The Royce Files

When compared to the more elaborate scene-o-rama  Hamm's signs , this one is plain simple. I saw this example at one of the local pawn shops. These simpler signs still have a bit of value because of the desirability of the Hamm's name. Also note that the crest is not an image but molded. My guess you can get one of these for between $50-150 depending on condition. I forgot how much the pawn shop was charging- my thought was $65. This sign was probably made in the later period of the original Hamm's label- my guess 1970s or 1980s. It seems to have the styling of the Olympia years. Hamm's started to lose traction as it attempted to go national in the 1960s. In 1970s the label was traded around to different brewers including Olympia. It is still brewed today, albeit mostly in the upper Midwest. I tried it once. It was okay but nothing distinctive to my poor tasting skill. It is odd that a beer with such recognizable marketing diminished. Yet, that was sign of the ti...

It is the dead of winter and what should one do? Grab a fine winter ale while they are to be had (such as Winter's Bourbon Cask Ale .) and read a bit about what signs of beer I have found in my varied travels. The entry today takes us back to late summer and the Minnesota State Fair. O'Gara's has quite the setup now at the fairgrounds. What used to be the St. Bernard's dining hall has been transformed into pub-like beer hall with plenty of wood trimmings and signage. While on my stop there I had breakfast and not beer. Not sure what Phil would say about that. Our sign however is not of the Smithwicks or Guinness or eve the Finegan's kind. Instead it comes from the brewery known as Schell's- that claims to be the 2nd oldest family owned brewery and is the largest brewery in Minnesota. You can read the details here . Over a 150 years of brewing- surviving prohibition and the big beer aquisition era. I have sampled some Schell's but have not really set...

I was surprised to find this on my bike trip last summer. This actually was the men's bathroom mirror at the Hawk Museum campground. That spread of cold cuts and fixins certainly looked delicious after a hard day of pedaling and slogging through the rain. Canadian Ace was produced by the Manhattan Brewing Company of Chicago . So its not really Canadian beer. So I doubt Cal Clutterbuck or Sidney Crosby will be drinking it. There was also a lawsuit contending the misuse of name Canadian but I am not sure of the outcome. As it so happens Manhattan Brewering had connections to organized crime, specifically associates of Al Capone. Trying to shake their mobster owned image, Manhattan became Canadian Ace Brewing Company in 1947 ( although elsewhere I found the name changed in 1933.) They closed in 1968. I am unsure of the date of the mirror, but I guess it was somewhere between the 1940s and the 1960s. I have yet to find one of these online to compare. Most Canadian Ace collecti...

This one's a hard one primarily because it is known in the US today as something else. Thomas Carling began homebrewing in 1818 in London, Ontario, Canada. In 1840 he built a brewery. In 1898 a Cleveland brewery purchases the rights to brew the Carling lager. Black Label beer slowly gets nationwide distribution. "Hey Mabel! Black Label." was a popular marketing slogan during one period. Eventually through numerous ownership changes this brand of beer is just known as Carling. What I didn't know was that this lager originated in Canada and not England. This brand is all over in Britain. They are shirt sponsors for the Old Firm- football teams Glasgow Celtic and Rangers. It seems as if this label's Canadian influence has been forgotten. Molson Coors owns the label (now called Carling) but they seem to market it as an import from England. Phil probably dislikes this kind of pretenion from a beer. Our sign, however, comes from the Heileman ownership days when it was...

Last time we looked at Hamm's and this time we'll look at a rival beer brewed just a few miles away from the Hamm's brewery- Schmidt. I forgot where I discovered this sign, but I think that it was on Wabasha St S in St. Paul just before it collides with Ceasar Chavez St. Note the ghost sign that this Schmidt sign covers. I think it looks like Hamm's. Schmidt was brewed out West 7th Street, not far from where I spent the earlier years of my life. The brewery is sort of a landmark these days. Some of my relatives lived in the neighborhood behind it on the Mississippi river. My father claims beer used to be stored in the caves by the river. The beer is still around but it is brewed in Wisconsin.

Martin Luther thought the brewed beverage was a way God showed us he loves us. Not sure of the accuracy of the quote. Here's an historical account of beer which Martin Luther would have imbibed. Here's a new feature for the blog- which I think Phil would wholeheartedly approved of- Signs of Beer. I hope to use this to display some odd or unusual or other stuff pertaining to the marketing of beer. Our first installment comes from an antique store in Hastings, MN. It is a a Hamm's Beer Sign. I remember seeing plenty of these as child before the demise of Hamm's. These type of signs have become highly collectible. This one was around $800. The one next to it was even more expensive and had the ever rare moving background. Hamm's tended to use woodsy type scenery to promote the brew. There was even a Hamm's song which intoned-"From the land of sky blue waters...."