Images(4)

Vessel, Condiment

Object number2017.94.27

Manufacturer Muth

Date1930-1957

OriginBuffalo, NY

MediumGlass; Metal; Paper; Ink; Adhesive

Credit LineGift of Robert Thomas

DescriptionSaltshaker or pepper shaker in the shape of a miniature brown glass beer bottle. Cylindrical body with long tapered neck leading to circular mouth. One seam. Silver metal lid in the shape of a beer cap with crimped bottom perimeter and nine holes on top at center. Paper Old Shay Beer labels adhered on neck and body.DimensionsHeight x Diameter: 4 × 1.125 in. (10.2 × 2.9 cm)
InscriptionsNeck label has red text at center "Old Shay / Ale".

Body label has black and red text "De Luxe / Old Shay / Ale / FORT PITT BREWING CO. / JEANNETTE, PA."
MarksRaised text on underside "MUTH / PAT PEND / BUFFALO".

Bottle has raised number "5" near the body label's bottom proper right corner.
Historical NotesOld Shay Beer saltshaker or pepper shaker. 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

Subjects