stringsx24now wrote: ↑Mon Jun 29, 2020 5:44 pm
I also have tried to think of an answer to Dixie Dave's question, and the closest I can come up with are examples not even close:
1. Playmate ML/beer
2. Amana
3. Dubois Budweiser
All three of which were halted due to court actions (I believe). Non were flagship brands that I am aware of.
Also, didn't Lemp beer become Falstaff? But that may have been pre-pro action.....and I am not 100% sure of this statement anyway. Brighter, more knowledgeable minds may chime in to correct me. IF I am correct, that may be the closest example?
In Chicago, Atlas Brewing Company became Burnt City:
Atlas Brewing Co. had a problem. Actually, it had two problems.
The first was increasingly common in an ever-crowded craft beer industry: a naming dispute. In 2012, a Washington, D.C., brewery called Atlas Brew Works filed paperwork toward trademarking its name. Atlas Brewing founder Steve Soble opposed the application, believing he had begun using the name in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood well before his East Coast counterparts.
He was wrong. Not only had his lawyers failed to trademark the name, Atlas Brew Works filed its paperwork two weeks before Atlas Brewing opened its doors. After more than two years of legal back-and-forth, Atlas Brewing learned in late 2015 that it had lost the fight. It would need a new name.
[...]
One trademark dispute and identity crisis later, Atlas Brewing is about to be reborn as Burnt City Brewing. Most everything old is gone: the brewery name, the names of the beers, the logo, the can design and even elements of the core beer lineup.
oldindiapaleale wrote: ↑Mon Jun 29, 2020 8:41 pm
Drank Dixie Beer for the first time when visiting New Orleans in 1974. Liked it, but also had the Wisconsin version a few years ago, which was nothing to write home about.
I was surprised to find Dixie, brewed in New Orleans at Whole foods in Portland Maine last month. Found it enjoyable but doubt if they will still have or carry it. Sad way to end a traditional brand.
2020 will not be my favorite year.
Now I am REALLY Interested in this post. You found Dixie, brewed in New Orleans, in Portland, Maine? This is from New Orleans, not Memphis? From what I've heard, they are reestablishing themselves across the South. I know they're in Texas, Mississippi, and Alabama. I believe they recently arrived in Florida, if I recall the news on their Facebook page correctly. I'd love to know how it got to Maine, because the brewery does not name anywhere within 100 miles of Portland where they are selling their beer. I know that Dixie could be found nationally before Katrina, but I haven't seen it far from home since then.
I can't see the date on the bottom of the can, what is it? I have 16 ounce Dixies that were brewed here, wonder if they were all canned as part of the same batch. Seems like the 16's I've got at the house are all canned in March. You can find 16 ounce Dixie here at the brewery or at the Dome or the SK Center, but it is not very common in grocery stores, at least not the locations of the major local chains where I shop.
Found Dixie at Whole Foods market. I assume it got to Maine through their internal distribution.
The bottom has BORN ON: 02/19/2020 and side has Brewed by Dixie Brewing Co., LLC, New Orleans, LA 70126 USA
Can was made by AG with a code of 1 653 0 041 2A
oldindiapaleale wrote: ↑Wed Jul 01, 2020 6:40 pm
Found Dixie at Whole Foods market. I assume it got to Maine through their internal distribution.
The bottom has BORN ON: 02/19/2020 and side has Brewed by Dixie Brewing Co., LLC, New Orleans, LA 70126 USA
Can was made by AG with a code of 1 653 0 041 2A
I didn't know Whole Foods distributed beer internally. Interesting. I thought that all had to be done through the beer distributors. Every state regulates beer differently, though. One exception would be house brands. I stocked quite a few cases of Fischer's Beer and Light during my time at Winn-Dixie. That beer came on the grocery truck and was ordered through our warehouse.
Thank you, sir, for going above and beyond. I just couldn't tell without having the can next to me if it was the New Orleans or the Memphis 16 oz can. They are very similar in many ways, though you can distinguish them easily side-by-side. I like the New Orleans design,with the outline of their iconic tower in the background. That tower is hard to see in a picture though.
Again, I'm really interested in just where Dixie is being found these days and what they're selling. Yes, I do have an ulterior motive for asking, a very sinister one. I do plan to go to Canvention if it happens, and I need to know how far Dixie is distributed so I know if I need to bring more with me, and where I need to bring their cans if I get to attend a show. Dixie is a solid trader for me, as it always has been.
Collector of fine rust, craft cans, and anything related to New Orleans area breweries past and present.
I see Atlas Beer Works in Chicago (thank you, Brian, for an interesting article!) and DuBois Budweiser. Those are beers that changed their names after adverse court decisions (and frankly, I'm surprised THAT doesn't happen a lot more often with over 4,000 breweries nationwide). I can add Mechahopzilla from NOLA locally as another one of those- they changed the IPA's name to Mecha with a red monster instead of a silver one on the can after a friendly cease-and-desist letter from the Godzilla folks (who were VERY nice about things- they allowed NOLA to sell out the cans that were already on shelves or sitting full in their distributors' warehouse before changing the name on it).
What I want to find is an example of a brewery that changed its name without a court or a buyout of the brewery being involved. Voluntary name change, and were they successful afterwards? It has probably happened out there somewhere.
Collector of fine rust, craft cans, and anything related to New Orleans area breweries past and present.
What I want to find is an example of a brewery that changed its name without a court or a buyout of the brewery being involved. Voluntary name change, and were they successful afterwards? It has probably happened out there somewhere.
In 1960 the brewery name was changed to the "Michigan Brewing Company." Apparently they wanted to appeal more outside of the "thumb" of Michigan. Instead they managed to alienate some of their loyal local customers. The new owners also began trying to cut back on expenses by cutting the quality of ingredients. They were the "low-priced beer" for local A&Ps but even low prices can't help sell too much beer if it's no longer very good.
In 1965 the brewery was sold to Buckeye Brewing of Toledo, Ohio. Local supporters sued to stop Buckeye's purchase, since the new would-be owners were planning on shutting the plant while making "Sebewaing" in Toledo. The lawsuit stopped the sale but the brewery had already shut down. The brewery reopened, once again as the Sebewaing Brewing Company, but the damage was done. The new business only lasted a few months, then closed for good. In late 1966 the equipment was sold to other breweries and for scrap. The building was partly torn down in the early 1980s, but I do not know if any part of it remains today.
I spent some time researching the topic about name changes and and could find no recent offerings but did find one that changed years ago and survived for awhile. The Stroh's brewery was called Lion brewery for a short time (from 1875-1882) Here's a link to the info I found. It includes some interesting history - https://books.google.com/books?id=I7W3D ... pg=PA23&dq
While not exactly a name change, The Lafayette brewery produced a beer called Ye Tavern and for some reason they changed the name from Ye Tavern Brew to Ye tavern Beer in about 1940.
We have art to decorate our spaces. We have music to decorate our time. - Mom
Atlantic lost a law suit to use the name "Old South" to Old South Brewing Co. out of Statesville, NC back in the 30's. Ken can give you more details on that.
Something like Sebewaing is exactly what I'm looking for. They voluntarily changed the name of the brewery in an effort to expand the appeal of their product. It didn't work. Shame because that is a good-looking can with the pheasant.
Collector of fine rust, craft cans, and anything related to New Orleans area breweries past and present.
In 1963, The Fesenmeier Brewing Company of Huntington, WV did away with their West Virginia brand that had been in use since repeal and began marketing Fesenmeier as their primary brand. I believe this was done in an attempt to broaden their appeal across a wider market (if you lived in neighboring Ohio or Kentucky, why would you want to drink something called West Virginia?). I do not know if this move hurt sales within the state as they were already in decline due to competition from the national brands and bigger regional breweries. But when the Fesenmeier family sold out in 1968, the new owners attempted to revive the West Virginia brand but it only lasted a couple years before the brewery closed for good.
Always looking for West Virginia breweriana from Fesenmeier and Parkersburg.
12 oz. US flat tops.
Well I woke up this morning and got myself a beer,
The future's uncertain and the end is always near.
--Jim Morrison
In general it's never a good idea to change the name of your product, more so if it's a successful brand. Name recognition is number one in marketing. Even when large brewers buy out smaller breweries they will keep the name of the flagship beer of the brewer that was acquired, if it re-released. Stroh's for example.
We have art to decorate our spaces. We have music to decorate our time. - Mom
kruegerbock wrote: ↑Wed Jul 01, 2020 12:59 pm
Silver lining - you ought to be able to pick up signs and such very inexpensively.
Prices for Dixie collectibles have shot up. Groupings of easy cans that usually would sell for a couple of dollars, if at all, are selling for $15 on up. The brewery website has sold out of numerous items over the weekend. When better Dixie items come up for sale, their prices will be double or triple what they used to sell for.
kruegerbock wrote: ↑Wed Jul 01, 2020 12:59 pm
Silver lining - you ought to be able to pick up signs and such very inexpensively.
Prices for Dixie collectibles have shot up. Groupings of easy cans that usually would sell for a couple of dollars, if at all, are selling for $15 on up. The brewery website has sold out of numerous items over the weekend. When better Dixie items come up for sale, their prices will be double or triple what they used to sell for.
- Mike
I'll admit I'm a small part of the reason for the surge in collecting of this brand. Glad to see the increase in value but I hate to see the Dixie brand go. It's a good beer that I enjoyed when I was down in NO waiting on our ship to dock. Good times would be an understatement.
Last edited by bodean on Fri Jul 03, 2020 9:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
We have art to decorate our spaces. We have music to decorate our time. - Mom
twcans wrote: ↑Thu Jul 02, 2020 11:11 pm
Why was it originally called Dixie 45?
Thanks, Tom
Tom, not really sure why, but I have heard a few reasons. The brewery was originally founded by Valentine Merz in 1907 and was called the Merz Brewing Company. They had two main brands, Merz and Dixie. During prohibition, the brewery was called Merz Products Company (Wikipedia says Dixie Products Company). After prohibition, the brewery again produced Merz and Dixie brands. Sometime in the late 30's or early 40's, the Merz name and brand was dropped, and the brewery was renamed the Dixie Brewing Company. Around the same time, the Dixie 45 brand appeared.
One story says brand name change came in 1945, hence Dixie 45. The other story is that immediately after prohibition ended, only 3.2 beer was allowed, then eventually full strength beer was made legal. Locals began calling the full strength Dixie "Fortified" Beer, which evolved into the "45" moniker. The Dixie 45 brand lasted into the early 60's, when it is said they they were sued by National Brewing as an infringement on the Colt 45 brand. The brand name was changed back to Dixie and the neon "45's" on the brewery's tower were removed.
Dixie was called Dixie from 1907. I have an article from the paper from then that talks about the brewery opening and has a drawing of the building captioned "the Dixie Brewery"
Collector of fine rust, craft cans, and anything related to New Orleans area breweries past and present.
This ad from July 12, 1937 in Monroe, LA shows the "45" in the name, well before 1945.
A Google search provided a link to the New Orleans Bar Association (Lawyers, not Alcohol) and this 10 page PDF. Down load it and go to page 9 for a possible explanation of the "45" in the name.
And for those that choose not to download, here's that text:
But where, you might ask did the “45” brand name come from? One story goes like this: Just after Prohibition, Nicholas G.
Castrogiovanni opened Nick’s Big Train Bar at 2400 Tulane Avenue, just across the street from the Dixie Brewery at 2401 Tulane Avenue. Legend has it that Nick remarked that Dixie Beer had a kick like a .45 pistol. But it is unlikely that Nick’s comment could have been made to Valentine Merz, who died in 1929 (before the end of Prohibition). It is possible that Nick’s “compliment” was communicated to some later executive at the brewery, since it appears that the company began advertising the Dixie “45” brand in the late 1930s.
Don't forget Huber Brewing Company being bought out and changed to Minhas Brewing after the turn of the century. They did keep the name of the flagship beer
golf_lover44
BCCA #34341
Collector of current micro and craft brewery cans from Chicago and the USA
golf_lover44 wrote: ↑Sun Jul 05, 2020 2:23 pm
Don't forget Huber Brewing Company being bought out and changed to Minhas Brewing after the turn of the century. They did keep the name of the flagship beer
Ever heard of Blumers soda? Blumer was Pre-Huber. Strange they kept that name after the brewery left most employees without their pension, and a name change to Huber- according to the locals. Most of them said it left a bad taste in their mouth without even trying it. Ziphippie
twcans wrote: ↑Thu Jul 02, 2020 11:11 pm
Why was it originally called Dixie 45?
Thanks, Tom
Tom, not really sure why, but I have heard a few reasons. The brewery was originally founded by Valentine Merz in 1907 and was called the Merz Brewing Company. They had two main brands, Merz and Dixie. During prohibition, the brewery was called Merz Products Company (Wikipedia says Dixie Products Company). After prohibition, the brewery again produced Merz and Dixie brands. Sometime in the late 30's or early 40's, the Merz name and brand was dropped, and the brewery was renamed the Dixie Brewing Company. Around the same time, the Dixie 45 brand appeared.
One story says brand name change came in 1945, hence Dixie 45. The other story is that immediately after prohibition ended, only 3.2 beer was allowed, then eventually full strength beer was made legal. Locals began calling the full strength Dixie "Fortified" Beer, which evolved into the "45" moniker. The Dixie 45 brand lasted into the early 60's, when it is said they they were sued by National Brewing as an infringement on the Colt 45 brand. The brand name was changed back to Dixie and the neon "45's" on the brewery's tower were removed.
- Mike
Now that is something - Colt 45 came out 20 years after the Dixie 45 brand was created but could still sue for copyright infringement. Obviously National Brewing Co had better lawyers.
Wanted: Hartford Connecticut Breweriana for my collection.....
The story I heard about how it got the name "Dixie 45" is that Nick Castrogiovanni that owed the bar across the street from the brewery kept a loaded 45 pistol under the bar in case of trouble. So patrons started calling him "45". Then when they'd order a beer from him, they'd say "give me a Dixie, 45". Then it evolved into people ordering a beer just naturally said "give me a Dixie 45." People from the brewery frequented the bar and it caught on and they added it to the name. No idea if that is true.
Always looking for West Virginia breweriana from Fesenmeier and Parkersburg.
12 oz. US flat tops.
Well I woke up this morning and got myself a beer,
The future's uncertain and the end is always near.
--Jim Morrison
I will have to research how early I can find Dixie referred to as "Dixie 45." The story of its origin that I've always heard told by older members back when we had a chapter here (and I believe I even saw this at the new brewery on the wall where they recount the brewery's history) was that bar owner Nick Castrogiovanni told one of the brewery executives that "Dixie has a kick like a .45". There is no formal documentation of this that i am aware of, just one of those urban legends that gets passed on. I've heard it from enough people that I trust, especially Dixie historian Lew Burritt.
As for when Dixie lost the "45" name, again, the story I've always heard here is that the brewers of Colt 45 sued Dixie for copyright infringement because Dixie never registered it as a trademark. Big national brewer with big expensive lawyers picks on little brewery that is working to keep the doors open, guess who is going to win. The last reference to Dixie 45 that I see in the Times-Picayune was like 1962, 1963. Keep in mind that Dixie was usually just called "Dixie Beer" in grocery ads, not Dixie 45, which can affect gauging exactly when the name change took place. It has to be early 1960's, because there are no 45 zips or tabs of any kind that I've ever heard of, but there are non-45 Dixie flats. Brewery advertising also died out in the late '50s, when the popular "Dixie Doodles" campaign fizzled out. Dixie Doodles were little stick figure people doing different things with a little pun about Dixie Beer being illustrated. Many were pretty clever and/or funny. The campaign ended after 1960. It was a good deal- winners saw their pun advertised in the paper and they got like a $50.00 savings bond. When that campaign ended, Dixie quit advertising in the paper for quite a while.
Now what is interesting to me here is that I have not been able to find one word about this lawsuit in the Times-Picayune archives. You would think something like a local brewery being forced to change the name of its beer would be newsworthy. There may be legal papers on this, but access to legal decisions like that would likely require research on Westlaw, which is far too expensive for use for personal research. If there are any attorneys reading this who do have that access, I would really be interested in finding out any information related to this lawsuit. I would love to know if this actually went to court. Please PM me with pdf's of any court papers you find. I'm a paralegal, I know legalese.
Last edited by Dixie Dave on Mon Jul 06, 2020 11:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
Collector of fine rust, craft cans, and anything related to New Orleans area breweries past and present.
Can I ask one related question here? When did Colt 45 Malt Liquor actually first appear on the market? I'm curious as to how this fits into the timeline of the lawsuit against Dixie over the 45 name.
Collector of fine rust, craft cans, and anything related to New Orleans area breweries past and present.