Historic Beer Birthday: Robert Leo Hulseman

April 5, 2025 By Jay Brooks

Today is the birthday of Robert Leo Hulseman (April 5, 1932-December 21, 2016). You may not know his name, but you’ve almost certainly used the product he pioneered in the 1970s, especially if you’ve ever been to a party. Hulseman was born in Chicago and began working at the company his father started in 1936, The Solo Cup Company, when he was only eighteen, eventually becoming CEO in 1980. But the reason he deserves to be remembered came in the 1970s when he came up with the now-ubiquitous red solo cup, the cup of choice for countless keg parties, backyard barbecues and almost any other large-scale gathering you can name.

In the early 1970s, Hulseman hired famed Hollywood designer Sandy Dvore to redesign their plastic cups. Dvore had worked on such projects as the title sequence for the Partridge Family, Knot’s Landing, and the Young and the Restless, as well as doing trade ads for the back cover of Variety for many years. He apparently redesigned their logo on the spot, and it was immediately accepted and implemented (and is still in use today). He also suggested that they add some color to the cups themselves, and the initial cup colors were the exact same ones he used in the Partridge Family titles: blue, yellow, and, of course, the iconic red. While other colors have been available, it’s the red that really took off. The company has run numerous consumer surveys over the years, and red always emerges as the favorite by a wide margin. So you may see additional colors from time to time, but the red is likely never going away.

One other innovation that Hulseman created, that you probably use several times a week, is the “Solo Traveler coffee cup lid.” So drink a toast to Robert Leo Hulseman with whatever your favorite beverage happens to be, just make sure you drink it out of a red solo cup.

Historic Beer Birthday: Michael Joseph Owens

January 1, 2025 By Jay Brooks

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Today is the birthday of Michael Joseph Owens (January 1, 1859–December 27, 1923). He “was an inventor of machines that could automate the production of glass bottles.”

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If you’ve ever opened a beer bottle, you’ve probably held something he had a hand in developing, because he made beer bottles cheap and affordable for breweries, and his company has continued to improve upon his designs. Based on his patents, in 1903 he founded the Owens Bottle Company, which in 1929 merged with the Illinois Glass Company in 1929 to become Owens-Illinois, Inc. Today, O-I is an international company with 80 plants in 23 countries, joint ventures in China, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, the United States and Vietnam, with 27,000 employees worldwide and 2,100-plus worldwide patents.

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Michael J. Owens in front of one of his bottling machines from a film shot in 1910.

Here’s a short biography of Owens:

Michael Joseph Owens was an inventor of machines that could automate the production of glass bottles.
Michael J. Owens was born on January 1, 1859, in Mason County, West Virginia. As a teenager, he went to work for a glass manufacturer in Newark, Ohio.
During the late 1800s, Toledo, Ohio was the site of large supplies of natural gas and high silica-content sandstone — two items necessary for glass manufacturing. Numerous companies either formed in or relocated to Toledo, including the New England Glass Company, which relocated to Toledo in 1888. This same year, the company’s owner, Edward Drummond Libbey, hired Owens.
Within a short time, Owens had become a plant manager for Libbey in Findlay, Ohio. At this point in time, glass manufacturers in the United States had to blow glass to produce the bottles. This was a slow and tedious process. Owens sought to invent a machine that could manufacture glass bottles, rather than having to rely on skilled laborers, greatly speeding up the manufacturing process. On August 2, 1904, Owens patented a machine that could automatically manufacture glass bottles. This machine could produce four bottles per second. Owens’s invention revolutionized the glass industry. His machine also caused tremendous growth in the soft drink and beer industries, as these firms now had a less expensive way of packaging their products.
In 1903, after Owens had invented his bottle machine but before he had patented the invention, Owens formed the Owens Bottle Machine Company in Toledo. Libbey helped finance Owens’s company. This firm initially manufactured Owens’s bottle machine. By 1919, the firm had begun to manufacture bottles, and the company changed its name to the Owens Bottle Company. The company grew quickly, acquiring the Illinois Glass Company in 1929. The Owens Bottle Company became known as the Owens-Illinois Glass Company this same year. In 1965, the company changed its name one final time. It became and remains known as Owens-Illinois, Inc.
Owens retired in 1919. He did not live to see his company grow into such an important manufacturer of glass. He died on December 27, 1923, in Toledo, Ohio. Over the course of his life, Owens secured forty-five patents.

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Here’s his biography from his Wikipedia page:

He was born in Mason County, West Virginia on January 1, 1859. He left school at the age of 10 to start a glassware apprenticeship at J. H. Hobbs, Brockunier and Company in Wheeling, West Virginia.
In 1888 he moved to Toledo, Ohio and worked for the Toledo Glass Factory owned by Edward Drummond Libbey. He was later promoted to foreman and then to supervisor. He formed the Owens Bottle Machine Company in 1903. His machines could produce glass bottles at a rate of 240 per minute, and reduce labor costs by 80%.
Owens and Libbey entered into a partnership and the company was renamed the Owens Bottle Company in 1919. In 1929 the company merged with the Illinois Glass Company to become the Owens-Illinois Glass Company.

To read more about Owens’ contributions, check out Michael Owens’ Glass Bottles Changed The World, by Scott S. Smith, Owens the Innovator at the University of Toledo, Today in Science, and the West Virginia Encyclopedia has a history of the Owens-Illinois Glass Company.

Beer In Ads #4660: Miss Rheingold 1962 On The Cover Of Glass Packer

December 27, 2023 By Jay Brooks

Wednesday’s ad is for “Rheingold Beer,” from 1962. This ad was made for the Rheingold Brewery, which was founded by the Liebmann family in 1883 in New York, New York. At its peak, it sold 35% of all the beer in New York state. In 1963, the family sold the brewery and in was shut down in 1976. In 1940, Philip Liebmann, great-grandson of the founder, Samuel Liebmann, started the “Miss Rheingold” pageant as the centerpiece of its marketing campaign. Beer drinkers voted each year on the young lady who would be featured as Miss Rheingold in advertisements. In the 1940s and 1950s in New York, “the selection of Miss Rheingold was as highly anticipated as the race for the White House.” The winning model was then featured in at least twelve monthly advertisements for the brewery, beginning in 1940 and ending in 1965. Beginning in 1941, the selection of next year’s Miss Rheingold was instituted and became wildly popular in the New York Area and beyond. In 1962, Kathy Kersh won the contest and became Miss Rheingold for that year. She was born Kathleen Kroeger Kersh on December 15, 1942 in Los Angeles, California (though one source claimed it was Hawaii). She attended a theatrical school, studying dance and acting. In 1959, she won the title of Miss Junior Rose Bowl, and became a professional model, and later an actress and singer. After her year as Miss Rheingold 1962, she married actor Vince Edwards, best known as Dr. Ben Casey on the TV show of the same name. But they were married for only four months before divorcing, and her daughter was born shortly thereafter when she became a single mother. Some of her more memorable appearances were on Burke’s Law, My Favorite Martian, The Beverly Hillbillies, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and a small part in the film “The Americanization of Emily.” In 1967, she signed a record deal with Power Records, and released two singles. After a small role as Cornelia, one of the Joker’s henchmen, on Batman, she married Burt Ward, who played Robin. That marriage last two years, and afterwards she attended business school and embarked on successful a career in commercial real estate. As far as know, she still lives in Sherman Oaks, California. In this one, not an ad, from November, Miss Rheingold 1962, Kathy Kersh, is featured on the cover of “The Glass Packer,” presumably a trade magazine from the glass packaging industry. She was showing off the new glass bottle pioneered by Rheingold, which they called the “Chug-A-Mug.” Despite the magazine article’s enthusiasm, it didn’t catch on. More’s the pity.

Below is the article about the new Chuch-A-Mug package:

Beer In Ads #3801: Handy Way To Take It Home

July 29, 2021 By Jay Brooks

Thursday’s ad is for “Rainier Beer,” from the 1950s. This ad was made for the Seattle Brewing & Malting Co., who made Rainier Beer, and was later known as the Rainier Brewing Company of Seattle, Washington. This one is from a time when six-packs had not yet become the standard they are today, when companies were still experimenting with what was the right number of cans or bottles for a multi-pack, and Rainier went with six because it was a “handy way to take it home.”

Patent No. 596366A: Stopper Fastener

December 28, 2016 By Jay Brooks

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Today in 1897, US Patent 596366 A was issued, an invention of Robert S. Graham, for his “Stopper Fastener.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes these claims:

This invention relates to a new and useful improvement in devices for holding corks in bottles, the object being to utilize the expansion of the contents of a bottle as an active medium to lock the fastener in position.
The object of my invention is to provide a non-expansible fastener, which is to be inserted loosely in position on the cork in the neck of the bottle manually or by machine, as desired, after which no further manipulation thereof is required, the contents of the bottle expanding and forcing the cork outwardly and locking the fastener and the cork in place. When the fastener has been locked in place, it willy firmly hold the cork against further outward movement, and by providing a hole in the fastener a corkscrew may be inserted to remove the cork, which can easily be done, or the fastener may be first pulled out of place by the introduction of the end of a corkscrew or other instrument thereunder and the cork subsequently removed.

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Patent No. 778680A: Beer Box

December 27, 2016 By Jay Brooks

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Today in 1904, US Patent 778680 A was issued, an invention of Gottlieb Klenk and Jacob F. Fink, for their “Beer Box.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes these claims:

Our invention relates to improvements in metal beer-boxes provided with peculiarly-arranged partitions to form compartments for the reception of the bottles and specific and minor details of construction to strengthen the structure.
The prime object of our invention is to provide a metal box with a nominal number of parts, seamed and fastened, whereby great strength and durability will result.
A further object of our invention is to construct a seam at the bottom of the box to provide a projecting flange and arrange a support at the top to receive a flange of a companion box when they are stored or packed.
\Ve also provide specific improvements in the seams at the corners of the box to resist the force of blows due to the rough handling boxes of this type are subjected to.
The invention also comprehends specific improvements of the partitions forming the bottle-compartments, as well as the particular manner of attaching them.
Furthermore, our invention relates to the specific construction of the means employed for locking the cover, the same consisting of a spring-hasp on the box and a co-acting pivoted engaging member on the cover.

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Patent No. 511600A: Bottle And Stopper Therefor

December 26, 2016 By Jay Brooks

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Today in 1893, US Patent 511600 A was issued, an invention of Everett Ellis, for his “Bottle and Stopper Therefor.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes these claims:

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in beer bottles and cork Stoppers therefor; and it consists substantially in such features thereof as will hereinafter be more particularly described.
In all manner of beer bottles heretofore employed in which cork-Stoppers are used it has been necessary always to employ a cork-screw or other implement for withdrawing the cork or stopper after the same has been forced or expanded into the bottle by any of the usual well known corking machines for the purpose. `The use of a cork-screw or other implement for extracting the cork or stopper is always attended with a great deal of trouble and inconvenience, besides wasting lots of time in many instances, and some forms of which are expensive as for instance that form of device usually applied to counters and which are designed to extract and cast away the cork by one movement of lever or handle.
The object of my invention is to provide a bottle and stopper therefor which shall enable the withdrawal of the latter from the bottle without the aid or use of any manner of cork-screw or other additional or outside device or implement whatsoever, thereby enabling beer or other similar liquids or fluids to be corked up in bottles all ready for use, and ready to be opened by a simple operation of the hand.

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Patent No. 747729A: Automatic Filling Machine

December 22, 2016 By Jay Brooks

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Today in 1902, US Patent 747729 A was issued, an invention of William Koedding, for his “Automatic Filling Machine.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes these claims:

My invention relates to machines for filling bottles and other receptacles with liquid, and has for its principal objects to produce a filling-machine which will operate automatically when the bottle is pressed against it in proper position to be filled, to equalize the pressure in the bottle with the pressure in the supply-pipe before the supply-pipe is opened to permit the liquid to How into the bottle, to provide for automatically stopping the flow of the liquid when the bottle is filled, and to prevent any stale liquid getting into the bottle.

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Patent No. 3628468A: Plastic Pallet With Reinforcing Members

December 21, 2016 By Jay Brooks

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Today in 1971, US Patent 3628468 A was issued, an invention of John A. Angelbeck Jr., assigned to Pack Rite Packaging & Crating, for his “Plastic Pallet with Reinforcing Members.” Here’s the Abstract:

A pallet used for the storage and transporting of containers such as beer kegs and the like. The pallet is formed as a unitary plastic member in a rotational molding operation and includes a pair of spaced outer skins which are internally connected by a plurality of properly spaced webs for internal strength. The skins also have a plurality of strategically located apertures which extend through each of the skins and are formed by webs which extend between the skins. A pair of reinforcing members formed of wood, metal or the like extend longitudinally through the pallet and engage the interiorly presented surfaces of a portion of the skins. The pallet has a plurality of downwardly extending shoulders for engagement with containers on its underface and is also provided with supporting areas on its upwardly presented surface for removably supporting a plurality of like containers.

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