Brass Pabst Promotional Thing.

[Macaco]

Hi All,

I dug this the last time I went for bottles. The dump seems to have stuff from the 1890's to about 1914. This thing was folded up in a big wad. I carefully unfolded it and discovered that it says:

----Logo with stuff I can't quite read-----
Pabst
Blue Ribbon
The Beer Of Quality​

It is very thin, stamped brass. It even has the brass chain. My friend who is an experienced bottle digger told me it would have been a promotional display that would have been behind the bar. Probably polished to a high luster with painted lettering. I'd like to restore it but I wouldn't know where to start. I'll just leave it the way it is. The picture was taken on the tailgate of my truck. It measures 9.5" X 13".

Steve

 

[Macaco]

Oh. And the same hole also produced an intact light bulb. I was finding busted liquor bottles, heavy duty thick patent medicine bottles busted, broken pottery and china, busted beers...nice bottles, so disappointing...and this stupid light bulb is perfectly intact. How the hell?
The glass was completely black. I had to use a wet cloth and barkeeper's friend to clean the gunk off it.

 

[cowseatmaize]

----Logo with stuff I can't quite read-----

Welcome Steve, I see TRADE (left) MARK (Right). Probably their "B" in the leaves logo.

 

[ScottBSA]

Most excellent find. Someone must have been very mad at the Pabst people to wad it up like that rather than just tossing it. Did California go dry before national prohibition?

Scott

 

[cobaltbot]

very cool & unique find!

 

[Plumbata]

That's a great find! It looks like it could be carefully hammered flat and the stamped design elements restored pretty easily. Looks like a fun project to me. Most thin brass stuff dug in dumps is corroded and extremely brittle, but that piece looks like it was below the water table, perhaps in an anoxic and acidic environment. The few brass items I've dug from such layers are remarkably well preserved.

 

[Macaco]

ORIGINAL: cowseatmaize

----Logo with stuff I can't quite read-----

Welcome Steve, I see TRADE (left) MARK (Right). Probably their "B" in the leaves logo.

Thanks Eric. That is it. The 'B' looked like a '3' to me on the brass. I can make out the leaf now too. The logo on the sign does have the trad mark banner.

 

[Macaco]

ORIGINAL: Plumbata

That's a great find! It looks like it could be carefully hammered flat and the stamped design elements restored pretty easily. Looks like a fun project to me. Most thin brass stuff dug in dumps is corroded and extremely brittle, but that piece looks like it was below the water table, perhaps in an anoxic and acidic environment. The few brass items I've dug from such layers are remarkably well preserved.

Exactly. The spot is wet. It is part of an estuary. There is clay below the rubbish and the ground is acidic. Small pieces of brass pop out shiny like gold unless they were next to iron then they come out black.

 

[Macaco]

ORIGINAL: ScottBSA

Most excellent find. Someone must have been very mad at the Pabst people to wad it up like that rather than just tossing it. Did California go dry before national prohibition?

Scott

Hi Scott,

San Jose, California went dry in 1918. That is later than stuff we find at our dump. Other cities may have gone dry earlier but I don't know for sure.

Steve

 

[Plumbata]

Cool, thanks for the clarification. And yeah, the stuff really does shine like gold when it comes out. I dug a lovely "Williams' Dentalactic Tooth Powder" cylindrical tin that gleamed like the sun when it came out. Nothing super special but I love the way brass looks when it comes out of such spots.

Good luck finding more goodies!