# Welz and Zerwick run in progress



## bottles_inc (Dec 26, 2020)

Welz and Zerwick bottles are pretty common around me. Was probably the most popular beer in NYC in the late 19th/early 20th. Ive been working on a complete collection exclusively from digging/finding in stores for fun. It would be easy to fill it out by buying stuff online, but this gives me something to do going through barren antique and thrift stores looking for rare local bottles. The two amber slug plate variants are actually pretty uncommon. I found those digging. Currently I'm missing a blob without the initial seal on the shoulder, the amber pictoral crown, and some ABM 1910s-20s variants. Theres also apparently a Baltimore loop version, but that might be rare enough I'd have to buy it online. Anyone else doing a run of a common bottler for fun?


----------



## logan.the.collector (Dec 26, 2020)

I don't have many common runs complete believe it or not. But last year I started and finished a set of rare local Tip Top Dairy bottles by luck. A family member gave me my first quart and I found the corresponding half pint and pint in the local antique store. There is only one variety known from them but it still took a lot of time looking before they all came up at once.


----------



## embe (Dec 26, 2020)

I searched Welz & Zerweck trying to figure out the logo.  Is that Charlemagne?


----------



## bottles_inc (Dec 26, 2020)

embe said:


> I searched Welz & Zerweck trying to figure out the logo.  Is that Charlemagne?


Could be. I've heard it described as a king. I think it's probably modeled after pre unification German kings, as the brewer's founder was a German immigrant. Here's an 1890s ad showing a drawing of the logo.


----------



## UncleBruce (Dec 26, 2020)

embe said:


> I searched Welz & Zerweck trying to figure out the logo.  Is that Charlemagne?


This is from WikiPedia 
*Gambrinus* (/ ɡæmˈbraɪnəs / gam-BRY-nəs) is a legendary European culture hero celebrated as an icon of beer, brewing, joviality, and joie de vivre. Traditional songs, poems, and stories describe him as a *king*, duke, or count of Flanders and Brabant.


----------



## UncleBruce (Dec 26, 2020)

bottles_inc said:


> Welz and Zerwick bottles are pretty common around me. Was probably the most popular beer in NYC in the late 19th/early 20th. Ive been working on a complete collection exclusively from digging/finding in stores for fun. It would be easy to fill it out by buying stuff online, but this gives me something to do going through barren antique and thrift stores looking for rare local bottles. The two amber slug plate variants are actually pretty uncommon. I found those digging. Currently I'm missing a blob without the initial seal on the shoulder, the amber pictoral crown, and some ABM 1910s-20s variants. Theres also apparently a Baltimore loop version, but that might be rare enough I'd have to buy it online. Anyone else doing a run of a common bottler for fun?


These are the variations I am aware of:




__





						WELZ & ZERWECK HIGH GROUND BREWERY / WELZ & ZERWECK BREWERS
					






					brucemobley.com


----------



## bottles_inc (Dec 26, 2020)

UncleBruce said:


> These are the variations I am aware of:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thats the page I've been using for reference. Great website. Its missing a few variants I've seen floating around the web. One of the amber slug plates in my pic isn't listed there. Its a slight variant of the #11


----------



## bottles_inc (Dec 26, 2020)

Clear Glass Empty Beer Bottle Welz & Zerweck Brewers Brooklyn, N.Y.  Embossed  | eBay
					

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Clear Glass Empty Beer Bottle Welz & Zerweck Brewers Brooklyn, N.Y.  Embossed at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!



					www.ebay.com
				



Here's one of those ABM variants I mentioned. Its one of the ones not listed on Bruce Mobley's. Can't buy it off the web though, that'd be cheating. It'll turn up at a garage sale or goodwill eventually


----------



## UncleBruce (Dec 26, 2020)

bottles_inc said:


> Clear Glass Empty Beer Bottle Welz & Zerweck Brewers Brooklyn, N.Y.  Embossed  | eBay
> 
> 
> Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Clear Glass Empty Beer Bottle Welz & Zerweck Brewers Brooklyn, N.Y.  Embossed at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!
> ...


Embossing on the shoulder only, heel only, or base only don't get list in the library. Only center embossed with a reference to beer, brewery, brewing, lager etc...


----------



## Robert Biro (Jan 1, 2021)

bottles_inc said:


> View attachment 215974
> Welz and Zerwick bottles are pretty common around me. Was probably the most popular beer in NYC in the late 19th/early 20th. Ive been working on a complete collection exclusively from digging/finding in stores for fun. It would be easy to fill it out by buying stuff online, but this gives me something to do going through barren antique and thrift stores looking for rare local bottles. The two amber slug plate variants are actually pretty uncommon. I found those digging. Currently I'm missing a blob without the initial seal on the shoulder, the amber pictoral crown, and some ABM 1910s-20s variants. Theres also apparently a Baltimore loop version, but that might be rare enough I'd have to buy it online. Anyone else doing a run of a common bottler for fun?


----------



## Robert Biro (Jan 1, 2021)

Nice bottles I have dug a few of them years ago when I lived on L.I. I still have them packed away in boxes. It sure was a fun moment when I dug a blob top and seeing that King embossed on the bottle.


----------



## Tidelarking (Jan 1, 2021)

That oldest one with the monogram on the shoulder is a beauty, good collection


----------

