Signs of the times
Brewery ads as historic art
This extremely rare Dawes Lachine Brewery Porcelain Sign is offered as lot 614 in the December 12th auction of Advertising, Toys & Historic Objects at Miller & Miller Auctions.
Canada’s love affair with beer dates back more than 400 years. Like all love affairs, it’s had its ups and downs, but the relationship has remained solid. Not even wars or prohibition could put it asunder.
When settlers first came to this country beer was considered a safe and desirable commodity. Unlike milk and water, which were full of potentially dangerous germs that could cause severe illness, beer was virtually risk-free. Since it was boiled during the brewing process most of the bacteria was destroyed. Even the wine-loving Jesuit priests turned to beer in the new land.
Over the centuries breweries popped up all over Canada. Some lasted and grew while others faded away. The fascinating evolution of beer making and the items that bear witness to that history have since become a desirable collector’s category known as breweriana.
And now, two highly-prized pieces of that breweriana are slated to be sold at Miller & Miller’s Advertising, Toys & Historic Objects on Dec. 12, 2020.
A Dawe’s Brewery porcelain on steel sign, circa 1910s, featuring the iconic black horse that later became the brewery’s symbol (and its best-selling beer) is on the block, its condition excellent. “There’s a bit of porcelain loss around the mounting holes, which is expected, but for a sign of this age and rarity, it is an exceptional piece of advertising,” says Justin Miller, co-owner of Miller & Miller Auctions. The sign is expected to command between $4,000 and $6,000.
Thomas Dawe founded his Dawes Brewery in 1826 just west of Montreal along the Lachine Canal. The business remained in family hands for several generations and the buildings used for its operation are now a museum. Black Horse ale became its best seller and its flagship product from the 1800s right through to 1952. Dawes advertised it as Canada’s finest ale, smooth and mellow, well-aged and good for digestion. Dawe’s even touted it as ‘A Remedy for Intemperance’, suggesting “the most tolerant and broad-minded advocates of temperance realize that the proper remedy for intemperance is to educate people to drink good beer”. Now there’s a sales pitch.
Vintage Black Horse Ale ads from the 1920s-40s. Source.
The other exceptional piece of breweriana is a rare, framed tin lithograph from the Berlin Lion Brewery circa 1901. (Up until September 1916, Kitchener, Ontario was known as Berlin.)
The Lion Brewery was founded in 1842 by the Huether family and is among the oldest breweries in Canada. It’s now run by a third generation of the Adlys family. The building itself – part brewery, part hotel – is now known as the Huether Hotel and is a famous landmark complete with underground caverns originally used for aging beer. At one time, Lion Ale was touted as “the best beer in the country”.
The black and gold tin lithograph sign, with its highly-detailed lion’s head flanked by hop leaves, is in pristine condition and is the only known example. The sign is embossed, which creates a clean, crisp, three-dimensional image. It was made in Cincinnati, Ohio since there was a shortage of lithographers in Canada at the time. It too is expected to bring between $4,000 and $6,000.
“You can see why people want to decorate their houses with these signs,” says Justin. “They’re incredibly beautiful and tell a story of how these breweries wanted to be seen. Even though every small town had a brewery, many couldn’t afford to produce these signs. They would not have been cheap.”
By Diane Sewell
Diane Sewell has been a writer for over 25 years, producing stories for some of the country’s top newspapers, consumer magazines and websites, as well as client newsletters and two commissioned books.
Auction Title: Advertising, Toys & Historic Objects
Auction Date: December 12, 2020.
Online Bidding: November 23-December 12, 2020.
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