ve also found a machine made export bottle. Apparently made during Prohibition, the bottle, including the embossed “Trommer’s” name, exactly matches the bottle in a mid 1920’s advertisement for White Label.