Best & Co's Beer Hall

(This article was written by Milwaukee resident Ray Callan back in 1996 and published in the Civil War Token Journal’s Volume 30, Number 1, Spring 1996. Ray has since passed away so the article comes to NOW NEWS courtesy of the Civil War Token Journal. It is not very often that we have a complete article that corresponds directly with our cover subject, so we are grateful to be able re-publish this excellent piece. Ray was a prolific writer, researcher, and collector of Civil War Tokens and related items. This is our opportunity to posthumously honor Ray’s contributions to the hobby.)

In 1850 the Bests purchased a lot on Market Street between Biddle and Martin in the heart of Milwaukee, and put up a brick building with a beer hall on the ground floor. Biddle is now East Kilbourn Ave., and Martin is now East State St. When the Market St. hall opened in June of 1851, the following advertisement appeared in the Wisconsin Banner:

The Beer Hall of Best & Company Brewery on Market Street. Business Opening – Ale and Bock Beer in bottles, Lager beer by the pint – Wednesday, the 18th of the month, we open our beer hall, built according to the Philadelphia manner. Our establishment is fully equipped to meet all requirements which can reasonably be expected of a brewery. We have excellent cellars on hand so that our friends may be served as from a spring, and:

When the glasses loudly ring,

All the waiters quickly spring,

Serving promptly all the guests

With the ‘bestest’ of the Bests.

And to Green as well as Grey,

Render service equally,

If, as custom doth decree,

Each one pays the proper fee.

(The Greys were German immigrants who came before 1848.
The Greens were those who came in ’48 or later.)

The Bests also had a beer hall at their Empire Brewery on Chestnut Street Hill. They opened a third hall on Market Square in 1854. The Market Street beer hall operated from 1851 until about 1868.

The task at hand is to determine whether or not the Best & Co. Beer Hall token is a Wisconsin Civil War merchant store card (Civil War Token). As the matter stands, this piece could have been issued before, during, or after the Civil War, anytime from 1851 – 1868. The breakup of the Best family partnership is the key to determining when this token was issued.

As you can see from these photos, the token has been entombed in an NGC slab. However, it is labeled incorrectly. NGC attributed it from the years 1861-1865. Ray’s research clearly places its production in the 1850’s, thus disqualifying it from being considered a Civil War Token. (Actual Size: 19mm)

After Jacob Best, Sr. retired in January of 1853, Jacob Best, Jr. and Philip Best carried on the business of Best & Company under a partnership. However, Jacob, Jr. decided to end the partnership with his brother in 1859. Philip Best ran the business alone from 1859 until early 1864 when Frederick Pabst, his son-in-law, became an equal partner in the company. From 1864 until it was incorporated in 1873 the firm was known as Philip Best & Co.

When he sold out to his brother Philip in 1859, Jacob Best, Jr. received $9,500 plus the downtown property for his half of the brewery business. Thus, Jacob Best, Jr. owned the Market Street beer hall at the time of the Civil War. But not being a partner in the company during the war years, it does not seem probable that he would have issued a Civil War Store Card bearing the legend ‘BEST & CO’S BEER HALL’, when it was actually no longer Best & Co’s beer hall. In fact, the company name changed after the partnership was terminated. During the years 1859-1864, when Philip Best was the sole proprietor, the company operated under the name,’PHILIP BEST / EMPIRE BREWERY’ (the same as it appears on his Civil War merchant card, WI 510 C). Therefore, Best & Co.’s Beer Hall token must have been issued before the Civil War, sometime between the opening of the beer hall in 1851, and the end of the partnership in 1859.

It is worth noting that the beer hall token does not exhibit the exquisite engraving of Philip Best’s Civil War Token (WI 510 C) executed by John Marr. Marr did not arrive in Milwaukee until 1855, and it is quite probable that the beer hall token was struck before that date, possibly by Peter L. Mossin. (Mossin and Marr struck up a partnership in 1860 and produced many Wisconsin Civil War Tokens).

After the brothers parted, Jacob Best, Jr. rented out the Market Street beer hall. As the depression brought on by the Panic of 1857 deepened, he could not secure a tenant and had to operate the beer hall himself in December of 1862. By the late 1860’s his health was failing, and the building was sold. In 1869, Hornbach & Wagner, manufacturers of iron railings and vault doors, occupied the building. The address was now 516-518 Market Street. Jacob Best, Jr. died November 17, 1870 at the age of 59.

The Best & Co. Beer Hall token is very rare. As of this writing there are only two examples known.

Below are more documents concerning Best & Co. researched, written, and compiled by Ray Callan.

Comments:

John R. Steiner, the historian for the Pabst Brewing Company, has done extensive research on the early days of the brewery, yet this beer hall token was not known to him. He said that a fire on December 21, 1879 consumed the Malthouse, Grain Elevators, and General Offices of the brewery, leaving virtually no surviving documents. He agreed with my conclusion that this token was produced in the 1850’s, but could not provide the documented proof I sought.

Sources:

Milwaukee County Historical Society: ‘The Pabst Brewing Company’ by Thomas C. Cochran; probate files of Jacob Best, Jr. and Philip Best; brewery documents.

Milwaukee Central Library: Humanities Room (Local History)

St. Francis Seminary of Milwaukee: Salzmann Library (German/English translation – Banner und Volksfreund, December 6, 1862)

The next time you hoist a PBR, you’ll know a little bit more about the awesome history behind this Milwaukee institution, thanks to Ray Callan and your numismatic hobby!

Special Thanks to TOM CASPER for his archival contributions and incite to help make this article happen for NOW NEWS.

-Editor

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