Schlitz (Blue & Red)
Date Unknown
Blue ad with white text for Schlitz Beer. The Trademark is large and on the left in red and white. The company slogan is along the bottom in white.
In the 19th century a typical saloon keeper earned most of their profits from lager on tap, and served the product of only one brewery. This was know as a “tied” system, and had emerged in the 1870’s. When brewing became big business, the companies began buying the saloons and taverns outright and then leasing them out to bar keepers. The owners of the Schlitz brewery, the Uihleins, became aggressive property buyers. By the turn of the century, Schlitz Brewing owned well over fifty saloons in Milwaukee and another sixty in Chicago. As the beer barons became wealthier they wanted to associate their beer with loftier settings. The Uihliens built the Schlitz hotel in downtown Milwaukee, and within it was The Palm Garden. The Palm must have been a very elegant space to have a Schlitz beer indeed, as it featured a barrel vaulted ceiling, Gothic-style stained glass, and an orchestra.
