Schaefer Beer

Schaefer Beer is a brand of beer from the United States. Schaefer beer traces its beginnings back to 1842, when the "F. & M. Schaefer Brewing Company" which stands for Frederick and Maximilian, the brothers who founded Schaefer. Frederick Schaefer, a native of Wetzlar, Prussia, Germany, emigrated to the U.S. in 1838, was opened in New York, NY in September, 1842 [ [http://www.beerhistory.com/library/holdings/schaefer_anderson.shtml] ""F. & M.", as most breweriana buffs know, stands for Frederick and Maximilian, the brothers who founded Schaefer. Frederick Schaefer, a native of Wetzlar, Prussia, Germany, emigrated to the U.S. in 1838. When he arrived in New York City on October 23rd he was 21 years old and had exactly $1.00 to his name. There is some doubt as to whether or not he had been a practicing brewer in Germany, but there is no doubt that he was soon a practicing brewer in his adopted city."] . This is not to be confused with "Engels and Schaefer Brewing Company" of Cedarburg, Wisconsin.

"Schaefer" was, at one point during the first half of the 20th century, the world's best selling beer. By the 1970s, however, it had ceded the top spot to Budweiser.

In Puerto Rico, Schaefer was one of the top selling beers during the decades of the 1970s and 1980s. For a long time, there was a large and quite famous Schaefer beer billboard at the main entrance to the city of Bayamón. The beer, along with the Winston cigarette, was quite famous among Puerto Rican salsa fans and superstars like Frankie Ruiz, Tito Rojas, Lalo Rodríguez and others among the "salsa sensual" movement of the 1980s.

A popular advertising campaign for Schaefer was the tagline, "Schaefer is the one beer to have when you're having more than one." This was put to music and used as a jingle from the 1950s-70s. The music was written by Jim Jordan of BBDO, on his son's xylophone. Louis Armstrong once performed the jingle in a television advertisement campaign. Music composer Edd Kalehoff also appeared in a [http://revver.com/video/16878/?__session_just_started__=1 1973 advertisement] showing off his Moog synthesizer.

An earlier advertising campaign (about 1959) asserted, "What do you hear in the best of circles? Schaefer, all around!"

Currently, Schaefer Beer is owned by the Pabst Brewing Company. Pabst purchased the Schaefer label when it bought Stroh's Brewing Company in 1999.

New York World's Fairs

Schafer Beer had major exhibitions at both of New York City's World's Fairs, held in Flushing Meadows Park.

During the 1939 New York World's Fair Schaefer sponsored [http://www.pmphoto.to/WorldsFairTour/Zone-3/203.htm Schaefer Center] a restaurant with seating for 1,600. Many of the dishes used beer as an ingredient. And above the bar, the Fair's largest at 160 feet long, was a mural of the history of beer and brewing.

At the 1964/1965 New York World's Fair, the company again hosted a restaurant and 100 foot bar complex.

An illuminated Schaefer beer advertisement could be seen in the outfield of Ebbets Field; the letter "h" would light up if the official scorer ruled that a player reached base on a hit; the "e" would light up if the player got on base due to an error.

References and notes

External links

* [http://www.pabst.com/beer_schaefer.html Pabst (official site)]
* [http://www.beerhistory.com/library/holdings/schaefer_anderson.shtml The F. & M. Schaefer Brewing Company History]
* [http://www.epinions.com/fddk-review-5F43-114DBB21-39C65A35-prod3 Not My Father's Beer Anymore: A Review of Schaefer Beer] Epinions review with active comments page
* [http://www.gono.com/adart/new/bc_year_new.php?cat_id=6&company=Schaefer Schaefer Beer Magazine Ads]
* [http://www.ratebeer.com/Beer/schaefer/7337/ Listing on ratebeer.com]