Images(4)

Opener, Bottle

Object number2017.94.9

Manufacturer Vaugman

Date1930-1957

OriginChicago, IL

MediumMetal

Credit LineGift of Robert Thomas

DescriptionSilver metal bottle opener. Rounded triangular head with opening at center. Narrow neck leads to rounded rectangular handle. Underside is hollow. Front of handle has beer bottle outline with imprinted beer brand name inside.DimensionsLength x Width x Depth: 4 × 1.563 × 0.5 in. (10.2 × 4 × 1.3 cm)
InscriptionsFront of handle has beer bottle outline with imprinted text inside "Old Shay / ALE".
MarksBase of head's opening has engraved text "VAUGMAN / CHICAGO".
Historical NotesOld Shay beer bottle opener. 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

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