BREWERIANA: Menard's #279-4493 O-Scale Sprecher Brewery

Technically, this is not 'breweriana' - however, that's the name I gave to this on-going series of beer, wine, and spirits related collectibles so I'm sticking with it!

While the diminutive Plasticville and Marxville buildings were the staple of toy train layouts for many years, companies like Lionel, K-Line, and MTH did start making larger ones more suited to O-gauge layouts. However, they were rather bare bones, relatively plain, mostly unlighted, and not having a lot of details. Later, firms like Woodland Scenics and Menards would offer more detailed structures which were lighted and offered a ton of interesting details and of the two, Menards gave you more bang for the buck. They were made of cheaper materials which brought down the price, their lighting system didn't require expensive transformers, hubs, etc., and they feature gobs of details. All of this meant you could get large buildings in true O-scale for a relatively modest price comparatively.

When Menards came out with this Sprecher Brewery I had to get it for the layout. Sprecher is located in Milwaukee and as my layout was slowly becoming more Milwaukee-themed, it was a natural. The only issue I had personally was that Sprecher didn't come to Milwaukee until after I left in 1978. This was one brewery I never knew! Oh well, it's still a cool addition to the urban landscape of my Milwaukee North western layout. I never took measurements but the photo below shows how it fits in with the rest of the layout.

Ed

At the bottom middle, there is a socket to plug in the lighting transformer. However, if you don't want the cable and transformer showing, there is another lead under the building.

Stuffed just inside that opening is a dongle which allows you to plug in the transformer and hide the cable under the layout.

BREWERIANA: Wolf-Keramik (Mogendorf, Germany) Handmade, Salt-Glazed Decanter with 4 Shot Glasses

For our latest Breweriana post we have this beautiful decanter and shot glass set. I bought this in the small town of Mogendorf in the Westerwald (State of Rhineland-Pfalz), very near my wife's hometown. Towns like Mogendorf and Ransbach-Baumbach, which are close to my wife's house, have numerous small craftsmen all producing the Westerwald's most famous commodity: blue-gray ceramicware, the blue-gray finish being the result of the salt glazing (Salzglasur). This particular set I guess would still be considered 'blue-gray' even though it has more of a golden hue to it.

Ed

BREWERIANA: Lionel #6-9851 O-gauge Schlitz Reefer Car (1973)

There was some sad news in the media this past week or so. An old Milwaukee staple and icon of the beer industry has been discontinued. Pabst Beer, the current owner of the Schlitz brand, decided to discontinue  production due to rising costs. Schlitz was founded in 1849 and was once the largest producing beer in America becoming "The Beer that made Milwaukee Famous". Apparently, on one of Teddy Roosevelt's safaris, he brought Schlitz along and the company capitalized on it, using that as a marketing tour de force. As a native Milwaukeean, I personally enjoyed Pabst more, but I certainly appreciate the history and legacy of all Milwaukee breweries.

So far, my one and only Schlitz railroad car is a reefer made by Lionel during its MPC era and was bought on a shoe-string budget with no box included in the sale. Looks like I'm gonna have to search out some more, just for old times sake.

RIP Schlitz!

Ed

 

The doors open allowing the railroader to place details inside the car if so desired.

BREWERIANA: Villeroy & Boch 2-liter Stein with Lid

Here's another big Bier Krug (aka beer stein) gifted to me a year or so ago. This large tankard features a decaled image of ??? - don't know who - some random Shakespearean era bar fly? And of course, like many steins, this too is lidded. It really is a nice piece and among the largest in the collection.

Ed

BREWERIANA: Parkbräu Bier .5l 'P' 1961 Oktober-Fest

This is the last Parkbräu piece I have to blog. I totally forgot where I got this from, but unlike nearly all my other Parkbräu pieces, which I acquired in Good 'Ol Deutschland, I believe this one was a fleaBay purchase.

Ed

BREWERIANA: Parkbräu - .4l SAHM Elsbeth and Bert Clear Glass Beer Mug

Now here's a glass that hits home on several fronts. First, the glass was made by 'SAHM", a company located not far from Bettina's house in the Westerwald. Secondly, the couple depicted on the glass - Elsbeth and Bert - were local singers popular in the Zweibrücken area were I was stationed. Thirdly, while singing Volksmuzik at night, during the day, Bert worked down the hall from me in the Inventory Section of Base Supply!! I was totally unaware of this glass until coming here to Vegas. A friend of mine - Mike - who was also stationed at Sunny Zwei had the glass and I offered him a lot of $$, explaining to him that I had worked with Bert. So one day he showed up at the house and gave it to me!!! AWESOME - MANY THANX MIKE - GOD BLESS!

Ed