Bottle, Beer
Object number2017.94.36
Manufacturer
Thatcher Glass Manufacturing Company
(1946 - 1966)
Manufacturer
Fort Pitt Brewing Company
(1906 - 1957)
Date1930-1957
OriginSharpsburg, PA
MediumGlass; Paper; Ink; Adhesive
Credit LineGift of Robert Thomas
DescriptionBrown glass beer bottle. Cylindrical body with long tapered neck leading to circular mouth. Two seams. Paper label adhered to body has light yellow, red, and blue background with beige, red, and black printed text and blue Pennsylvania keystone tax symbol at center. Underside has raised maker marks.DimensionsHeight x Diameter: 9.5 × 2.5 in. (24.1 × 6.4 cm)MarksRaised text on underside "2326-B / 10 / 0 / MTC".
Paper label on body has:
Beige and black text down center "Fort Pitt / PENNSYLVANIA MALT BEVERAGE TAX PAID / PINT OR LESS / PILSENER BEER / FORT PITT BREWING CO. / SHARPSBURG SUBURB / PITTSBURGH, PA.";
Red text on left side "CONTENTS / 12 FLUID / OUNCES / [International Union of United Brewery, Flour, Cereal, Soft Drink and Distillery Workers union label]";
Red text on right side "INTERNAL / REVENUE / TAX PAID / [Allied Printing Trades Council union label]".
Historical NotesFort Pitt Pilsener Beer bottle. 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 person
Michael Berardino
(died 1957)
Related institution
International Union of United Brewery, Flour, Cereal, Soft Drink and Distillery Workers
Collector
Robert M. Thomas
Related institution
Allied Printing
On View
Not on viewThe Victor Brewing Company
Fort Pitt Brewing Company