If you’re a regular reader, you’ve probably noticed that this year’s project is posting “Historic Beer Birthdays” with as much information as I can find about each person. It’s been a lot of fun, especially getting to know more about a lot of the early brewers and breweries that make up the history of our brewing industry. One especially fun find was this piece of breweriana which I found when looking into Frederick J. Poth (whose birthday was March 20, 1840). His father, Frederick A. Poth (born March 15, 1840) founded the F. A. Poth & Sons’ Brewery, and his other son Harry A. Poth (July 11, 1881) also worked for the family business. It was one of the largest breweries in Philadelphia in its heyday.
Around 1892, they had a local printer, Avil Printing Co., create a lavish Souvenir Album of 20 pages, with 26 illustrations done by A. M. J. Mueller. The prints are Chromolithographs, a popular process at the time. The booklet presumably would have been given to bars, wholesalers and maybe even consumers as a promotional item, but as these things go, this one is pretty awesome, and gives a great glimpse into the inner workings of a turn of the century American brewery.
Here’s its description from “The Library Company of Philadelphia,” founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1731.
Album containing 26 lithographic illustrations documenting the Philadelphia brewing complex at the northwest corner of Thirty-first and Jefferson Streets, including exterior and interior views of individual buildings within the complex and detailed scenes of laborers operating equipment and transporting the finished product to and from railroad stations. Shows exterior and interior views of the office building, boiler house, stable, and malt house; exterior views only of pitching house, pitching yard, and shipping department; interior views of private offices, beer stube, refrigerating machines and engine room, brew house, fermenting room, beer storage, racking room, wash house, and kiln house; and modes of transport including a delivery wagon loaded with barrels of beer approaching the F.A. Poth depot at Trenton, New Jersey. Includes a “bottled by” list on the last page with names and addresses next to two F.A. Poth bottles of beer. Under the list: “100,836 barrels were sold between January 1, 1890 and January 1, 1891.”
Established in 1865 by Frederick August Poth at the northeast corner of Third and Green Streets, and moved to Thirty-first and Jefferson Streets in 1871. Incorporated in 1877, and later renamed F.A. Poth & Sons, Incorporated.
This is the hardbound cover.
Opening the book, you’re greeted by the title page.
General View of [the] Plant.
Office Building & Beer Strube.
Main Office.
Private Offices.
Boiler House & Interior.
Refrigerating Machines & Engine Room.
Interior Brew House.
Fermenting Room.
Beer Storage.
Beer Storage.
Racking Room & Wash House.
Pitching House & Pitching Yard.
Shipping House & Refrigerator Car.
Stable & Interior.
Malt House.
Interior Malt House.
Kiln House.
Depot at Trenton, N.J.
