Milwaukee's Finest Beer!!

 

That was the famous jingle advertising Blatz -- "I'm from Milwaukee and I ought to know -- it's Blatz, Blatz, Blatz, Blatz -- wherever you go....Blatz is Milwaukee's finest beer!!"  Above a famous native son, Liberace...



It was repeated on tv, radio and in many magazine and newspaper ads, below,with Groucho Marx, revising the slogan to "I've been to Milwaukee..."

When we wrote BirthRights many years ago, we learned all about the famous brewers who made their fortunes in beer in Milwaukee.  We fashioned our main character, the fictional brewer Adam Koenig, after two of the real brewing magnates, today's subject, Valentin Blatz, and Joseph Schlitz, both of whom married the widows of brewers and took over their breweries.  Captain Pabst, you might note below, married one of the daughters of a leading brewer in town.  It seemed like a good way to step up in the world.



1983 Pocket Books edition

 

Bavarian born, Valentin Blatz came to the U.S. in 1848.  He settled in Milwaukee and began a small brewery next door to the City Brewery established by Johann Braun, which started out annually brewing about 150 barrels. 

Like our fictional Adam Koenig,  Val Blatz married Braun's widow and merged the two breweries in 1851.  At this time, their combined output was about 350 barrels a year.

 

Valentin Blatz 1826-1894

By 1880, Blatz brewed 125,0000 barrels, and eventually more than a million.  Like other major Milwaukee brewers, he was involved in marketing and distribution, overseeing contracts with taverns and running a hotel as well as holding banking interests.

 

Hundreds of workers owed their prosperity to Milwaukee brewing interests, though the interrelationship of company unions and management was not always tranquil.

Blatz is now one of the brands brewed by Pabst and it retains a faithful clientele.

The former company headquarters building for Blatz is now part of the Milwaukee School of Engineering.Across the street, part of the old brewery has been converted to luxury condos...

...complete with the original company logo on the corners. 

1892

So grab a brew and join us in a toast to the Milwaukee beer barons -- who worked hard, married well, and built their dynasties.  Prosit!!

BirthRights: A Dangerous Brew is available on Nook, Kindle and from Smashwords.

Schlitz: The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous, Part Two

The Uihlein family guided the company until the 1970’s. Schlitz surpassed Pabst as Milwaukee’s largest brewing operation and from time to time traded places with Budweiser from Anheuser-Busch of St. Louis  as the #1 beer in the nation. In the early 70’s, among other problems, the original brewing process was changed and the brand began to lose its following. After it was acquired by the Stroh Company  and later by the conglomerate Pabst, the original recipe for Schlitz beer was revived and the brand has regained numerous fans.

1950's Schlitz Ad

Like other Milwaukee leading brewers, Schlitz benefitted many local projects, charities and civic organizations.  One of the city’s most popular events was the Great Circus Parade sponsored by Schlitz for many years.  The antique circus wagons of the Circus World Museum of Baraboo, WI, were pulled through the streets of Milwaukee (and a few other cities) by tradition teams of horses, accompanied by many bands, circus performers and animals, and dozens and dozens of clowns, from local amateurs to famous actors such as Ernest Borgnine.

Though after the brewery was sold, the parade disappeared, it has been revived from time to time by Milwaukee’s business and civic leaders.  To learn more about the circus World Museum and their colleciton of Antique Circus wagons, click here.

The last presentation of the Circus Parade in Milwaukee's downtown was the summer of 2009.

Below, the 2009 Circus Parade passes the Milwaukee Art Museum on the lakefront.

The sprawling brewery complex has been extensively re-developed as Schlitz Park. The website is here. Combining adaptive re-use and new construction, the park hosts offices, classooms, studios, community organizations, restaurants, and recreational facilities.

The essential character of the old brewery complex is maintained beside the latest technological innovations.

The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous

Like several of the prominent Milwaukee Brewery titans, the fictional Adam Koenig of BirthRights: A Dangerous Brew married the widow of his boss and became the head of the brewery.  Both Valentin Blatz (next week’s topic) and Joseph Schlitz married brewer’s widows. Captain Pabst, discussed below, married the daughter of a eminent brewer in old Milwaukee, Philip Best.

Joseph Schlitz



Joseph Schlitz (1831-1875) was born in the German town of Mainz and came to the United States in 1850.  He worked for August Krug as a bookkeeper for his Milwaukee brewery and tavern.  When Krug died in 1856 Schlitz took over running the operation and married Krug’s widow, Anna Maria, two years later. The name of the brewery was changed to the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company.  Mrs. Schlitz, who survived Joseph Schlitz by twelve years, dying in 1887.  Control of the brewery passed to the hands of her nephews, the Uihlein Brothers, who had come to the United States and worked in brewing.