Coaster
Object number2017.94.19
Date1930-1957
MediumMetal; Wax paper; Ink
Credit LineGift of Robert Thomas
DescriptionFlat circular beer coaster with shallow depression at center. Front is red, silver, off-white, and black thin metallic material and reverse is off-white wax paper-like material. Front has ribbed perimeter. Front has, from perimeter inward: red border; thick silver circle; thin black circle; thick off-white circle with red beer name; thin black oval; thick silver oval with red banner at top and bottom with silver text and black hops at left and right; thin black oval; and white oval with black image of horse-drawn carriage. Reverse is undecorated.DimensionsDiameter x Depth: 3.875 × 0.125 in. (9.8 × 0.3 cm)InscriptionsFront has red and silver text "Old Shay / De Luxe / FORT PITT BREWING CO. / JEANNETTE, PA. / Ale Beer".
Historical NotesOld 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
