The recovery of the Cincinnati brewing industry during the first years of the new century was welcomed by brewers weary of a defensive posture. By 1910 local breweries had experienced their best growth in sales and output since the 1880s, and had regained their influential status as premier financial and social entities in industrial Cincinnati. Economic factors had much to do with the turnaround, but another substantial reason for the recovery was a newfound focus upon advertising. By no means was promotional activity a new concept among brewers at the turn of the twentieth century; newspaper advertisements publicized the brewing community as far back as the seventeenth century. In later years, city directories, trade publications, and industrial expositions also served to further the interests of breweries and their product. But over time it became clear that such advertising, generally available to a limited audience, was too isolated to serve effectively a modern brewery which faced keen competition from both local and national producers. By the beginning of the twentieth century brewers throughout the country had begun to utilize a new strategy, one which focused on promotional give-away items that brought awareness of the individual brewery and its beers into the saloon and, more importantly, into the home of the consumer.

Basic advertising from the Lackman brewery, late 19th century

During the early years of brewing activity in America, advertising largely was limited to word-of-mouth promotion and basic print campaigns. Most beers enjoyed popularity within the communities where they were produced, and on a smaller scale within taverns and saloons which they served, and thus often benefited from informal discussion of the product. Until well into the latter half of the nineteenth century many brewery owners limited themselves to minuscule newspaper and city directory print advertising, which blended in with other such promotions by virtue of similar size and graphics. Cincinnati brewery advertisements of the 1860s, in city directories published by the Williams Company, stated little beyond the brewery name and address, and its standardized output of ale, porter, or lager; only a few provided additional information, such as Covington-based Charles Geisbauer, who included a specific product "name"-XX Ale-and references to an ancillary business operation as a dealer in hops and malt. Local newpaper ads reflected a similar lack of creativity: as late as 1879 and 1883 respectively Geisbauer ("Geisbauer's Salvator Beer only to be had at Nich. Christ's, No. 4, Pike Street") and fellow Covington brewers Brenner & Seiler ("Brenner & Seiler's Salvator Beer is on the market to-day"; "Brenner & Seiler's Salvator Beer, pure and fresh, can be found on tap today"; "Salvator Beer, Brenner & Seiler's, the finest in the land, at all the saloons to-day") contented themselves with brief mention of the availability of their products in the city news section, without distinctive typeset and with a minimum of creative promotional effort. Such shortcomings were furthered through early point-of-purchase displays, on signs placed outside of and within taverns where the beer was sold. Early metal signs, located outside of saloons, frequently listed only the brewery name and its generic product, and save for minor aesthetic adornments provided little of visual, much less informational, appeal. Early indoor signs suffered a similar fate, especially in the case of brewery-owned saloons, where customers were a captive audience and thus stood beyond the reach of most advertising efforts.

The first major impetus for a revolution in brewery advertising came in the decade following the Civil War. The rapid growth of export production and marketing required innovative promotional efforts for the successful penetration of new markets, and in the case of local breweries to combat the effects of increased competition from the newcomers. At the same time, the technological and aesthetic revolution in the brewery workplace enticed a number of brewers to promote product for its purity and modernity, and to provide added emphasis to the functional and aesthetic advantages posed by the ultramodern brewing facility. As a result, area brewers sought to bring about a greater awareness of the brewery, its product, and-for the first time-a business image which the company wished to convey. More often than not Cincinnati brewers of the late nineteenth century worked to impress potential customers with the high quality of their product, in many cases through the use of exaggerated claims of superiority and even emphatic punctuation. Smaller or newer brewing establishments, in search of a competitive edge, proved particularly receptive to the strategy, as demonstrated by Newport brewers Butcher & Wiedemann in the years shortly after the latter partner joined the firm, describing their brews as "The BEST and STRONGEST in this or any other city" and "SUPERIOR to any Lager Beer in the Country." Evidently the promotion enjoyed considerable success: as late as the 1890s the firm-then exclusively under the control of Wiedemann-formulated similar advertising copy, claiming its Bohemian and Standard Lager beers to be "pronounced by all, the Purest, most palatable and brilliant of all Beers."

Lang & Knoll brewery lithograph, circa 1870s

Yet during the 1870s other, more prominent area brewers added an extra dimension to print promotions, utilizing creative textual strategies and illustrations of the modernized brewery complex. The Newport-based Lang & Knoll Lewisburg Brewery invoked rhyme in an 1877 promotion, geared toward sportsmen and with sly reference to the dominant German character of the company market:

By 1875 the Windisch-Muhlhauser Lion Brewery had placed a full-factory scene advertisement in the Williams' Cincinnati Directory, a move copied two years later by the Gambrinus Stock Brewing Company in an etched illustration of its own complex. But impressive though the full-page advertisements were, information still was limited to the brewery name and a generic description of its product, and failed to provide observers with propaganda slogans to enhance the visual image the company wished to project.

Along with the shift toward a greater consumer awareness of the modern brewery complex and its product, Cincinnati brewery owners sought new outlets in which to advertise, to extend company and name recognition to new audiences. One important forum for the promotion of Cincinnati breweries and their beverages during the late nineteenth century was the industrial exhibition, or trade fair, which brought considerable prestige to export-minded brewers on a national or even international level. Cincinnati brewing interests were represented at one of the first important national fairs, the Centennial Exposition of 1876 in Philadelphia; during the latter part of the nineteenth century Cincinnati hosted several such events, and in each case provided a number of its brewers with considerable space to promote their wares. The "Big Three" concerns of Christian Moerlein, Windisch-Muhlhauser, and Hauck proved particularly adept at the use of industrial fairs to promote their products, and otherwise took advantage of the stated reason for brewer participation in the events, to receive awards for brewing excellence which in turn were prominently advertised by brewers to market the image of a superior product. In one campaign Moerlein devoted considerable advertising space to the receipt of first premium medals for its National Export Beer at the Cincinnati Industrial Exposition for the five-year period of 1880 to 1884 and also in 1888, and the complimentary gold medal it received during 1883 and 1884. Further afield, Moerlein took pride in the receipt of highest awards at an exhibition in Augusta, Georgia, in 1888; at the World's Fair in Chicago in 1893; the Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta (1895); and the Tennessee Centennial celebration in Nashville (1897). Not to be outdone, Windisch-Muhlhauser made prominent mention in its advertisements of victories outside of the Cincinnati market, including a gold medal of its own at the Cotton States Exposition.

Moerlein advertises its prize-winning beers in the local German press, 1882

For its one hundredth anniversary in 1888, the Queen City hosted its most important fair to date, the Cincinnati Centennial Exposition of the Ohio Valley and Central States. The event, held from July 4 to October 27, utilized specially constructed buildings in the heart of the city, prominently featuring government exhibits; electric and gas jet lighting demonstrations; a $1,000,000 art exhibit; and pioneer relics. Numerous lectures and performances were held at Music Hall and other locations, and a 1,500-foot-long machinery hall housed industrial displays. Among Cincinnati brewers Christian Moerlein again assumed the most prominent role, with a massive eye-catching presentation and National Export Beer specially bottled for the occasion, available in the main restaurant in the Washington Park Building, prominently promoted as having been "awarded first prize wherever exhibited." The Foss-Schneider Brewing Company maintained a unique garden-style exhibit, which featured a seated, gentlemanly-dressed mannequin hoisting a frothy glass of beer, mounted on a miniature platform atop a giant beer barrel adorned with the Foss-Schneider name. The brewery also prepared a special booklet for distribution to the public, with an attractive general view of the brewery complex and detailed illustrations of the bottling department and main office.

More awards for Christian Moerlein beers, circa 1900

As Cincinnati brewers sought to promote a newfound image as purveyors of high-quality products from the 1870s onward, propaganda phrases that stressed the wholesomeness of their beers and the brewing process assumed a more prominent role in growing advertising campaigns, designed to set the brewery facility and its product offering apart from those of competitors, and reinforce the image of the company as a leader in the industry. Among the most simplistic advertisements were those which stressed the quantity and quality of the raw ingredients used: in 1876 Butcher & Wiedemann promoted its beer under the guise that it "is clearer than water and has more hop juice in it," while the Becker Brewing Company later claimed to use "only the best malt and hops." More substantive promotions in later years noted the impact of brewery modernization on the product, urging the consumer to sample-and continue to purchase-the beer as a result. The Foss-Schneider Brewing Company heavily promoted its Nonpareil Export and Capital Lager Beer during the 1880s, in advertisements which stressed their manufacture in "the Most Modern and One of the Largest and Best Equipped Breweries in the Country," and prompted readers to "Give it a Trial, and Convince Yourself of its Superior Quality." In the same vein, the Windisch-Muhlhauser Brewing Company reminded customers that their modern facility maintained "the largest capacity and therefore the oldest, best and most wholesome BEER in the city. Give us a trial and be convinced." But the George Weber Brewing Company went its competitors a significant step further when it conducted chemical analyses of its lager beer, and published the findings in prominent typeset. In an advertisement for the brewery, physician E.S. Wayne and a chemist named Fennel declared an alcohol percentage by weight of 5.04 and solid matter content of 4.86 percent, and noted on behalf of the brewery the general results of their examination:

We have recently made an examination of WEBER'S LAGER BEER, and also the Brewery and extensive storage and fermenting vaults in the side hill of the rear, having a NATURAL DRAINAGE. The beer we find to be of the same good quality as we found it upon former analysis-full flavored, of excellent body, and full of alcoholic strength. In every respect a finished malt liquor, free from any ADULTERATION.

Not all area breweries were keen to go to the lengths that Weber employed in its promotion. In one case a prominent Cincinnati brewer attempted to market its beer in a far less scientific manner, by positioning it as an alternative to hard liquor. At one point the John Hauck Brewing Company placed an advertisement in the Williams' Cincinnati Directory which featured a woman carrying a tray filled with glasses of beer, accompanied by a caption which implored readers to "Cure a morbid appetite for strong drink (alcohol) by drinking our mild, refreshing lager beer."

The John Hauck Brewing Company promotes its beers to local German speakers, 1910

Several Cincinnati-area breweries also made a special effort to cater to the large German population, which continued as their largest consumer group, by sponsoring advertisements in various German-language publications in the city. During the 1870s the Butcher & Wiedemann Brewery stressed in German its manufacture of a "substantial and unadulterated lager beer, beloved among all connoisseurs." The Windisch-Muhlhauser Brewing Company likewise appealed to German consumers, with ample use of superlatives, in proclaiming that its Old Lager, Lion Brew, Pilsener, and Standard were "the best, purest, and tastiest of all beers," and that its bottled Lion Export "has no equal." The Lackman Brewing Company struck a similar tone in its own German-language advertisements, one of which proclaimed that the company was "one of the few breweries in the United States which uses only the best raw materials" and manufactured "Pure beer! Good for the healthy as well as the sick!" But such promotions, combining the issues of health benefits, purity of product, and the German tendency toward beer consumption, were not limited to a German-language forum, as evidenced by an advertisement by the John Brenner Brewing Company in the Kentucky Post as late as 1906: "The English and the Germans are sturdy people and they drink lots of beer. If you would be strong and healthy, use Brenner's IXL Pilsener Beer. Its absolute purity makes it an elegant home beverage."

As Cincinnati brewers made significantly greater use of text in advertising campaigns during the late nineteenth century, so too was there a noteworthy increase in the visual and social character of the publicity. As the nature of competition in the brewing industry became more defined, and more emphasis was placed on the recruitment of potential customers, Cincinnati brewers went to greater lengths to attract consumers, by providing stunning visual representations of the brewery and its beers which reinforced the image of the successful brewery promoted in print. Among point-of-sale items distributed among saloons and other wholesale and retail accounts was a large number of ornate multicolor lithographs and other art prints, and large porcelain or metal signs, which attractively promoted a given brewery even when there was little if any reference to its specific product. Some pieces held a functional importance, such as posters which announced the arrival of new or special product, most commonly bock beer for the early spring season; colorful graphics and attractive lettering gave the signs an extra promotional value. But most prominent during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century was the lithographic depiction of the brewery complex, as an ultramodern and powerful industrial concern. Generally speaking the largest of the Cincinnati brewers, such as Moerlein, Windisch-Muhlhauser, and Hauck, made the most use of such advertising, due to their vast size and the extensive aesthetic and mechanical improvements which they had undertaken in recent years. Invariably their illustrations included a sprawling brewery complex, smoke billowing from its smokestacks, with unique architectural features, flanked on all sides by delivery horses and fully loaded wagons, railway connections where applicable, and-to give the image a certain humanity-individuals and couples strolling past the brewery, not infrequently gazing at the impressive edifices.

The Bellevue Brewing Company introduces a social component to its advertising, late 19th century

Still other promotional pieces, distributed among saloons in and around Cincinnati and other drinking establishments, provided idealistic multicolor images which reinforced the social nature of beer and the places in which it was consumed. Serving trays, partially printed mirrors, tip trays, and lithographs added color and personality to the advertising efforts of many brewers, and strengthened name recognition among customers. The Bellevue Brewing Company provided at least two examples of impressive lithographed social scenes, in one case with six gentlemen, a saloonkeeper, and a dog gathered in an ornately decorated drinking parlor, with each of the men hoisting a frothy stein of beer. In the other example, a colorful, detailed lithograph of an upscale tavern interior, six men-and two women-each presided over a large stein of beer, while variously engaged in card games, eating, smoking, and conversation. Active though the patrons were, a toast proved the center of attention to participants. The Gerke Brewing Company likewise strove to incorporate the convivial aspect of beer consumption in its lithographs of the late nineteenth century; one illustration featured a heavily romanticized depiction of two men, with women atop their laps, in a rustic wood-embellished tavern, with other figures present playing music to enhance the social atmosphere of the room. Yet not all such images were designed to benefit only the individual brewer. A memorable lithograph produced by Monsch Brothers, entitled Bierbrauer von Cincinnati und Umgegend ("Beer Brewers of Cincinnati and Its Surroundings"), featured a large illustration of legendary King Gambrinus, surrounded by the portraits of many Cincinnati brewery owners, which in turn were bordered by an American eagle and flags, illustrations of Cincinnati-area landmarks such as the Suspension Bridge, and idealized views of a brewery interior.

Greater Cincinnati brewers are featured on this lithograph, circa 1880

But the greatest breakthrough in pre-Prohibition advertising came when brewers began to target the individual consumer in addition to the drinking establishment. The usefulness of advertising materials in saloons was unquestioned among brewery owners, but toward the end of the nineteenth century also was tempered by the knowledge that saloon patrons represented a captive audience. The continued rise in importance of bottled beer from the 1880s onward, the growth in number of areas which prohibited drinking establishments through local option laws, and the number of consumers who turned away from the saloon due to a change in public perception, provided breweries everywhere with an important impetus to revise previous advertising campaigns, to find ways to introduce the brewery and product name to consumers who brought their beer into the home. As a result Cincinnati brewers began to place the company name and logo on a steadily increasing number of everyday items during the late pre-Prohibition period, in an effort to reach consumers who chose bottled beer.

Some of the most effective promotional instruments were also the simplest items, which placed the brewery and even beer name upon materials used by consumers on a daily basis. In addition to newspapers and directories, printed advertisements in theater and ball park programs, and even books and sheet music, became more frequent and more expansive. Cigar lighters, ink blotters, hooked metal and corkscrew bottle openers, and other small items were distributed-often free of charge-by many area brewers and prominently listed the brewery name and location, and commonly the flagship beer of the company. On other occasions breweries celebrated anniversaries and other special events with unique items that provided an added promotional twist; the Windisch-Muhlhauser Brewing Company issued one such piece, a commemorative ink blotter, on the occasion of its fiftieth anniversary in 1917, and combined colorful graphics and product information with a renewal of its commitment to the manufacture of highest quality beers.

Windisch-Muhlhauser (Lion Brewery) calendar, 1895

Other items were considerably more ornate, and sometimes more utilitarian, and brought the attractive visual attributes of saloon advertising pieces into the home environment. Often distributed to drinkeries, etched glassware and ceramic steins bearing brewery names frequently found their way into the home because of their artistic beauty. Calendars combined practical information with striking Victorian designs, and occasionally provided noteworthy slogans to promote brewery product. One example was distributed widely by the Windisch-Muhlhauser Brewing Company for 1895, and provided several memorable citations-if less than stellar poetry-by which consumers could remember to buy Lion Beer for the home: