Administrative Information
Access
The Eberhardt and Ober Brewing Company records are available to all
researchers, with the literary and all other rights therein, including
copyright, donated to the public. Materials can be photocopied without
restrictions.
Preferred Citation
Eberhardt and Ober Brewing Company Records, 1882-1906, RG 40, Historical
Collections and Labor Archives, Special Collections Library, University
Libraries, Pennsylvania State University.
Source of Acquisition
Purchased from Charles
Apfelbaum, 1993.
Corporate History
The Eberhardt and Ober
Brewing Company was established at Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, in 1870 by
John Peter Ober and his brother-in-law William Eberhardt, son of another
Allegheny City, Pennsylvania brewer. The small brewery absorbed the J.N. Straub
Brewing Company in 1883. Located in the heart of historical "Deutschtown," the
sprawling Eberhardt and Ober Brewery complex became a permanent fixture of
north Pittsburgh during the late nineteenth century. The surviving main office
and administrative building of the original brewery complex is now listed in
the National Register of Historic Sites. The modern-day Pennsylvania Brewing
Company is located on this site and continues to brew and distribute beer to
this day. All beers are made in accordance with the German beer purity law
(implemented by royal decree during the 1500s), termed the
Reinheisgebot. According to this law, all beer is
to be brewed using only classical ingredients--malt, wheat, hops, water, and
yeast.
A postcard image of the brewery complex is contained within the
collection; and additional information about the Pennsylvania Brewing Company
(now located on the original site) can be found on www.pennbrew.com.
Historical Collections
and Labor Archives also has Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps for Allegheny City for
the period 1890 to 1920 that provide detail on the design and layout of the
Eberhardt and Ober Brewing Company industrial complex.
The University of Pittsburgh, Archives Service Center, owns 1.5 cubic
feet of the Records of the Eberhardt and Ober Brewing Company, 1883-1897.
Scope and Content
The Eberhardt and Ober Brewing Company records consist of a small,
diverse collection of materials documenting labor relations, legislative
issues, production, and scientific research pertaining to the brewing industry
in the late 19th century. Materials contained therein date from 1882-1906, with
the bulk of the collection falling within the date span 1886-1897.
The files of the Eberhardt and Ober Company records fall into three
broad categories: documents and letters pertaining to labor relations within
the brewing industry (1887-1906); correspondence among Pennsylvania brewers and
their various management associations; and letters from machine manufacturers,
design architects, and representatives of brewery scientific stations from New
York and Chicago engaged in the chemical analysis of water and purity of
ingredients used in brewing beer (1886-1892).
The Eberhardt and Ober
Company records highlight labor-management relations among various brewing
management associations and brewery workers unions. Correspondence and labor
agreements document collective bargaining activity within the brewing industry
at the local, state, and national levels. There is ample correspondence within
the papers illustrating how the brewers attempted to curb the power and
influence of the unions. Brewery owners, through their trade associations,
banded together and took action along a number of other fronts. They organized
and lobbied to defeat anti-saloon and temperance legislation. Other letters
illustrate brewery manufacturers efforts to regulate their own trade by
reducing competition through administered pricing of products, and enforcing
unity of action during labor negotiations and strikes.
The Eberhardt and
Ober Company records contain a wealth of material pertaining to the
architectural design and physical layout of a late nineteenth century brewery.
Between 1882 and 1895 the company expanded its main brewing facility and
engaged several architectural and engineering firms to upgrade machinery and
streamline production for efficiency. There is ample correspondence devoted to
specifications for the construction of brewery facilities and departments, and
the machinery and technology used in the large-batch brewing process. Since
brewing entailed the vertical integration of production processes among several
departments situated on different floor levels of the main Eberhardt and Ober
brewery, the company engaged specialized engineering firms to maximize floor
space and increase workflow. The company retained one engineering firm to
design and construct special elevators and compatible loading platforms to
deliver the primary brewing ingredients (hops, wheat, and malt) to the workers,
who operated the elaborate network of vats, kettles, kilns, and steel tubing
used in the brewing process.
Company correspondence and records also
document bargaining over the cost of customized brewing machinery and services
rendered by engineering firms and scientific consultants. There are detailed
letters relevant to the architectural planning of the brewery, and the design
and layout of machinery. Principal correspondents include: Chas. Kaestner and
Co. (machinists), Chicago ; Joseph Stillburg (architect), Pittsburgh; White and
Raeder (engineers and architects), Chicago; Baumann and Lotz ( Edward Baumann;
architects and engineers), Chicago; Charles Stolper (Cooper and dealer in
staves, hoops and barrels), Milwaukee; Jos. Eichbaum and Co. (Printers,
stationers, blank book makers and electrotypers), Pittsburgh; United States
Brewers' Association; Otto C. Wolf (Engineer and Architect), Philadelphia; and
Fred W. Wolf (architect).
The Eberhardt and Ober Brewery records also
contain correspondence with scientific brewing stations in Chicago and New
York, dating from October 19, 1886 to May 4, 1892. Owners of the Eberhardt and
Ober Brewery consulted with chemists from these stations to analyze the quality
of the ingredients and purity of water used in the brewing process. There are
letters from The First Scientific Station for the Art of brewing in New York
(Director, Anton Schwarz); and the scientific station for brewing [Wahl-Henius
Institute of Fermentology] of Chicago (Directors, Wahl and Henius).
Index Terms
These materials are indexed under the following headings in the catalog
of the Pennsylvania State University. Researchers wishing to find related
materials should search the catalog under these index terms.
Corporate Subjects
Eberhardt and Ober Brewery
-- Archives
J.N. Straub Brewing
Company
Eberhardt, William,
1844-1899
Ober, John Peter, 1848-1909
Topical Subjects
Breweries -- Design and
construction
Breweries --
Pennsylvania
Brewery workers -- Labor
unions
Brewing -- Equipment and
supplies
Brewing --
Microbiology
Brewing industry -- Law and
legislation
Brewing industry --
Pennsylvania
Brewing industry --
Taxation
Collective bargaining --
Brewing industry
Collective labor agreements
-- Brewing industry
Correspondents
Baumann, Edward,
1828-1889
Schwarz, Anton,
1839-1895
Stillburg,
Joseph
Stolper, Charles
Wolf, Otto C. (Otto
Charles), 1856-1916
Wolf, Fred W.
Corporate Correspondents
Baumann and Lotz
Chas. Kaestner and
Co.
Jos. Eichbaum and
Co.
Knights of Labor. District
Assembly No. 3. Local No. 22
United States Brewers'
Association
Wahl-Henius Institute of
Fermentology
White and Raeder
Business records
Collective labor
agreements
Correspondence
