Globe Brewing Company (1933-1938)

The Globe Brewing Co. of San Francisco was organized in May of 1933, a month after the repeal of national Prohibition. The company opened with $100,000 in paid-up capital, and began production under Calif. U-Permit No. 1116 in the fall of '33. The company's secretary and general manager was Ewald A. Iwen.

The plant was located in a industrial area at the foot of Telegraph Hill, in NE San Francisco, at 1401-23 Sansome St. - prior home to the Acme Brewing Co. (1906-1920), and Acme's California Bottling Assn. (1921-1929). In 1929 the Schmidt family sold the old Acme plant to Merchants' Ice & Cold Storage Co. who, four years later, leased the plant and considerable refrigeration space for Globe's cellaring.

The brewery's flagship brand was "Globe Beer" (label above), and they also did some early contract brewing to help grow the business. They brewed and bottled "Log Cabin Beer" for the Log Cabin Sales Co., and "Primo Beer" for the Primo Products Co. Also, there's reason to believe that Globe may have bottled "King's Taste," and "Excell," for Hagstrom's Food Stores, and Pacific States Bottling  Co., respectively. 

All of this contract brewing was for distributors who would have sold primarily to grocers. However, this strategy may have been counter-productive in that it stigmatized Globe as a brewer of cheap, off-brand beers - thus preventing them from obtaining premium beer prices for their products.

In addition to their "Globe" lager the company also brewed and bottled a "Globe Bock Beer" and a "DeLuxe Ale" for their own product line.

The first year or two were prosperous and the company reinvested a considerable portion of its profits, specifically for a refrigerated bottling line, and by adopting the industry's revolutionary process of canning beer.

The photo (at left) shows the four brands canned by Globe. Only "Nu-Globe" was the company's brand. "Fort Sutter" was canned for the Bert McDowell Co., "Log Cabin" for the Log Cabin Sales Co., and "Primo" for the afore mentioned, Primo Sales Co.

All four of these cans are greatly sought after by today's collectors.

The company purchased a Sietz, refrigerated bottling line which precluded the necessity of pasteurization. The company then ran an expensive advertising campaign to tout the advantages of their non-pasteurized draft beer, and the use of their distinctive, half-gallon jugs. A sample ad is shown at right.

Another significant cost for the company was the use of embossed, half-gallon jugs. These were designed exclusively for Globe, and is the only known bottle displaying U-Permit information. An example of this bottle is shown at left. This bottle is also offered for sale on BreweryGems.

These half-gallon jugs were popular, but other brewers used an inexpensive,  clear glass, labeled bottle which wouldn't have required a deposit nor incurred the additional costs of handling.

Profit margins were already slim with the contract brewing of grocery store beers, when a price war in the beer industry made matters even worse for the struggling enterprise. Given the expenses of a new canning line, a refrigerated bottling line, and ordering custom bottles, it's not surprising that by December of 1935 the brewery owed in excess of $100,000 and had filed for bankruptcy. 

Another factor for their financial problems may have been the failure of the non-pasteurization bottling system.  Whether it was the Sietz refrigerated line or the improper storage upon delivery to the retailer, the claim that the beer "keeps indefinitely" obviously wasn't true. The label shown (at right), with the claim crossed out, would suggest that un-happy customers and returned stock cost the company dearly.

One of the brewery's principal creditors was the owner of the property, Merchants' Ice & Cold Storage. Since the brewery's assets still exceeded their liabilities, some of the principals in Merchants' decided to form a group to reorganize Globe and rescue it from bankruptcy.

In May of 1936, the Globe Brewing Co. emerged from receivership and resumed operation. Michael Maffei was Globe's new president (and Merchant's v-p); with A. J. Scampini, counselor (as well as Merchants' counselor & 2nd v-p); W. A. Sherman, sec-treas. (and Merchants' pres. & general mgr.); and J. S. Beriro, asst. secretary. Lodovico L. Sozzi became a company director and vice-president of Globe, and continued as such until Sept. '37 when he replaced Maffei as president.

With a new team in place the company tried to regain lost ground. They continued brewing & bottling "Globe,"  "Nu-Globe," and "Primo," plus they introduced "Portola Lager" as another of their bottled beers. Their canned beer line-up remained unchanged.

Contract brewing continued, and they added "Liberty Beer" and "World Liberty Beer" to their line-up, both for the Liberty Bottling Co. However, in spite of their new products and new management the company failed to prosper. Once they had earned a reputation for bad beer it became an insurmountable obstacle.

In August of '38 the Globe Brewing Co. was again in receivership and this time would not survive.

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