Today in 1942, US Patent 230815 A was issued, an invention of James C. Mullen, assigned to the Verdi Bros Cooperage Company, for his “Beer Barrel.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes these claims:

This invention relates to barrels, vats and the like and more particularly to the type of barrels employed in the shipment and dispensation of malt-liquors and similar products.

This invention specifically relates to barrels made up of ply Wood laminations.

It is a common practice that barrels, used for the purposes referred to, are preferably built up of barrel staves of which their end portions are made much heavier than their middle portions, whereby to resist the severe handling in shipment.

When employing ply wood laminations in the manufacture of barrel staves, a thickening and thereby strengthening of their end portions introduces however certain mechanical difficulties.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a practical barrel stave comprising wood ply laminations and of which the physical contour of said stave, approximates or duplicates those of the conventional one-piece, oaken staves.

A further object is to provide a stave adapted for the manufacture of barrels, and of which the wood ply lamination utilized therein are formed and arranged in a manner to give to the barrel all of the desirable characteristics of the conventional oaken barrel, while being cheaper to manufacture, stronger in construction and therefore more enduring.