Where's the Zwickelmania, Salem-area Breweries?

Portland, Eugene, and Bend all have Zwickelmania activities planned! Salem-area?...crickets.

What's Zwickelmania, you ask? From the Oregon Brewers Guild:

This President’s Day weekend, dozens of Oregon breweries and brewpubs will open their doors to visitors for the state’s 2nd annual Zwickelmania. Zwickelmania, hosted by the Oregon Brewers Guild (OBG), is a free statewide event that offers visitors a chance to tour Oregon breweries, meet the brewers and sample their favorite beers.

When: Saturday, February 13th, 2010 from 11-4 pm
What: Oregon Brewers Guild Brewery Open House.

Salem-area brewers, where's the love? Where's the mania?

Thompson's Enters Bumble Blue Pale Ale to 17th Annual Hillsdale Brewfest

Good luck! The world needs more quality pale ales just now!

From the release:

20 McMenamins brewers present 20 beers in competition at the historic “Battle of the Belt”

PORTLAND, Ore.—On Saturday, February 20, 2010, the notorious “Battle of the Belt” rages for the seventeenth time at Hillsdale Brewery & Public House (1505 SW Sunset Blvd.). McMenamins’ Hillsdale Brewfest is a day-long event featuring twenty original brews such as Au Pear Porter, Whatawit, The Elvis Conspiracy and The Viper, along with food specials, revelry, merriment and – most important – a competition for the coveted Belt. The Hillsdale Brewfest is free to attend, begins at 11 a.m. and is open to guests of all ages; those 21 and over may taste the ales.

Twenty of the finest ales from McMenamins’ breweries are sent into battle, their brewers vying for bragging rights, the notorious championship belt and a berth in the annual Oregon Brewers Festival. Patrons order “trays” of beer, arranged from lightest to darkest – each of the two trays offers ten 4-ounce samples and costs $8.75. It is our guests’ duty to decide who deserves the coveted title. With seventeen ales from Oregon and three from Washington, these beers cover the spectrum of brew styles – from hefeweizen to oatmeal stout, barleywine to smoked amber ale and beyond. Each taster casts one ballot that lists his or her top three choices.

The victorious brewer at this year’s Battle of the Belt will represent McMenamins at the 23rd Annual Oregon Brewers Festival in downtown Portland on July 22–25, 2010. For more information, visit www.oregonbrewfest.com.

Salem Burns Fred Legg - Neglected Architect of Fairview and More

One hundred years ago Frederick Legg was an important architect in Salem. Today he's mostly forgotten. As it turns out, though, his buildings remain standing more often than those of any other historic architect in town.

Though Legg's designs aren't the most beautiful, elegant, or innovative, they are handsome, and it is possible that through solid engineering and practical design, his buildings have remained useful longer than more distinctive designs of his peers and predecessors. In any case, as measured by the quantity of his structures still standing, Legg stakes a claim as the most important historic architect in Salem.

At least three of Legg's buildings have also burned. Just a week ago, Pierce Cottage at Fairview Training Center burned down. According to the University of Oregon photo archives, Frederick Legg (also Frederick Legge) designed it, and was also responsible for the design of Hoff, Holman, Kay, Kozer, Olcott, and Smith cottages.(Photo: Ruth Liao, Statesman-Journal)

Walter D. Pugh (the Grand Theater and old City Hall) designed the very first building at Fairview, LeBreton Hall. As the list suggests, next round of commissions was substantial and it went to Legg. Legg had been a junior partner in Pugh's firm, and it's not at present clear whether the commissions had gone to the firm for Legg to execute or if, perhaps, Legg took the client with him when he left.

According to Richard Ritz in his book, Architects of Oregon, Pugh and Legg practiced out of Portland between 1907-09 and dissolved the partnership in 1910. Legg's primary office continued to be in Portland until 1915, when he moved to Salem. The Polk directories give Legg's offices in the Murphy block (destroyed by fire; see note on it below). Once Oregon started licensing architects, Legg's was number 0056. (Pugh was never licensed and became a "contractor.")

At any rate, by 1910 Legg was established on his own, and in a January 1 puff piece in a substantial advertorial section published annually in the Statesman, the list of his buildings is substantial. Curiously, the Nomination Form for the Salem Downtown Historic District fails to attribute many of these buildings to Legg. It is possible his considerable contributions to Salem have been forgotten.

SALEM ARCHITECT WINS REPUTATION

DREW PLANS FOR BANK BUILDING, MUTE SCHOOL, AND GARFIELD SCHOOL

Mr. Fred A. Legg, known as "Salem's architect," is known throughout the Northwest as one of the most proficient workmen of his trade. He has been a resident of Salem, Oregon, from time to time, for twenty-five years, several years of which he and Mr. Pugh of this city were partners in business. Mr. Legg's unquestionable competency is evidenced in his works. The development of his plans and designs for the United States National Bank building [Pioneer Trust], of this city, has produced one of the most admirable buildings in the Capital City.

The architectural work on the Oregon State Mute School buildings was done by Mr. Legg. The plans of this group of buildings [photo: Wikipedia, building demolished in 1975], located about one mile north of Salem, has rendered them the most convenient of any of their kind in the Northwest.

The new Garfield school [and here], on the corner of Cottage and Marion streets, was also planned and designed by Mr. Legg. The patrons of this school claim the honor of having the most artistic public school in Marion county.

The big barn on the Oregon State Insane Asylum Farm was built according to his plans and Dr. Steiner, the superintendent of the Oregon State Insane Asylum, and many other state officials claim it to be the best barn in the west.

At the Oregon State Fair grounds the most commendable piece of work that attracts the attention of the visitor is the big Arcade at the entrance of the Administration building designed by Mr. Legg.

At the present time Mr. Legg is working on the plans and designs of the Union Bank & Trust Company building of Portland. The dimensions of this building are 50x100 feet and twelve stories high.

No architectural work is too great or too small for Mr. Legg, and if he undertakes to do any work for you, you are going to be satisfied.

Near the end of his life, incidental to a series on pioneers of the 1840s in the "Bits for Breakfast" Statesman column, on May 26, 1936, R. J. Hendricks surveyed Legg's career on the back end:

...Information has since reached this desk that to a long time and prominent resident of the capital city, C. C. Bozarth [pioneer of 1845] was a grand uncle on his father's side and a first uncle on the side of his mother.

He is Frederick Arthur Legge, the well known architect, more familiar to Salem old timers as Fred Legg, whose home is at 1499 State street....

William Thomas Legge married Christine Rachel John on July 3, 1859, and there came to this union one daughter and five sons, Frederick A. being one of the five, born in Multnomah county, Oregon, Nov 16, 1868.

He married Lulu Smith, daughter of Dr. Harrison Smith of Salem, on January 21, 1893.

They have a daughter, Margaret, who was married to Wallace C. Griffith on June 9, 1926, and they have a small daughter Margaret Claire, born in Salem April 7, 1927. Mr. Griffith, a teacher, has charge of CCC educational programs in the district just below the Oregon line, headquarters at Crescent City, Cal.

Also a son, Kenneth C. Legge, who married Velma Baker September 22, 1929. He is an architect and they now live in Portland, he being connected with PWA headquarters for Oregon, under C. C. Hockley.

Frederick A. Legge came to Salem 50 years ago next September and entered Willamette University, graduating after four years; then went to Philadelphia to study pharmacy.

From 1905 he owned an operated a drug store in Salem, on State street, for 16 years.

Since that time he has followed a profession of architect. Many fine buildings in this state testify to the fact that he has been busy, and efficient.

Among them are Lausanne hall, Willamette University; U.S. National bank building, Salem; Salem Bank of Commerce, now Guardian building; building occupied by the Hamilton Furniture store; the White Corner, Commercial and Court; Willis building, occupied by the Stiff furniture company; Roth Grocery company building, now occupied by the Silver Grand store, and numerous others.

Also the Salem high school, and most of the other public buildings in Salem; those of the state school for the deaf, and about a dozen at the Fairview home, formerly called the state institution for the feeble minded. And many more.

Mr. Legge some months ago suffered severe physical injuries by a fall from a building. It was feared he might not recover, or would emerge a cripple.

But sheer grit and faithful persistency have brought him to a point near complete recovery, with prospect of full physical vigor very soon...

The list of additional buildings is impressive. The most interesting is the reference to "the Salem high school." It's not clear whether this refers to the old Salem high school built in 1905 or the new school now known as North Salem High School, completed in 1937, and in process of design and construction in May 1936. Less likely, Parrish Middle School was completed in 1924.

The old school's massing is very similar to the buildings at Fairview, and some accounts have associated it with Walter D. Pugh. Since the building lacks Pugh's signature towers and more resembles the Fairview buildings, it is reasonable to associate the design with Legg, perhaps executed under Pugh's supervision. At the same time, with the new high school in progress at the time of the article, Hendricks article is ambiguous, and we cannot rule out the newer school.

Several school buildings are securely identified with Legg. Lausanne Hall is the most distinctive. Others are more generic and gave rise to templates. The original plan of Englewood is almost exactly like Garfield. Highland and Richmond are quite handsome, and resemble more of the two- and three-story commercial buildings downtown. Clusters of the schools were clearly built at the same time and from the same basic plan.

The list of Legg's commercial buildings is also impressive. The Willis building and Stiff Furniture Company is the current home of the Book Bin at 450 Court St. NE. In 1936 the Hamilton Furniture store occupied 340 Court St. NE, the current location of Sid's Home Furnishings. The kinship between 450 Court and 340 Court is unmistakable. The Roth Grocery building was the former home of Jonathan's Long Bar at 120 Liberty Rd. NE. It was built in 1916.

Other commercial buildings identified with Legg that are included in the Nomination form include the Boise Building at 217 State St.; the Vick Building at 525 Trade St. SE; and the Farrar Building at 351-367 State St. Again there are stylistic commonalities.

Although Hendricks associates the White Corner with Legg, it, also known at the Breyman Block, was an old building originating in 1874, and it is difficult to place it on a reasonable timeline with Legg. The two buildings (here and here) were remodeled in the late 1940s, after Legg had died. It's not clear what this means.

Legg also designed residences. At least two are known. He is responsible for the John Minto bungalow of 1922 and the Cusick mansion of 1911.

Legg died November 2, 1941.

His own home at 1499 State St. was demolished for a medical clinic.

After his death, his buildings were were no stranger to fire. The Salem Bank of Commerce, also known as the Guardian building, burned in 1947. The Murphy block, home to McMahan's Furniture, and earlier where Legg had his offices, burned in 2006. And, of course, Pierce cottage just burned.

Legg's reputation has been neglected - if not exactly "burned," too. As this list shows, there are tons of handsome, if not quite first-rate, buildings of his remaining, but few of them are called out as designed by Legg. As I think about Legg's buildings, I think especially of his rooflines, cornices, and in general the edges of his buildings. I like the way his buildings meet the air and sky, and meet other buildings. Perhaps in another note we can touch more on his style - or perhaps readers with shrewder eyes and a better sense of architectural history can comment on Legg's style and favorite moves.

Even if his style is not first-rate like that of Knighton or Lawrence, surely it is the kind of second-rate that is never cheap and often with time wears better than the flourishes of a more original mind. There are so many block faces in downtown with a Legg on it! Legg deserves to be remembered better than through fire and loss! Tip your next pint to Frederick Legg and his legacy!

Bottled Beer is Better than Boiled Water! Advertising in the face of Typhoid

Just after the typhoid scare of Christmas 1909, on January 1st, 1910, the Salem Brewing Association ran an advert specifically touting the safety of Salem Beer.

It's a bit fear-mongery. Untreated tap water was dangerous; at the same time, the brewery might benefit financially from scared people who might consider beer as the safest alternative to tap water.

It doesn't make Mayor Lachmund's decision to veto municipalizing the water supply look very good. The ad really makes it look like it was truly possible that brewers and hopsgrowers would feel a pure source of tapwater might threaten their beer sales, however compromised by crappy water the beer might be. If you mask it with enough hops, few would notice.

While I still haven't found any direct evidence for a Lachmund conspiracy against pure water, there's certainly a suggestive penumbral shadow.

In the face of growing sentiment for Prohibition, the ad is also direct about the sensory allure of beer - the lively prickle from carbonation and the "stick" from alcohol.

Moreover, the ad's themes cast an interesting light on early advertising: local boosterism, quasi-scientific precision, the reasonableness of the flattering confidence-man, and the commercial preference for selling a product - consumerist progress - instead of investing in solutions - infrastructure progress. This was politically a mixed time, a transition between the gilded age and the progressive era, and the rhetoric of "progress" looks a bit like "greenwashing" today.

I find it a fascinating document.

PROGRESS

The Salem Brewery Association plant for the brewing and bottling of beer and manufacturing of ice is one of Salem's most important industries. During the past five years this business has grown from a very small, old-fashioned brewing plant to one of the most modern enterprises on the coast. The name "Salem Beer" is a familar household term over most of California and Oregon. It has gained enviable reputation throughout this western country and is a welcome beverage in numerous families. Over one million bottles of Salem beer were consumed during the past year. As each bottle is decorated or marked with the trade mark label, showing the beautiful State Capitol building, this fact alone has consequently served as a medium of advertisement for the city of Salem of considerable magnitude and value. Thousands of people know of Salem, as the home of Salem beer.

WHAT IS BEER

To meet "a long felt want" of mankind in the form of a mild, carbonated, alcoholic, stimulating, cooling, palatable, refreshing tonic and thirst-quenching drink, the beer of today is the best drink in the world.

Just observe for a moment how beer is made up. First and foremost, about nineteen-twentieths of a glass of beer is just cold water.

Now, cold water "plain" and "straight," which has not been boiled, is a very dangerous drink. Positively hundreds of thousands of poor victims of typhoid fever have been sent to premature graves in these United States by the typhoid germs which are taken into the system almost exclusively from drinking water.
But the water of beer has invariably had all dangerous germs killed out of it by a vigorous two hours' boil. If we were to drink this boiled water straight, the remedy would be worse than the disease; for of all "flat, stale and unpalatable" drinks, boiled water, deprived by boiling of its natural content of sparkling air, is the flattest. But, in the case of beer, here comes plenty of carbonic acid gas to put new life into the boiled water. The process of fermentation cuts up the sugar of the beer wort into a little alcohol and , by bulk, a good deal of carbonic acid gas. So, then, we have so far found in our beer the two constituents, water and carbonic acid gas, which together make "plain soda water," neither more nor less; and then we find that our fermentation has given us also a little alcohol, about one-twentieth part of the whole, so that now our glass of beer is simply a glass of "soda water" with a "stick" in it.

And yet, without this little dash of alcohol, beer would not be beer at all, beer would not be used at all.

Beck's Bock Boosts Brewery in 1901

Just as today, in April and May a century ago, beer lovers eagerly awaited their bock beer! And in the spring of 1901, the Capital Brewery had special reason to promote it.

Pre-Prohibition brewing was a lot more like contemporary craft brewing than you'd think. Mid-century brewing habituated us to watered-down industrial lager. But as we saw with the prospect of Westacott's strong ale that workers on Minto's property found in 1909, early brewers made a range of beers. Bock beers were a springtime seasonal, often originally made by monks as carb-rich "liquid bread" that powered them through Lenten austerities.

Here's an ad for Klinger & Beck's bock in 1901.

BOCK BEER

The Capital Brewery's Famous Bock will be on draught in all Salem and country saloons on and after

APRIL 6, 1901

Try it and be happy. It's the best ever turned out. We also put up our Bock Beer in bottles.

KLINGER & BECK

Inheritance and estate transfer at the turn of the last century was no easier then than today.

Two years before the ad appeared, on April 25th, 1899, Seraphin Beck died. Settling his estate appears to have taken at least two years and came at the cost of dissolving the Klinger & Beck partnership

SALEM BREWER DEAD
Seraphim Beck, of the Capital Brewery, Passes Away

After being more or less incapacitated for transaction of business for several years Seraphim Beck, a full partner in the Salem brewing firm of Klinger & Beck, died at his home on South Twenty-fifth street at 7 o'clock Thursday evening, aged 48 years.

Deceased was born in Alsace-Lorraine in 1851. When 21 years of age he came to the United State, locating in Chicago. After a two year's residence at Denver, he came to Oregon in 1875. In August, 1877, he associated himself with Mr. Klinger, in the brewing of beer, in which he has since engaged.

He married in January, 1878, to Miss Maggie Neibert, who survives him. He leaves two children a son and a daughter, viz. Joseph aged 16 years and Leona, aged 7 years.

The deceased was an industrious business man, of a quiet and unassuming disposition. He was a man of the highest integrity.

The funeral will be held in St. Joseph's Catholic church Thursday at 10 o'clock. Burial will take place in the Catholic cemetery, south of this city. The funeral cortege leaves the house soon after 9 o'clock.

Deceased leaves quite a large property to his wife and children by will.

The Catholic cemetery is St. Barbara's on Liberty Road and Missouri in south Salem. (Beck's headstone here and detail here.) Interestingly, a partial survey of the graves suggests a cluster of Germanic brewers in Salem. The list shows Beck buried near a Mrs. Mary Eckerlen. Mrs. Eckerlen was also from Alsace-Lorraine, and perhaps the family knew the Becks. Further, there was an Eckerlin Saloon, and E. Eckerlin was one of the partners in the 1903 Salem Brewery Association. Even with the vowel switch (easily explained in the unstable orthography), just how many Eckerlins could there be in Salem? More research to come!

Two years after the death, the brewery advertised the bock beer. It turns out this was just a month before putting up the brewery for sale.¹

In May, 1901, Beck's widow bought the brewery and cashed out Klinger.

CAPITAL BREWERY SOLD BY REFEREES

At 2 o'clock this afternoon, Tilmon Ford and B. F. Bonham, referees, sold the Capital Brewery plant and other property of the Klinger & Beck partnership, in order that the settlement of the business in the interest of the heir of S. Beck deceased, might be effected. The sale included the brewery plant, fixtures, etc, lots 3, 4, 5 and a portion of lot 6 of block 35, Salem; the north 1/2 of lot 5, block 36 Gervais, and two promessory notes of $800 and $425 respectively.
The bidding began with an offer of $17,000 by M. Klinger, and at 3 o'clock was bid in by Mrs. Margaret Beck for $30,000. M. Klinger bought the Gervais property at $325.

Another account references the sale as having occurred in Dallas, with some Dallas property also in the estate and sold.

Here's a photo of Maurice Klinger from the Oregon State Library collection. Unfortunately I wasn't able to find a photo of Beck.

Whether the bock continued to be brewed I don't know. I'll try to find out that as well. But here is at least one instance of a specialty seasonal brewed and advertised almost as they are today!

¹I haven't verified that the advertising occurred yearly; it's possible this was a one-off in order to boost cash-flow for the brewery's sale. But I believe it's most likely the beer was a yearly seasonal and that the advertising would be similarly seasonal. It is "famous" and the "best ever," both of which suggest repetition and expectation. Maybe this is untrue advertising hype, but I just don't think so. While it's possible one of the partners sought to boost sales artificially, that would seem likely to interfere with an orderly process of cashing out. I will confirm.

Mommy's Little Helper? Beer as "Tonic " and "Invigorator"

Just before selling the brewery in 1903, Mrs. Beck advertised her beer:

Why Certainly!
This beer is good for you.

I know nothing better in the shape of a tonic or invigorator. That's the way doctors talk about Salem beer, well knowing its beneficial effects on young and old who need a mild, harmless, pure invigorant.

Or maybe he's just a creepy old man?

The Oly - Salem Connection, 1903

In addition to the Weinhard brand, the other active major brewing legacy is the Oly stubby. Interestingly, both involve Full Sail in Hood River.

But in another history, Salem could have had at least one of them!

Most readers of CT will already know the story behind Session, Full Sail, and the mold for the Oly Stubby. If not, here's the Oly stubby. Same mold!

There's a campaign - I don't know how active - to bring back the Oly stubby. As cool as that would be, I like what Full Sail's doing with it even better. It's a modernized reinterpretation, neither a slavish reproduction in packaging nor insipid industrial lager inside. It's the best kind of homage: With a supremely civilized tip of the cap, it suavely moves forward with change.

But it turns out that Salem has a long history with Oly, and it's too bad Session or something like it couldn't have been brewed here.

On June 5th, 1903, the Capital Journal announced that Margaret M. Beck (the widow, I believe, of Seraphin Beck) had sold the Capital Brewery to Stanislaus Zynda for $75,000 the previous day. Beck had purchased the brewery for $30,000 "a few years ago," so she turned a nice little profit. Zynda had been manager of the Whatcom Brewery in Washington. The paper noted that the "young Salem attorney," Carey Martin, had brokered the deal.

A month later, on July 7th, 1903, L.F. Schmidt of Olympia announced he had purchased the Capital Brewery and incorporated the Salem Brewing Association.

NEW SALEM BREWING ASS'N

New Corporation Takes the Place of the Old Capital City Brewery

THE ICE PLANT, MALTING ROOM, BOTTLING WORK AND BREWING CAPACITY TO BE INCREASED MANY FOLD - WILL THRIVE UNDER MANAGEMENT

The Salem Brewing Association, in corporated with a capital stock of $60,000, succeeds the old Capital Brewery of this city. The new company is composed of L.F. Schmidt, president; Stanislaus Zynda, secretary and manager; and E. Eckerlin of Salem, treasurer.

This company is strong financially, its officers are experienced men in the brewing business, and with the enterprising management and up-to-date methods which they will ensure the concern they will build up a large business at Salem, which is a natural distributing point for the whole of Western Oregon.

President Schmidt has been in the brewing business since 1875. He built the Centennial brewery at Butte, one of the largest in the West, and then with great pluck and determination went to the brew-master's school at Worms, an ancient city on the Rhine, where he took a full course, returning to his property in Montana. He located next at Portland and then went to the Sound, where he built the Whatcom and Olympia breweries and made a large and valuable property out of each of them, the value of their stock increasing four hundred per cent under his management, and the beer getting a reputation second to none on the Pacific Coast, and the output at Olympia reaching 5000 barrels in July and at Whatcom will go 1500 barrels in June. He had just added the Salem property and will now take the steps necessary to increase the capacity of the Capital Brewery to ten thousand barrels a year. With the fine barley and hops and the excellent water that this brewery is supplied with, there will be built up a reputation for Salem brew that will make this plant one of the most valuable in the West.

Among the improvements contemplated and fully provided for are doubling the capacity of the ice plant. The fine hygenic ice that is now made from distilled water will be made for family use, but a cheaper ide will be made for cold storage purposes. Malting will be conducted on a much larger scale. A side track will be constructed with the permission of the S.P. Co. to handle barley and malt by the car load. Two large rooms will be used for malting and a dry kiln will be built. The company will ship in seed for growing the special varieties of barley used for making the special brews of beer made only by these breweries. A bottling house will be built with a capacity for 150 dozen per day.

Interesting detail about distilled water for ice-making. The water perhaps wasn't so great here. (For more on Salem's water in 1909, see here.)

The company immediately started advertising that they were selling Olympia beer here.

As it will take some time to place our product in the market...we made arrangements to handle the Olympia and Bellingham brews...

For more on the history of Oly, see the Brewery Gems article here. (There's a difference on the acquisition date, 1902 v. 1903. We'll see what we can learn...the news articles seem pretty clear that it was 1903, however.)

Oly started selling the stubby in 1935. Curiously, Sick's had the Ranier brewery, which purchased the Salem Brewing Association in 1943 (see end of note here).

The Sound seemingly always owned Salem Beer! Unfortunately, Prohibition just messed everything up...