Jos. Schlitz Brewing Company Vintage Lager Beer Poster, 1878
Jos. Schlitz Brewing Company Vintage Lager Beer Poster, 1878
Jos. Schlitz Brewing Company, Milwaukee Lager Beer, dated 1878 and created by Wittemann Bros., turns a commercial advertisement into an elaborate theatre of abundance. At its centre, a man raises a foaming glass while seated above a substantial beer barrel, surrounded by leafy vines, children and a resting dog. The brewery’s name commands the upper part of the composition in emphatic decorative lettering, while warm orange, brown and cream tones are enlivened by green foliage and accents of red and blue.
The print belongs to a period when American businesses were increasingly using richly coloured trade imagery to establish recognisable public identities. Rather than presenting lager as a simple commodity, Wittemann Bros. construct an entire world around it: convivial, prosperous and reassuringly industrious. Such promotional prints occupied a fertile meeting point between commercial art and mass printing. Their dense ornament, narrative detail and memorable typography helped breweries distinguish themselves in an increasingly competitive consumer market.
A closer look
The visual hierarchy begins with the words “JOS. SCHLITZ”, prominently placed across the upper centre. Around them, script-style references to the “BREWING COMPANY” and “MILWAUKEE LAGER BEER” combine information with display, their curls and flourishes echoing the ribbons and vegetation threaded through the scene. Lettering is not merely added to the illustration; it forms part of the ornament, directing the eye downwards towards the glass, barrel and assembled figures.
The central beer glass is picked out by a bright highlight, giving its surface a conspicuous shimmer. Beneath it, the barrel acts as both product symbol and compositional anchor. Vines soften its rounded form, their carefully described leaves introducing a note of natural abundance amid the commercial messaging. On the left, two cherubic children play among the foliage; their patterned clothing and animated gestures reward close attention. To the right, a seated woman reads, providing a quieter counterpoint to the celebratory figure above. At the base of the barrel, the small dog offers an appealingly everyday detail within an otherwise highly staged arrangement.
Lower down, a detailed view of the brewery appears within a landscape setting. Its ordered buildings shift the register from allegorical festivity to industrial production, giving the brand a visible architectural presence. Ribbon banners along the bottom carry the names of cities, extending the composition outwards and suggesting the geographical reach of the beer. Curves recur throughout—from the barrel and banners to the decorative lettering—binding the many separate elements into a vigorous vertical design.
Context and significance
Milwaukee was closely identified with brewing during the nineteenth century, and this advertisement makes that association central to Schlitz’s identity. The city name functions almost as a guarantee of origin, while the brewery view emphasises scale, organisation and productive capacity. The result is a particularly revealing example of how manufacturers used visual culture to translate industrial growth into an attractive public narrative.
What distinguishes the print is the amount it asks advertising to accomplish at once. It names the company and product, evokes sociability, displays the brewery and gestures towards a wider market—all within a densely ornamental composition. Its appeal lies not only in its brewing subject but in the exuberance with which late nineteenth-century commercial art could transform branding into spectacle.
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