On July 14, 1911, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “I went to Chattanooga, Tenn., to make some sketches from Missionary Ridge, and took a run up Mt. Lookout – believe me it is my last. I don’t care for the sensation of the incline. I got some good photos and had Mr. Reif’s car and chauffeur to take me anywhere. I went the limit and saw everything, and made three pencil sketches. Closed another contract on the strength of my sketches – $1,800.00.”
Moses was referring to Charles Reif, president of the Chattanooga Brewing Company. Reif was the son of Brewery founder George Reif who established the business in 1890. A George immigrant, Reif came to America in 1861, settling in Cincinnati where he worked at a meat packing plant. George invested in beer, becoming a major shareholder in Jung Brewing Co until it was sold in 1889. By 1890, the Reif family moved to Chattanooga, where George became one of the principle men who bought the brewing business of Conrad Geise & Co. The business was soon incorporated, as the Chattanooga Brewing Co. George remained the president the company until his passing in 1899, when control of the company was passed to his son, Charles, born in 1865.
By 1911, the Chattanooga Brewing Co. was quite large, distributing approximately 150,000 barrels of beer annually. Chicago hosted an International Brewers’ Congress during October 1911 that was devoted to showing visitors various beer exhibits. The Chattanooga Brewing Co. was one of many companies who contracted Sosman & Landis to create their exhibit for the Brewer’s Show, held at the Chicago Coliseum. Of the Chattanooga Brewery Co. project, Moses wrote, “Our Chattanooga picture came out best of all. It was a perfect representation of the city and the surrounding country.”
In the spring of 1911 Thomas G. Moses wrote, “Early in April I started on the designs for the Brewers’ Show, in which they wanted to demonstrate that beer is a food and not a beverage.” Other exhibitors with exhibits by Sosman & Landis included the Schoenhoffen Brewing Company and the Dubuque Brewing and Malting Company.
As the work for Brewer’s exhibits commenced, Moses wrote, “We started Brewer’s work at the 20th Street studio, with an extra number of men…The Brewer’s Show opened October 12th with enormous crowds. Had a lot of trouble getting our work into the building….Sosman was well pleased, as there was a good profit in the work. Some of the brewers thought I had overcharged them.” In the end, the Brewery Show of 1911 was a success. By October 23, over 94,000 patrons attended the exposition and consumed over 500,000 glasses of beer (Statesman Journal, 24 Oct, 1911, page 9). Sosman & Landis secured $25,350.00 in contracts for the event, today’s equivalent purchasing power of $683,361.28 – a sizable amount of work. For the opening of the show, the “Chicago Tribune” quoted Henry E. O. Heinemann, secretary of the exposition, “Thousands of dollars have been spent for the foundations alone, so tons of brewing machinery must be properly set. An army of painters, decorators, scene builders, and machinists was busy all day and far into the night getting everything ready for the opening” (12 October 1911, page 7).
The success of the Brewer’s Show did not last long, however, as change was in the air. The Chattanooga Brewing Co. only operated until 1915, when Prohibition forced them to close their doors. The brand lay dormant for decades until recently. In 2010 the company was resurrected at 1804 Chestnut St. In Chattanooga, Tennessee. Here is the new website if you are thirsty and in the area: https://www.chattabrew.com/
To be continued…
