Worcester Democrat and the ledger-enterprise. (Pocomoke City, Md.) 1921-1953, 1939-11-24
THE BREWERS
OF MARYLAND
HOLD MEETING

Inc Brewers 1nSClCuCe OF maryland,
Inc, was organized at its first meet
ing held in Baltimore, November Is,
1889.
The member breweries are Free
State Brewing Company, Globe Brew
ing Company, Gunther Brewing Com
pany and National Brewing Company,
all of Baltimore, and the Cumberland
Brewing Company and the German
Brewing Company, of Cumberland,
Maryland. The organization of this
Institute marks an epoch in the his
tory of the brewing industry in Mary
land since the repeal of the prohibi-
ton amendment.
When, after fourteen years of ma
tional prohibition, the brewing indus
try found itself back in business in
the spring of 1888, heavy strain was
placed upon all elements concerned
with the brewing and distributing of
legal beer. With the immediate OPP
portunity for building national and
local revenue, federal and state and
other authorities imposed taxes upon
beer averaging some six dollars per
barrel. Vast organizations had to be
set up by the various authorities to
supervise the collection of these taxes.
To supervise and issue licenses to tav-
ern keepers and dealers throughout
the country, federal, state and munich
pal organizations had to be perfected
and developed.
On the part of the brewers and dis
tributing groups, great organizations
had to be built almost over night.
Within comparatively few months,
over two million, one hundred and fiji
ty thousands men and women were
definitely absorbed within the ranks
of brewery workers, distributors and
tavern keepers and their staffs. To
very large extent these people were
inexperienced in the various aspects
of the brewing industry and were
drawn from other lines or from the
field of the unemployed.
While many of the breweries were
opened by men who had been former
members Of the industry, many others
were opened by men with but little
if any previous to prohibition exper-
fence.
The great mass of the consumer
population, eager for the return of
legal beer, had no cultivated taste for
well brewed beer, either not knowing
beer at all or knowing only the home
brews and Illegal concoctions which
were to be found in the hands of the
bootleggers.
Sources of supply-the masters, the
bottle makers, can makers, barrel max
ers and the scores of industries profit
ing by the return of legal beer, were
their organizations on one hand and
leaping into activity and building up
doing their best to render adequate
business-getting service on the other.
Immediately, too, the competition
got under way-brand of beer COM
peting with brand of beer to win pub
lie favor-and, at the same time, the
industry began to have to defend it
self against the general competition
of two negative groups-the profess
sional drys who Immediately resum-
ed their fight for a return to the pro-
hibition status and the various boot
leg rings and organizations who found
their business destroyed overnight but
with treasures still we'll padded.
Out of the hey-day of a great in
dustry tossed willy-nilly upon the coun
try, natural leaders began to assert
themselves and out of early chaos a
sense Of direction has developed.
The leaders of the industry realize
full well that the future of their in