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Courtesy of Stephen Walker
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Courtesy of Stephen Walker
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Courtesy of Stephen Walker
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Courtesy of Stephen Walker
The 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago heralded the rising power of St. Louis’ fierce competitor to the northeast. The Windy City’s population in the 1890 census had come in at 1,099,850, dwarfing the Mound City’s population of 451,770; the younger city had already passed by its older Midwestern rival in the 1880 census by 150,000 people. The Columbian Exposition showcased the brash city’s industrial and cultural might, the product of calculated chances taken by Chicago’s business leadership. The construction in 1856 of the bridge over the Mississippi between Rock Island, Illinois and Davenport, Iowa predated the construction of James Eads’ Bridge by almost two decades. It was not as elegant, but it got the job done: it cut St. Louis out of Chicago’s plans for the upper Midwest.
But St. Louis’s major industries were still welcome and desiring to showcase their success in Chicago in 1893. Among the titans of industry was the William J. Lemp Brewing Company, recently renamed from its original name of The Western Brewery. The Lemp Brewery, which likewise had once dwarfed its chief competitor, Anheuser-Busch, was now smaller than its younger rival, but still very much a leader in its field. As was and is still common with most major breweries, the Lemp Brewery produced souvenir books available in its exhibition in the Agricultural Hall in Chicago.
Recently, Stephen Walker, who wrote the seminal work on the family, Lemp: The Haunting History, allowed the author to view a well-preserved souvenir book given out during the 1893 Columbian Exposition. The importance of such primary documents to historians cannot be underestimated. For example, since the souvenir book was produced by the Lemp Brewery, one can make the assumption that the information contained within is accurate, at least according to the standards of the time. One should not be naïve, however, as it is also certainly possible that the Lemp Brewery is presenting a “best foot forward” view to the public, since of course the souvenir book is a form of advertising, albeit technically factually correct. That being said, what is also so invaluable, even in light of possible “white lies,” is that it still gives historians a critically important look at how the Lemp Brewery saw itself, and how it wanted to be viewed by the public.
The souvenir book is around 50 pages long, and has dimensions of approximately 3 x 5 inches. While the book was printed on relatively inexpensive paper, the condition of the pages is good. The front cover, which uses heavier paper stock, features four or five colors and depicts a gnome-like man sitting on hop and barley leaves and stalks. The back cover, which is damaged, seems to have continued on the beer ingredients motifs, and features a partial William J. Lemp Brewing Association monogram. Attached to the back cover is a fold-out map of the Columbian Exposition grounds, with the Lemp exhibit marked inside the Agricultural Hall. The book features sepia-toned drawings of various views of the Lemp Brewery, including interior scenes and branch offices around the country. No artist is credited for the drawings.
While every illustration in the souvenir book is fascinating, several stand out due to their subject matter. The overall general view of the plant at the turn of the 1890s on page 1, complete with the original core of the brewery built in the 1860s, shows the already substantial additions required after the Lemp family’s rapid expansion after the Civil War. The malt kiln building, originally built as a three-story building, had seen its additional three stories added by this time. Ice houses can be seen off in the distance, though the geography of South St. Louis is always a bit malleable in various breweries’ depictions of their physical plant. Huge lagering buildings have risen behind the brew house as well.
Another drawing, on page 4, shows the layout of the brew house itself, showing the different floors of the brewing building. Unfortunately, the floors’ functions are not labeled, but their depiction is similar to other Jungenfeld & Co. buildings such as the Columbia or Anheuser-Busch breweries. The giant central atrium, below a skylight in the roof, is also typical of the famous German-American architect’s brewery buildings.
Pages 10 and 11 illustrate the American brewing industry’s vanguard move into artificial refrigeration. The huge, hulking ice houses used for decades were inefficient, and the move to condensers for air conditioning provides more efficient means of refrigeration. Pulling blocks of ice from the river and storing the frozen water in warehouses year-round gave way to “ice plants” where ice was produced for rail cars (efficient portable refrigerators had not been invented) which coexisted with early steam-powered refrigeration.
Branch offices also featured prominently in the book, showcasing the Lemp Brewery’s reach across the United States and world. From Los Angeles to Galveston, the brewery could boast that its beer was traveling the rail lines to various major population centers. There are also color illustrations of various Lemp bottled beers. At the end of the book, a short history of the brewery is given. While there are not any new revelations in the history of the Lemps in these pages, it is still interesting to see how the family presented itself to its audience in the 1890s. In the coming weeks, new research on the Lemps, from other primary source materials in addition to the souvenir book, will be featured here.
Chris Naffziger writes about architecture at St. Louis Patina. Contact him via email at naffziger@gmail.com.
