Antique Koehler Beer Bottle Opener

Antique bottle openers from Koehler's, Wayne Brewery and W. E. McClelland courtesy of B. Chambers.

If you love local local history and collect memorabilia from Erie, Pennsylvania businesses, you may recognize these antique bottle openers. First we have an old Koehler Beer opener in the upper left-hand corner. This was used before the new twist off caps were designed for glass bottles.The Wayne Brew bottle opener looks an awful lot like a shoe horn. The final opener, complete with a corkscrew to open a bottle of wine, was given to customers who bought a new Oldsmobile at the W. E. McClelland dealership in Erie. William McClelland worked as a salesman for his friend Jake Roth in the forties, then ran his own company. 

After awhile, these items were delegated to the junk drawer in the kitchen. You know the one, with mismatched buttons, old shoe laces, an ice pick, a nutcracker, the tool for digging walnuts out of the shell, wheat pennies, the owner's manual for the oven, clicky pens that stopped writing twenty years ago, match books advertising restaurants, playing cards, mismatched dice, Monopoly pieces and every other trinket that was considered too valuable to throw away.

The Erie County Historical Society and BrewErie presented a night of local beer history on March 12, 2014. The sold-out event featured a special BrewErie pint of pre-prohibition era formula Koehler Beer, exceptional Erie brewing archival images and collections from the ECHS holdings! 

Click here to see the old Koehler Clock on State Street. and here for a Wayne Brewing Company ad.

Find more facts about Erie at Old Time Erie

Amity Inn Bar With Neon Koehler Beer Sign

Amity Inn photo courtesy of Tom DiLuzio.

The Amity Inn on West 26th Street in Erie, PA had a pretty cool bar setup in 1943, as you can see in this photo. The most impressive feature was a neon Koehler Beer sign hanging right in the center, above a nice display of flags from around the world. Look to the right and you'll see an antique blade fan on top of an old oak refrigerator with glass doors. Some of the other features in the picture include a Calvert calendar, a Planters Salted Peanuts display, bags of popcorn and beef jerky, and a nice, shiny bar. There is a wide assortment of liquor on display, including bottles of Union Town and lots of other names that are too small to decipher. 

Joseph Ferraro owned the Amity Inn, which was located at 1334 West 26th Street in Erie. Guy Lombardo had dinner there in 1946.

Enjoy more historic facts and photos of Erie, PA at: Old Time Erie

Koehler Beer Old Dobbin Ale ad 1937 Erie PA

Koehler Beer was manufactured by the Erie Brewing Company at 2131 State Street in Erie, Pennsylvania. Old Dobbin Ale was named in honor of Daniel Dobbins, a contemporary of Oliver Hazard Perry during the War of 1812.

This advertisement from the 1937 Erie City Directory shows two styles of Koehler's bottles, the stubby and the tall brown bottles. The clock is a drawing of the one that hung on the exterior of the Koehler building on State St.

Enjoy more historic facts and photos of Erie, PA at: oldtimeerie.blogspot.com

Koehler Brewery 1888 Trifecta Erie PA

-ad in Cooke, Howard & Co. Erie PA 1888 directory.

The Koehler family members are amongst the best-known brewers from Erie, Pennsylvania. Charles Koehler, the patriarch of the family, had a brewery on 26th and Holland Street. Following his death in 1869, his sons- Fred, Louis and Jackson Koehler, carried on his business.

By 1888, the sons had their own businesses. Fred Koehler & Co. was located at the corner of 26th and Holland Streets. Fred was a partner of Adolph L. Curtze.

Louis Koehler owned the City Bottling Works at 1311 State Street. In addition to beer, he bottled and manufactured ginger ale, pop, birch beer, pear cider and mineral water.

Jackson Koehler, owner of the Eagle Brewery at 22nd and State Street, was the brewer that most people are familiar with. By 1895, Jackson was brewing 30,000 barrels of beer per year.

Find more historic facts and photos of Erie, Pennsylvania at Old Time Erie

Koehler Beer ad 1952 There is no better Beer!

Koehler Beer ad 1952 There is no better Beer

Koehler Beer ad from Dec. 8, 1952 Erie Daily Times.

Here's a neat old advertisement for Koehler Beer, which was produced by the Erie Brewing Company on State Street in Erie, Pennsylvania. The Koehler Brewery was established in 1847.

The ad reads, "A Taste Treat that Can't be Beat...of course it's...KOEHLER'S. There is no better BEER!" The illustrations show a beer and a burger with cartoons of German characters with catsup and onions. 

In December of 1952, Koehler's advertised three fine brews: Lager, Pilsener and Jackson's Select.

The only thing missing from this ad? Jackson Koehler, of course. (Does anyone know the name of the actor who portrayed Jackson Koehler in print and tv ads?)

John Biggie says, "They used to offer tap rooms free of charge to anyone having an office party or something of that order...Beer was free, right out of the pipes."

Here's a link to a WSEE-TV interview with Koehler collector Mark Dana which shows a crowd watching the old Koehler building on State Street in its final stages of demolition: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8090wdI68s

Here's a photo of the Koehler beer sign on 10th and State Street.

Enjoy more fun facts about the history of Erie, PA at: Old Time Erie

State Street from 10th to 11th with old Koehler sign

Tenth to Eleventh and State St., Erie, PA. Photo by Chester Wasielewski, ©Debbi Lyon 2012.

State St. from 10th to 11th with Koehler Beer clock and Baldwin Bldg.

Let's see how many businesses you recognize along the east side of State from 10th to 11th Street in Erie, Pennsylvania. We'll begin our tour with the old Koehler Beer clock on Tenth Street. The clock was perched atop a building just north of Tenth St. The Baldwin Bldg. anchors this shot on the left, with a sign for First National Bank. Next are a couple of buildings that have since been torn down, one of which housed Shooter's Tavern in the late eighties. Then the State Street Food Market. 

The Winter Co. is notable because it had a curved front window that was a perfect place to shove your friends into. There are still tiles in the sidewalk in front of this building bearing the Winter Company name. Babe Harkins had a City Council election office in the next space, and then the One Hour Cleaning and Sherman's Mens Wear. H&R Block and Seaway came next, along with a skinny shoe-shine shop. The Nut Kitchen was next, and the Hutch's Billiards Shop was on the corner. It's the place with the Pepsi signs. There is an EMTA bus on the left side of the photo. This was taken before the pedestrian safety islands were torn out.

Here is a copy of a Koehler Beer ad from 1952: Koehler Beer ad from 1952

Enjoy more facts and photos of historic Erie, PA at Old Time Erie