Matchbook
Object number2017.94.13
Manufacturer
Universal Match Corporation
Date1930-1957
OriginSt. Louis, MO
MediumPaper; Metal; Ink; Glass powder; Sand; Red phosphorous; Sulfur
Credit LineGift of Robert Thomas
DescriptionMatchbook containing safety matches. Paperboard cover is off-white. Each side has black, red, and orange background with beer advertisement in black text; one side depicts Fort Pitt Block House and other side has Fort Pitt Pilsner beer bottle. Front has brown strike strip at bottom with staple at center that binds matches. Inside are twenty (20) safety matches with green heads; all matches are intact.DimensionsHeight x Width x Depth: 2.188 × 1.625 × 0.438 in. (5.6 × 4.1 × 1.1 cm)InscriptionsFront cover has black printed text on the logo in top left corner "FORT PITT BR'G CO. / FORT PITT / SHARPSBURG, PA.", black printed text at right "Fort / Pitt / BREWING CO. / BREWERS & BOTTLERS / PITTSBURGH, PA. / P.O. 7709 SHARPSBURG / SUBURB", and red printed text along bottom "CLOSE COVER BEFORE STRIKING MATCH".
Back cover has black printed text at right "Fort / Pitt / BREWING CO. / PITTSBURGH, PA. / P.O. 7709 SHARPSBURG / SUBURB" and beer bottle has red text "Pilsner".
Top edge has black printed text " "THEY HAVE THE SMACK / THAT OTHERS LACK" ".
MarksRed printed text along bottom edge "UNIVERSAL MATCH CORP., ST. LOUIS".
Historical NotesFort Pitt Brewing Company matchbook. 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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