Autocrat Beer only sold in Alabama??

[keithker]

This is an interesting posting from a 1986 BCCA magazine. I was unable to prove or disprove this when searching for ads for Autocrat beer. I found zero ads.

Autocrat.png (76.88 KiB) Viewed 1945 times

[mtracy64]

It doesn't make a lot of sense for a company in New Orleans to contract out the brewing of a beer and to only distribute it in Alabama. I also don't recall the cans having the Alabama tax lid which would have been required.

I wan't able to dig up much of significance on the history of Consolidated Companies, Inc., except that the blurb below appears to indicate that the company was founded in 1901 and still exists today.

Marc

Consolidated Companies, Inc. engages in the distribution of food and food-related products to businesses that prepare and serve food. It offers service programs for convenience stores, movie theatres, and novelty distributors; services for restaurants, hotels, casinos, hospitals, nursing homes, schools, and correctional facilities; and baked goods, deli foods, seafood, and coffee. The company serves Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida markets. Consolidated Companies, Inc. was founded in 1901 and is based in Metairie, Louisiana with branches in New Orleans, Shreveport, and Lafayette.

[keithker]

@mtracy64 Yeah I couldn't validate the comment but looks like it has revived some old discussions. Not sure why Charlie might have made it.

[Dixie Dave]

I have a grocery ad from the Times-Picayune that advertises Autocrat for sale in New Orleans. They had Old Gold and Lubeck too. Never dumped any.

[chicagocans]

My prior example of L-57 (since upgraded) was purportedly dumped in Minnesota, according to the original owner. 1986 was a long time ago.

[Dixie Dave]

Here is the ad that I was referring to- I don't have this saved on my phone. There are a couple of other similar ads from the same store around this time period. This is taken from the New Orleans Times-Picayune archives.

Autocrat ad 4.2.1942.jpg (19 KiB) Viewed 1755 times

Hope this helps clarify things.

[Dixie Dave]

Here is the full page of the paper from which this was taken for context. Note the interesting Miller ad upper right. Autocrat is towards lower right in Pap's ad.

Autocrat ad 4.2.1942 full size.pdf

(614.97 KiB) Downloaded 54 times

Please let me know if the attachment doesn't work. It's working fine for me, but that doesn't always mean much.

[keithker]

@Dixie Dave Thanks. I'll have to see what made Charlie make such a comment. I'm sure he didn't have access to all of the resources we have today.

[Dixie Dave]

And here is a second ad from a different store, same time period. Again, I have left the ad full-size to show it in context, and also because it's rather interesting if you are into grocery store history.

Autocrat ad 4.23.42 Capitol Stores full size.pdf

(544.54 KiB) Downloaded 67 times

[Dixie Dave]

@Dixie Dave Thanks. I'll have to see what made Charlie make such a comment. I'm sure he didn't have access to all of the resources we have today.

Perhaps that was what Charlie knew from talking to old-timers or what he could find with the resources available at the time. I certainly don't want to infer or imply anything negative about him! I'll bet my bottom dollar he didn't know about these ads.

Just sharing what I have found in poking around in old local papers. There was a lot we didn't know back then because the information required real work to locate. I can find things in the Times-Picayune online archives in seconds or minutes that would have required hours, if not days, of searching through musty old actual newspapers to locate back in the day.

[mtracy64]

I do recall seeing that the one was dumped in Minnesota, which makes me question whether this was actually a contract brew. It seems more likely that Manhattan Brewing Co. owned Consolidated Companies, Inc. and used that name in lieu of an actual mandatory until the government slapped them for doing so. It is very curious that Manhattan alone engaged in such shenanigans in the pre-war era - as far as I can tell, the first Town Club Beer seems to be the only pre-war can which doesn't carry an actual mandatory and isn't widely believed to be a Manhattan product.

It's good to know where the "new" Autocrat ended up, and that it's in a good home surrounded by many of its brethren. The can, in roundabout fashion, led to my acquiring the Peter Doelger Bock I posted here last year. I was interested in the Autocrat, but the fact that it was up for bid rather than being priced pushed me into discussions which resulted in me getting a can which is a better fit to what I collect.

Marc

[Conehead]

It is very curious that Manhattan alone engaged in such shenanigans in the pre-war era - as far as I can tell, the first Town Club Beer seems to be the only pre-war can which doesn't carry an actual mandatory and isn't widely believed to be a Manhattan product.

Marc

The first B & B LP cone does not have a mandatory either.

Jim

[bantam10]

I personally highly doubt it was only sold in a certain state. However I have always thought it was weird how these prewar Chicago brands end up so far from home.