Novelty, Promotional
Object number2017.94.7
Date1949
MediumMetal; Paint
Credit LineGift of Robert Thomas
DescriptionRectangular sheet metal sign with folded edges. Each side has white background with red and black text along top half identifying beer brand. Bottom half of each side has a grid of black squares along bottom half with white text; one side for use as baseball game scoreboard for two games and other side for use as football game scoreboard for four games. Holes punched around the perimeter.DimensionsHeight x Width x Depth: 11.5 × 23.5 × 0.125 in. (29.2 × 59.7 × 0.3 cm)Depth (Actual, due to planar distortion): 0.5 in. (1.3 cm)
InscriptionsEach side has black and red text along top "Fort Pitt Special / BEER".
One side has white text "INNING 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E / VS / VS".
Other side has white text "QUARTER 1 2 3 4 FINAL QUARTER 1 2 3 4 FINAL / VS VS / VS VS".
MarksEach side has white text in bottom right corner "©1949".
Historical NotesFort Pitt Beer promotional sign. Part of a collection of Fort Pitt Brewing Company artifacts that was collected by donor Robert Thomas to document the time his family ran the company (1930s through the 1950s). The donor’s great uncle, Michael Berardino, became president of Fort Pitt Brewing Company two years after one of the original owners and founder, Samuel Grenet, died suddenly in 1935. Grenet had started the business in 1906 with Herman Hechelman. They built a brewery in the suburb of Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania, survived Prohibition and were set to be the number one brewery in the state when Grenet passed. Berardino began an aggressive sales campaign to turn the company around after lagging sales the year before. The company also bought the Victor Brewing Company of Jeannette, Pennsylvania, but continued to produce their signature Old Shay beer. In the early 1950s due to local strikes and an increase in national brand popularity, Fort Pitt struggled. After Berardino died in 1957, the company stopped brewing at the Sharpsburg plant and expanded into other products and became the newly incorporated Fort Pitt Industries. The rights to the brand were sold to Gunther Brewing of Baltimore. In 2010, the Fort Pitt name was purchased by Mark Dudash who began producing Fort Pitt Ale.
Related institution
Fort Pitt Brewing Company
(1906 - 1957)
Related person
Michael Berardino
(died 1957)
Collector
Robert M. Thomas
On View
Not on view
c. 2014
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