Summary Information

Title: Blatz Brewing Company Records
Inclusive Dates: 1862-1944

Creator:

• Blatz Brewing Company

Call Number: UWM Manuscript Collection 132

Quantity:

• 9.6 cubic ft. (12 boxes)
• 327 volumes

Repository:

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries, Archives Department

Archival Location:

UW-Milwaukee Libraries, Archives / Milwaukee Area Research Ctr. (Map)

Abstract:

The majority of the collection consists of over three hundred accounting books that document the financial history of the Valentin Blatz Brewing Company. Most of the records are from the 1880s through the early 1920s, although some date as early as 1862 and as late as 1944. A variety of records are included in the collection, such as general ledgers and journals, cash books, inventory books, and cash customer journals. The records trace the history of the brewery, the bottling plant, various branches, and Valentin Blatz's Estate. The Blatz collection documents the company's rapid growth in the late nineteenth century, the sale of the business in 1890, the disposition of the Valentin Blatz estate, and the impact of the Prohibition movement. There is also extensive information pertaining to the beer bottling industry, including data about finances, vendors, customers, productions, product development, and sales. The records also demonstrate the complicated network of branches and depots that was in place as early as the 1880s.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-mil-uwmmss0132