Monday, September 28, 2009

It's ALL here on one wall

The entire southern side of this old brick warehouse is covered with handpainted signs. The ones on the left are for beer and ale but it's tough to make out the kind or company name. The rollup doorway at the loading dock in the middle is a recent addition and fits in real well with the bidding's many older signs. On the right is the name Carling's Red Cap Ale. If the sign was painted when the ale was first introduced by the Carling Brewing Company, it would put the date it was painted at 1933. The company was originally incorporated as the Brewing Corp. of America, and began operations in Cleveland in 1933. (Interestingly, if you like old cars, it was established by James A. Bohannon, who had come to the city in 1929 as president of the Peerless Motor Car Company. In the heart of the Great Depression, he convinced the stockholders of Peerless to switch from luxury cars to a really good beer. The 8-acre Peerless plant was converted to a brewery.) Bohannon contracted with the Brewing Corp. of Canada for the American rights to Carling's Red Cap Ale, which had been brewed in Canada since 1840. In 1954, the Brewing Corp. of America changed its name to the Carling Brewing Co. and distributed Red Cap Ale and Black Label beer throughout the US. This sign could be 60-70 years old and is still visible on the brick surface.

Using a photograph from the Robertson and Fresh Collection from the University of South Florida Libraries Special Collections, I found that Dave Gordon & Company exhibited at the 1937 Florida State Fair and sold refrigeration equipment, pumps and industrial supplies. The building in the photograph was their offices and warehouse. I couldn't find any relationship between Red Cap Ale and Gordon so perhaps they sold or rented advertising space on their brick facade to the beer distributor. Traffic on this road, Adamo Drive / Florida Highway 60 has always been heavy and a product would easily be seen.

8 comments:

  1. Anybody who can switch from selling luxury cars to beer can sell anything. Fun, funky, colorful and most interesting post, Frank. Like usual!

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  2. That's not such a great sight with all the colored ADs faded.... but hey do they charge to get their walls painted with ADs like that? In Mumbai it's a common thing to be doing.... a means of earning for some people...

    - Pixellicious Photos

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  3. Just the kind os shot I wish I had taken, love the faded colours and the change that the ads reflect. Love it.

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  4. Great history Frank, and an even better photo. The different textures, layers and materials show off that history perfectly. Excellent post.

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  5. When I was working my way thru school many moons ago, I had a part -time job delivering beverages for a Beer & Wine store. One of my stops was the Carling Brewery in Cleveland. I always got a kick out of delivering beer to a brewery.

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  6. It's a beautiful relic of the past! I hope it never gets painted over.

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  7. A lot of history on one wall, great post Frank, thanks.

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  8. Wow! I love it. The red is still pretty vivid. Great history!

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