# BIRK BROS bottle



## Ledge (Aug 4, 2012)

Hello everybody .... first post here !!

 Trying to find out some info on a couple of bottles my wife recently inherited.
 I'll address one here, and the other later in a separate thread.

 I have a BIRK BROS BREWING CO bottle.
 On the bottle front it says: PROPERTY OF BIRK BROS BREWING CO CHICAGO
 There is nothing on the back.
 The bottom has a pattern, and a marking within the pattern.
 The mould seem does not go thru the lip, so it must have been made before 1900.
 I believe Birk Bros started producing in 1885.
 That gives me a 15 year span.
 Can it be narrowed down any?

 Can pics be uploaded on this site, or would I have to use file storage from a different site?
 I got pics, I just need to figure out how to post them here.

 Thanks for any info


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## surfaceone (Aug 4, 2012)

Hello Lloyd,

 Welcome to the Blue Pages. Yes, pictures can be uploaded, and we like it when that happens. Consult instructions, HERE. They can also be delivered via the photo hosting sites if you sandwich the image code between these brackets: 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





.

 Is yours a crown top? 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 or a blob top? 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	


From.

Brandon's got some Birks.

 Birk Brothers had a couple of "tied houses" in Chicago.






 "Left: The â€œBâ€ here stands for Birk Brothers, a Lincoln Park-based operation which was located along the Lakewood branch railroad at Webster. They were in the brew business between 1886 to 1923, and from 1933 to 1950. During prohibition, the company, like many others, survived by producing malted beverages and near beer." From.




From.

 "Wacker & Birk Brewing and Malting Co.
 Jacob Birk, together with Frederick Wacker and son, built a new brewery adjacent to Wackers existing malthouse at the corner of Desplaines and Indiana Streets in 1881. The following year the Wacker and Birk Brewing and Malting Company was incorporated. The brewery quickly rose to one of the larger and more important breweries in Chicago -- 1893 and 1896 Brewers Hand Books ranked it a tie for 6th largest among 58. These same hand books show the brewery produced lager beer and had in-house bottling. In 1891 the Wacker & Birk and McAvoy Breweries were sold to an English Syndicate â€“ Chicago Breweries Ltd. Both breweries continued using their premerger names. Jacob Birk left the combine at this time.

 Birk Brothers Brewing & Malting Co.
 After selling the Wacker & Birk Brewery Jacob Birk and his sons, William A. and Edward J. purchased the five year old Corper & Nockin Brewery on Webster Avenue and renamed it Birk Brothers Brewing & Malting Co. A third brother, Frank J. Birk, later joined the family brewery. Jacob Birk, the father retired from active management in 1895 although he remained as a director. The brewery was extensively remodeled and upgraded --1893 and 1896 Brewers Hand Books list it as a lager beer brewery and malt-shop with in-house bottling. In the vast Chicago market, Birk Brothers was considered a medium size brewery.  Superb, Goldeck and Malt Vigor, a health tonic, were their most prominent prepro brands. Surperb was their flagship pale brew while Goldeck was their dark counterpart. The brewery remained open in the difficult years approaching National Prohibition then closed when Prohibition became a reality. When repeal prospects began to brighten Birk Brothers was a long way from being operational and sometime prior to 1934 the Birk family acquired a majority interest in the Rockford Brewery in nearby Rockford, IL. A 1934 Directory lists. Edward J. Birk as President of the Rockford Brewing Company, while that breweries pre-Pro President, John V. Petritz, was shown as the Vice President..." From.






 "BIRK, Edward John, sec. and treas. of Blrk Bros 
 Brewing Co.; b. Chicago, Apr 2 1867; 
 s Jacob and Magdalena (Wheelfiin) Blrk; ed 
 Scanlan public School to 1882; m. Chicago, 
 Oct 5 1892, Amanda Markus: 1 son: William 
 Jacob. Began business life In 1882 as clerk 
 for a commission firm on the Chicago Board 
 of Trade until 1889 ;went to the Pacific Coast; 
 after 8 months returned to Chicago; learned 
 the brewer's trade with the Wacker & Blrk 
 Brewing Co and in Aug., 1891, with elder 
 brother, William A Blrk, organized the Blrk 
 Bros. Brewing Co., of which is now sec. and 
 treas. Democrat, Mem. Germanla Miinnerchor 
 (director) Club: Illinois Athletic. Office: 101 
 Webster Av. Residence: 268 Seminary Av.

 BIRK, William Andrew, pres. Blrk Bros. 
 Brewing Co.; b. Chicago, Nov. 11, 1861; s. 
 Jacob and Magdalena Birk; ed. public schools 
 of Chicago; m. Russells O., Sept., 1903, Rosa-
 lind Britton. Was engaged In grain commis-
 sion business on the Chicago Board of Trade 
 until 1882; then from 1882 to Aug. 1891, con-
 nected with the Wacker & Blrk Brewing Co.,
  of Chicago. In 1891, with brother Edward J.,
  organized the Birk Bros. Brewing Co., brewers 
 and bottlers, of which Is now pres. Democrat, Mem. 
 Lincoln Park Lodge, A.F. & A.M.; also 
 Germanla Mannerchor (director), Clubs: Chi-
 cago Athletic, Iroquois. Office: 101-109 Web-
 ster Av. Residence: 688 Fullerton Av." Book of Chicagoans,1905.




From.


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## Ledge (Aug 4, 2012)

It's a crown top, similar to the crown top in the left pic of your first two pics.
 The differences are:
 "PROPERTY OF" is curved lettering
 "CHICAGO, ILL." is just "CHICAGO", and it is in curved lettering
 "CONTENTS 12 FL OZ." does not exist

 I have posted images on other forums by using 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	



 It doesn't appear to work for me here.
 Possibly I need a different storage location other then Box.com.
 Or perhaps it is just not showing in the preview for me.
 I will attempt to post one, and see if it shows up in the thread.
 Otherwise you may be able to use the www address to view the pic.


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## epackage (Aug 4, 2012)

Here you go, I'm not sure if Box will work here, you need the actual image code, not just the page address...jim


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## Ledge (Aug 4, 2012)

That's it ...... thank you.

 Here are more pics:
 https://www.box.com/s/e592f5021a672f277d36
 https://www.box.com/s/2a2d0298e94bbcd2c5f0

 At least you can see them.
 I'll have to get a different storage space

 Thanks again


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## surfaceone (Aug 5, 2012)

Lloyd, 

 Yours was made somewhere between 1895 and 1912, I'd say. I like that stylized logo on the base.

 Are there no other markings or embossed symbols or numbers?




@.


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## Ledge (Aug 5, 2012)

There are no other markings on it.
 The bottom stylized logo is interesting.
 I can't make out what is in the center of it.
 Can't tell if it is a letter like *C* or *G*, or just a logo graphic ..... duno.
 I thought maybe that could be something that changed from year to year, or something like that.

 The bottle is in really good shape.
 I think the center of the logo just wasn't formed real well from day one.
 That's why I can't make it out.


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## Ledge (Aug 5, 2012)

I set the bottle on my scanner, and tried a few things.
 The best image I got of the bottle bottom was by using a grayscale scan.
 A little tuning of the brightness and contrast, and I got a fair image.

 https://www.box.com/s/21aefcd45c49565bb962

 I think it is just a *Co* like on the Birk glass you showed at the bottom of your first post.


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