Images(3)

Piece, Display

Object number2017.94.24

Date1930-1957

MediumPlastic; Paint; Metal; Metal wire; Paper

Credit LineGift of Robert Thomas

DescriptionPlastic advertising display piece. Red rectangular base with slanted sides, extended foot, and extended top. Atop base is three-dimensional horse-drawn carriage occupied by a man and a woman and being pulled by a white horse with black mane and tail. Figures and horse appear hand-painted. Carriage has two black metal wheels with metal axle and metal wire reins. Front of base has raised yellow painted beer brand name. Underside is covered in brown paper affixed with metal staples around the perimeter.DimensionsHeight x Width x Depth: 10.75 × 13.875 × 4.5 in. (27.3 × 35.2 × 11.4 cm)
InscriptionsFront of base has raised yellow painted text "Old Shay / LAGER / BEER & / ALE".
Historical NotesOld Shay Beer advertisement. 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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