BARTELS Brewing Company

History

with permission from NABA and Mike Bartels

By Mike Bartels with Peter Blum

From The Breweriana Collector  Journal of the NABA Volume 96 (Winter 96)

Herman Bartels was born in Richtenberg, Prussia in 1853, and learned the brewing trade there.  He came to New York in 1872, and worked in various local breweries for six years.  He then moved west and invested in the Crescent Brewing Company of Aurora, Indiana.   Bartels remained in Aurora six years, until 1884, when he sold his interest and purchased a stake in the J. Walker Brewery of Cincinnati.  Three years later he moved to Syracuse, as brewer for the Haberle Brewing Company.  He was then 37 years old, and ready to settle down.

After working six years for Haberle, Bartels purchased the seven year old Germania brewery from John Greenway in the spring of 1893.  During the next year, he changed the name to Bartels Brewing Company, and added ales and porter to the product lines.  In addition to being president of the Syracuse Brewery, Herman Bartels also became a partner in a venture to build a brewery in the Edwardsville section of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, which was named Bartels Brewing Company.  He also invested in the Monroe Brewing Company of Rochester.

The Syracuse brewery produced both ale and lager.  Early beers were Standard, Pale Crown, and an Extra Pale Stock Lager, which were later replaced by Crown Beer.  Two ales, India Pale and Old Devonshire, Porter and Bock completed the product line.  The Professor trademark is from the Edwardsville facility.  It has been suggested that Bartels had a relative who taught at a German university, and was the model for the Professor.  However, in those years an old professor or doctor was not an uncommon advertising role model.  While old age was of no concern, food purity was a very topical issue.  The Edwardsville plant offered a $5,000 warranty on beer purity and quality, and advertised a $5,000 Pure Beer.  Other Edwardsville brands were Export, Brilliant Ale, Matchless Porter, and Malt Extract.

When Herman Bartels died in 1910 at age 57, he had been a significant brewer in upstate New York.  His son and namesake had been an officer of the firm since the turn of the century, so there was continuity of ownership.  However, Prohibition was only a decade away.  The Monroe Plant closed, never to reopen, but the two Bartels breweries remained active.  The Syracuse plant stayed with the Crown and Old Devonshire names, and Edwardsville marketed Wunderbar Lager and Wyoport.

Both breweries were reopened following Repeal under the old name, but the Bartels family was no longer associated with them.  The larger Syracuse brewery ceased production in 1942, and the Edwardsville facility hung on until 1968.  The Bartels label was acquired by the Lion Brewing Company of Wilkes-Barre, and is still sold locally.  However, the golden age of Bartels brews and Bartels advertising ended long ago.++

If you would like a copy of this article from the NABA which includes many fine Bartels breweriana pictures and advertising, please see below to order from the NABA.