Robert Mullen
Everyone loves Santa Claus. The beloved figure who brings gifts to children all over the world has been with us in some form for hundreds of years. But it wasn’t until the late 1800s that Santa began to take the form we recognize today. Thanks to famous illustrations by cartoonist Thomas Nast and later artists like Norman Rockwell, our current depiction of Santa was well in place by the 1920s.
That image of Santa Claus has been used for many years to market various products during the month of December. He showed up in early twentieth-century newspapers and magazines advertising soap, mineral water, candy, furniture, toys and much more. The jolly old elf appeals to people of all ages. So, it is no surprise that the brewing industry decided to use Santa’s image to sell its product to celebrants of the season. Here are two examples from the collection of the La Crosse County Historical Society.
The G. Heileman Brewing Company of La Crosse produced a non-alcoholic beverage called Santa Claus Special, probably made during the Prohibition years. The label for that beverage presents a jolly, plump Santa with a full white beard, and he is dressed in the traditional red costume we have come to know. Surrounded by holly leaves, Santa has poured himself a glass of this non-alcoholic beer and seems to be enjoying the drink despite its lack of punch. The label states the alcoholic content is “less than one-half percent.” This twelve-ounce bottle was likely produced sometime between 1920 and 1932.
Contrast the Heileman’s label with the other one pictured here. It was a seasonal beer called Xmas Brew which was made for the Alt Brau line of standard alcoholic beer by the George Kunz Company. A short-lived brewery in La Crosse, the Kunz brewery began beer production at the end of Prohibition in 1933 and closed in 1937.
The Xmas Brew label features a Santa in a red coat, but he appears to be a throw-back to earlier portrayals of Santa with elf-like legs and pointed slippers. Surrounded by holly and evergreens, he is carrying a wooden crate full of Xmas Brew, a gift Santa never intended for children. However, such a crate would have been a welcome present to a thirsty grown-up shortly after the end of Prohibition. This label, which was made for a half-gallon bottle of beer, dates to about 1935.
Interestingly, the La Crosse County Historical Society does not actually own these labels, but we do own high-resolution scans. When local collector Tye Schwalbe sold his label collection to Scott Reich, it was with the stipulation that Mr. Reich share high-resolution copies of them with LCHS. These and many more La Crosse beer labels can be seen, along with other local breweriana, on exhibit in the newly opened La Crosse Area Heritage Center, located at 506 Main Street.
This article was originally published in the La Crosse Tribune on December 10, 2020.
