Michigan Brick Linner

[Steve.Filpansick]

Is this the dig you invited me to Bill??? It's a bummer that I couldn't make it!

I wouldn't be surprised at all if there was a brick liner at my house; my house was built by the owner/operator of the Clio brick foundry (Thomas Oliff) as his personal home. The basement walls are all red brick, and supposedly even the basement floor is red brick with just a skim coat of concrete over it.

He also built the neighbors house a few years after mine (mine was 1903, his was 1907), and he still has access to a nice cistern behind his house. Supposedly the cisterns at my house have been filled in, but I don't know for sure...

Anyway, sorry again that I couldn't make it! Looks like fun!
Steve

 

[lexdigger]

We come across that sometimes when a house has been added onto. The privy can be right up against the back of the addition, or even worse... under it! I got permission to dig a cistern in an abandoned house one time. They were getting ready to demo it. At first, it sounded like a good idea untill I started trying to figure out where I was gonna put all that dirt!!! We ended up just waiting till they tore it down and found it again with the probe. Cisterns can be a BEAR, but they can be absolutly LOADED with TOC bottles. Give me a good brickliner or stoneliner anyday!

 

[herndonbottles]

Brian, Tom, and Bill,
Glad to see you guys out digging before the cold and snow hits. Looks like some fun pits. That was definitely a brickliner, it has all the characteristics. The ones I have seen in Baltimore can go 20 feet or more. We sometimes have run into water midway down, it what's below the water (such as clay) that causes to take longer to perc through the soil. I think it's only rain water. We bail it out and keep going.
Was that the Lions game I heard in the background on the video? Which pit was older in that yard - the woodliner or the brickliner?
Good luck on the pits in your hometown. I'm looking forward to hear about what you guys find. Hope you find some nice Bay City or Saginaw flasks and beers. Save me any Dr. Leeson bottles or shards (other than Tiger Oil) from Cadillac if you find any.
-Peter

 

[surfaceone]

Hey Brian, Tom & Bill,

Thanks for taking us along on your dig. That looked like a feature rich pit with a riverview. Heck, you nearly ran the gamut; depth, the WC conversion, a bunch of bailing, and bunches of bottles.
I wanted to ask y'all a question about the P.H. Kling, as I found one late this summer. Just a common aqua crown, never had seen one before. I was intrigued by the embossed legend: "PURE AND WITHOUT DRUGS OR POISONS."

Photo from Trayman.

I have never seen this on a beer, or any beverage, and wondered why. Was this inspired by the Pure Food & Drug Act of '06? Did Detroit have issue with poisonous beer? Seems like an odd marketing concept. So I tried looking for some answers. I'm not sure that I got any, but I did learn a little Detroit brewing history and got to see some great Michigan breweriana.

Image from this interesting Detroit site.

With Legend

Without Legend. Both photos from Bruce Mobley.

But, wait a minute. There's another Detroit beer with the same legend:

another Bruce Mobley Collection photo.

Here's a Goebel with "PURE FOOD" embossing:

Thanks again to Mobley Collection.

What do you think Michiganders? The Goebel "Pure Food" I can see being attributed to the 1906 Act, but what about the Kling and Ekhardt & Becker? When was the "Pure" legend adopted?

Maybe Detroit Beer was just naturally healthy.
"The Ekhardt & Becker Brewing Company and the Ph. Kling Brewing Company, both of Detroit, boasted that their beer was “pure and without drugs or poisonsâ€. But Kling’s Pros’t Beer (yes, that’s the way they spelled it) also supplied “Health and Happiness in Every Glassâ€. It seems like that would be important, but E & B out survived Kling’s by 43 years.
“Your doctor will recommend it as a preventative against sunstroke†is what the Tivoli Brewing Co. said about its Altes Lager Bier. I think a better solution would be to use the roof of a tavern to protect you from the harmful rays of the sun, and drink Schlitz to get your much needed Sunshine Vitamin D.
Finally, as a life-long baseball fan, here’s a fact that really interested me: Apparently Waldbrau Beer from the West Side Brewing Company, with its “wholesome, healthful, nutrient and delightful tonic qualitiesâ€, played a major part in winning the 1909 pennant for the Detroit Tigers. " From this Michigan Beer Guide.

Have any of you seen similar legends embossed on beers or sodas? Or is this a Detroit thing? I was impressed with the amount of information online about Detroit beers.

 

[Brian M]

I have seen the embossing “pure and without drugs or poisons†on blob beer bottles from Bay City and Saginaw. Some of the blobs had lightening stopper enclouses on them, which were dated prior to 1890, but the brewer could have been using blob beers after the food and drug act of 1906. I have also seen blob beers after 1906 without the embossing for the food and drug act and I am assuming that the message was probably on the paper label. I think the poison that they are talking about might have been something used as preservative, but that is just my guess.

 

[surfaceone]

Thanks Brian,

I went back to Bruce Mobley's site and found this Saginaw example:

Is this a Michigan thing? Has anyone outside of Michigan found a beer with the "PURE & WITHOUT DRUGS OR POISONS" legend embossed in the glass? Mobley's excellent site did not have a pictured example from Bay City. Mebbe you could tune him up.

Brian, by chance do you have a photo of your Bay City example? I don't know why, but this is of interest to me. Thanks.

 

[Brian M]

Hey surfaceone,

I forgot to get you a photo of the Bay City bottle, I will get it. Here is one I found today on ebay with similar embossing.

ORIGINAL: surfaceone

Thanks Brian,

I went back to Bruce Mobley's site and found this Saginaw example:

Is this a Michigan thing? Has anyone outside of Michigan found a beer with the "PURE & WITHOUT DRUGS OR POISONS" legend embossed in the glass? Mobley's excellent site did not have a pictured example from Bay City. Mebbe you could tune him up.

Brian, by chance do you have a photo of your Bay City example? I don't know why, but this is of interest to me. Thanks.

 

[Brian M]

Surfaceone,

Here is the one from Bay City.

 

[coreya]

would love to see the videos but it asked for a password!

 

[Celtics22]

Good diggin boys