Photo: Milwaukee County Historical Society
Capt. Frederick Pabst at Milwaukee County Historical Society
Capt. Frederick Pabst
The history of Milwaukee brewing is inscribed on the city’s landscape. Little wonder that the Milwaukee County Historical Society returns to the subject for its latest exhibition. “Brew City: The Story of Milwaukee Beer” opened this week for an indefinite run at the Historical Society’s elegant building tucked alongside Downtown’s Pere Marquette Park.
The influx of German immigrants starting around 1840 was only one reason Milwaukee became the City That Means Beer, according to the society’s director of collections, Ben Barbera. “Milwaukee had great sources of water and ice. Ice was important because lager needs cold storage. Milwaukee has hills for digging cold storage caves,” he explains. “Milwaukee had access to grain and hops. We had the infrastructure. And after the Great Chicago Fire (1871), Schlitz and Pabst shipped beer to Chicago and on trains from there to everywhere.”
With text panels and touch screens, “Brew City” examines the earliest brewers (established in 1840) and the Big Four (Schlitz, Pabst, Miller and Blatz) and traces the family trees of the beer barons without ignoring the labor that made their wealth possible. According to one panel, brewery workers endured 14-18 hour-long days in hot, dam conditions ameliorated only by access to as much free beer they could consume. The general strike of 1886 gained them only temporary wage increases. Children and women toiled in the bottling plants. In 1910 when labor organizer Mother Jones visited the city, she condemned the exploitation of “the girl slaves of the Milwaukee brewers.”
Brew City MKE logo
No doubt, the beer barons were in bed with the city’s corrupt, pre-socialist administration. The beer and politics panel explains that as the 20th century began, saloonkeepers acted as go-betweens for politicians and their constituents. Often, they were the politicians. In 1902, one-third of Milwaukee’s aldermen owned a tavern.
“Brew City” is filled with artifacts, including beer bottles, signage, advertisements and trays, many from half-forgotten firms such as Grof’s and Gettelman. Recent developments aren’t ignored. Sprecher, Lakefront and Milwaukee Brewing Company are honored with a full panel for spearheading Milwaukee’s beer renaissance. A giant map marks the spot of each Milwaukee craft brewer.
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“Brew City: The Story of Milwaukee Beer” is on view at the Milwaukee County Historical Society, 910 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Drive. Hours are Monday and Wednesday through Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission for adults is $8. Children 12 and under are free. A variety of special events related to “Brew City: The Story of Milwaukee Beer” and Milwaukee’s history will be offered. More information about the exhibit and related programming can be found at www.milwaukeehistory.net.
