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Columbia Brewing Co., St. Louis, 1896
A brewery drawn at its own height — before the year that closed it.
What
An 1896 chromolithograph by the C. W. Shonk Company for the Columbia Brewing Company of St. Louis — one of dozens of German-American houses in a city that brewed at industrial scale.
Why
St. Louis's independent breweries were almost all extinguished by National Prohibition, which halted the city's brewing in 1920; the Columbia mark did not endure.
Notice
The factory-portrait genre — a brewery advertised itself by drawing its own buildings, smokestacks and all, as proof of permanence.
“It drew itself as if it would stand forever. It had twenty-four years left.”
Format
The full-resolution, color-managed file — restored honestly, yours to print and keep.
Sized to protect print quality — this scan supports sizes up to 11x17" cleanly.
Size
Personalization (title-swap) is coming to this piece — join the house list to hear first.
$29.00
Provenance
The Lost — mark extinguished- Artist
- C. W. Shonk Co., Chicago (lithographers)
- Country
- United States
- Format
- Poster (affiche)
- Piece published
- Columbia Brewing Co. St. Louis — advertising lithograph, 1896
- Source
- Missouri History Museum
Scan: Missouri History Museum, open access, hosted on Wikimedia Commons.
Rights: CLEAR. Public domain — U.S. 95-year rule (piece published 1930 or earlier). Gated by the piece’s own publication year, never a brand’s founding year. Cleared by registry on 2026-07-18. Credit line 'Missouri History Museum' per source; no known copyright restrictions. PD on publication year (1896).
Columbia Brewing Company was extinguished by Prohibition in 1920. Everything sold here is the art, not the drink.
From The Lost Breweries
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The Lost — mark extinguishedThe American Brewing Co.'s Famous St. Louis ABC Bock Beer, c. 1890
The American Brewing Co.'s Famous St. Louis ABC Bock Beer — advertising lithograph
The Lost — mark extinguishedF. Klemm's Bock, Baltimore, 1880
F. Klemm's Bock, Baltimore, Md. No. 1 — advertising lithograph
The Lost — mark extinguishedGriesedieck Bros. Brewing Company, St. Louis, c. 1911
Griesedieck Bros. Brewing Company, St. Louis, U.S.A. — advertising print
The Lost — mark extinguishedGeo. Winter Brewing Co. Bock Beer, New York, 1900
Louis Kraemer, N.Y. (lithographer) · 1900
A house of the Provenance family