Coaster
Object number2017.94.17
Date1930-1957
MediumPaperboard; Ink
Credit LineGift of Robert Thomas
DescriptionFlat rounded square light brown paperboard beer coaster. Two-sided.
One side has rounded red trianglular border with inset rounded red triangle; red text between the lines has product information. At apex of central triangle is image of Fort Pitt Block House inside a red border circle, and at center of triangle is beer brand name. Front bottom edge has red printed text.
Other side has yellow background at top with black printed beer brand name. Center has black image of a horse-drawn carriage. Bottom has yellow rectangle with black outline and black printed text.DimensionsHeight x Width x Depth: 3.375 × 3.375 × 0.063 in. (8.6 × 8.6 × 0.2 cm)InscriptionsOne side has red printed text just inside the outer triangular border line: "Extra Special" at left, "Premium Brewed" at right, and "BEER" at bottom. Light brown text at center reads "Fort / Pitt". Red printed text along bottom edge reads "FORT PITT BREWING CO., SMITHTON, PA. [illegible union label]".
Other side has black printed text at top "Old Shay / GOLDEN / ALE" and bottom "FORT PITT BREWING CO. / SMITHTON, PA. [illegible union label with "42" to the right]".
Historical NotesFort Pitt Beer and Old Shay beer coaster. 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
1930-1957
1930-1957
1930-1957
1930-1957
The Victor Brewing Company
