Match Striker Gallery          

Advertising Match Strikers for Alcoholic Drinks

One of the most common types of advert seen on match strikers is for alcoholic drinks of one sort or another. Beer, wines and spirits are all represented. Shown below are a range of these advertising wares from a range of manufacturers with a little bit of information about the companies they advertise.

Bass Brewery

The Bass brewery was originally opened in Burton-on-Trent in England in 1777 by William Bass to exploit the exceptionally pure waters available locally to produce beer.

The Bass brewery has another claim to fame, the red triangle that adorns their pale ale was the very first registered trade mark from 1st January 1876, they also registered the second trade mark too, a red diamond which was used on their strong ale. Both can be seen on the images below (the last three indicate that these are trademarks, obviously dating those particular strikers to 1876 or later)

Bass pale ale is still brewed today using the same recipe as the 1777 original, which, unusually uses two different strains of yeast along with the Burton-on-Trent water to give it it's unique flavor

Currently the brand is owned by Belgian Interbrew (now InBev) group of companies who have licensed it to the  Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries PLC who also operate from Burton-on-Trent

A more detailed view can be found on Wikipedia here.


It is clear that some of these Bass strikers were specifically for loan to pubs etc as is shown on this back stamp below


Bodeca

I am unable to find any information on this drink.


Bushmills Distillery

The Bushmills distillery in Northern Ireland was first licensed by King James I in around 1608 (although it is reputed that distilling was ongoing prior to this point), and in 1784 it became a licensed company. The Irish exodus to the United States took Bushmills overseas and a thriving export trade grew up, assisted by the brand winning awards in international competition.

Despite the major setback of American Prohibition, the firm survived, being bought by Isaac Wolfson at the end of World War II and later  taken over by Irish distillers in 1972 (which created a total monopoly of Irish whiskey production). In 1988 the French drinks giant Pernod Ricard bought the firm, and the sold the distillery to Diageo in 2005.


Dunville and Company



W & A Gilbey (Spey Royal Scotch Whisky)

Walter and Alfred Gilbey set up as wine merchants in London around 1856/7 on the advice of their brother after they returned from the Crimean War. The business did so well that within two years additional branches had been set up in Edinburgh, Belfast and Dublin. Moving into spirits in 1872, the firm began distilling gin in London. By 1905 the firm had bought three scotch whiskey distilleries including Glen Spey, the source of the Spey Royal Scotch Whiskey advertised on the piece below.

In 1962 they merged with a smaller firm to become International Distillers and Vintners in an attempt to stem rising losses. Despite their attempts to keep the business in the family the firm was finally taken by Grand Met in 1972. A more detailed account of the firm can be found on an independent website here.


Groves & Whitnall Brewery

The brewery was founded in Salford, England in 1868 by father and son team William and William Groves, and thiner friend Arthur Whitnall. They prospered by seeking out the best brewer in the area, and, in 1875 persuading him to join their firm. In 1885 they entered the mineral water business by setting up Leith & Co as a subsidiary. The firm prospered until 1961 when it became part of the Greenal Whitley brewing company. A more detailed account of the company can be found on an external website here.


Guinness Brewery

Possibly one of the most famous drinks brands in the world Guinness was first brewed by Arthur Guinness at the St. James's Gate Brewery, Dublin, Ireland from 1759. It is the best selling alcoholic drink in it's native Ireland and is exported or made under license in numerous other countries.

A much more detailed history can be found on the company website here, and on Wikipedia here.


Ind Coope Brewery

The company was founded in 1709 behind the Star Inn in Romford. In 1799 Edward Ind bought the pub and expanded the brewery, and later in 1845 was joined by C.E.Coope. Later in 1856 a larger brewery was built in Burton on Trent, and in 1886 the company was renamed Ind Coope.

The business opperated independently until 1934 when it merged with Allsopps, and then in 1961 merged again with Ansells and Tetley Walker to form Allied Breweries. The beer is now produced by Carlsberg-Tetley.


Kaiserbrunnen
 
I am unable to find out anything about this German beer or lager.


Mitchells & Butler Brewery

The firm was created by the merger of two family owned brewery and pub businesses in the English Midlands in 1898. Later during the consolidation the the British brewing industry the firm merged with Bass, Ratcliff and Gretton Ltd (itself made up of 3 merged breweries) to form Bass, Mitchells & Butlers Ltd in 1961. A further merger with Charrington in 1967 led to the creation of Bass PLC.  This firm finally departs from brewing to concentrate on pub/restaurant management in 2006 with sale of its breweries to Interbrew SA in 2000. The Mitchells & Butler name is revived in 2005 to run the groups pubs, bars and restaurants (including those purchased from Whitbread in 2006).



Mountain Dew (Robertson, Sanderson & Co)

These match strikers advertise Mountain Dew, from what I can find on the web this is a blended scotch whiskey (an old advert for  Sanderson's mountain dew whiskey, made in a pot still suggests it may have originated as a single malt).

Robertson, Sanderson & Co of the Leith district of Edinburgh, Scotland were involved in the whiskey trade (distilling, blending, Merchant etc). The company appears to have been formed from the merger of the separate Robertson and Sanderson brands, but I've not been able to find out when. The firm was bought by the Distillers Company Limited in 1923.


Packham's Lime Wine

I am unable to find any information on this drink.


Reisch Brewery

The Reisch Brewery was established in Springfield Indiana, USA by Frank Reisch (a German from Niederhausen in the Duchy of Baden) in about 1849. From a growing business prohibition in the 1920s hit the firm hard (they survived by making soft drinks). They survived and restarted production after the repeal of prohibition and continued brewing despite fierce competition until 1961 when their land was purchased by a local medical school. A much more detailed account of the firms history can be found on an external website here.

The picture was kindly provided by Chet Bartlett


Thomas Salt & Co Brewery

The brewery was founded by Joseph Clay in 1774 an operated in Burton on Trent, England. The name derives from that of Thomas Salt, a brewer who was employed by the son of the company founder to run the brewery while he ran one of the first banks in Burton on Trent. The company became well known for it's pale ale brand when public taste moved in this direction.

In 1892 the business became a public company, and began to expand taking over other breweries and pubs. However as the economy changed they ran into difficulties and after a failed merger with Allsops and the Burton Brewery the company went into receivership in 1907. A management buy out brought the firm back into business until 1927 when it was purchased by Bass.

The second picture below was kindly provided by Brian Lennox.


Stones Ginger Wine

The drink was formulated by the Finsbury Distilling Company which was established in London, England in 1740. In 1751 an act of parliament prohibited such businesses from selling direct to the public so distributors had to be found. One was Joseph Stone, a grocer of High Holborn who lent his name to their green ginger wine. The drink is still produced today as can be seen on the company website here.


Tanqueray Gordon & Co

Tanqueray Gordon & Co was created in 1898 from the merger of Alexander Gordon & Co (who established their gin business in London, England in 1769) and Charles Tanqueray & Co (who first formulated his gin recipe in 1830)

The business currently forms part of the Diegeo group (a more detailed account of the company history can be found on the Diegeo website here).


Throgmorton Whisky

This whiskey is the house blend of the Throgmorton restaurant in London, which opened in Throgmorton street in 1900 owned by J Lyons & Co. Currently the restaurant is still open (most recently refurbished in 2004) , and is owned my Mitchells & Butler. More detail can be found on a dedicated external web page here.


Andrew Usher & Co

This company was founded by Andrew Usher in 1813 as a spirit merchant with his brother in law, James Fiarbairn acting as his salesman. Later the company was appointed by John Smith of the Glenlivet Distillery to sell their entire output, a deal that lasted well into the twentieth century, The company was  the first to produce what we today recognize as a blended whiskey (a combination of malt and grain whiskey), producing Usher's Green Stripe whiskey. There is a website featuring many advertising items from the business, here.

Andrew Usher also set two of his sons up in business as brewers opening the Ushers brewery in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1831. A much more detailed history of the family can be found on another website, here.


Whitbread & Co Ltd Brewery

Samuel Whitbread  founded the company in 1742 after completing his apprenticeship as a brewer in partnership with Thomas Shewell. Soon afterwards in 1750 he moved his brewery to Chiswell Street on the edge of London, establishing the first genuine purpose built mass production brewery in Britain. This began a thriving brewing and pub business that lasted until the end of the twentieth century.

Beginning in 2001 the company began to exit the brewing business, first disposing of its breweries, and later the pub and bar businesses to refocus on hotels and restaurants.
 

White Horse Whiskey

This is a blended scotch whiskey first produced by James Logan Mackie in 1861, and taking it's name from an ancient inn located in the Cannongate area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is unusual in that it is a blend of 40 different malt and grain whiskeys from across Scotland. It was also the first brand of whiskey to introduce a screw cap in 1924.



Worthington Brewery

Founded in 1761 by William Worthington this is another brewery from from Burton-on-Trent, England. There was a long standing rivalry between Bass and Worthington, but they eventually merged in 1927, even though they continued to produce their separate brews.

The shield and dagger logo was designed in 1863 by Worthington's London agents Harper, Boulton & Co.

Today the draught bitter is still produced, and the Worthingtons white shield Indian pale ale is also back, being brewed in small quantities in Coor's White Shield microbrewery.

Further information can be found on the companies website here.


Once again some of these were specifically for loan to the pub trade as show by this back stamp.


Other Companies

I've not had time to research these companies below





From Paul Broomfield