Collecting Beer Items – Breweriana Part II

My most recent article introduced some interesting (I hope) history on “breweriana.” As a young girl, I remember having beer in the fridge on a regular basis. It was not consumed in great quantities, mom did not drink, except on special occasions, and dad tended to have a few, only on week-ends. But they were always chilled because of the sporting events! For example, we had one of the earlier televisions and two of my uncles and three male cousins would come over for the Friday Night Fights almost every week. They’d also show up for the Green Bay Packers game and the Milwaukee Braves Baseball too (boy, that’s been a while.) Then the pilsener glasses would be pulled out of the cabinet and those old enough would toss back a few. Milwaukee has long been called “The Beer Capital” and while many of those old breweries have closed or relocated, there are still some around. And that does not include the numerous micro-breweries. That is MY history in ‘breweriana’, but the book I recently acquired gave a much more fascinating look at it.

The book I mention is called The International Book of Beer Labels, Mats and Coasters.” My earlier blog described some of the super labels. But the aspects of collecting that really amazed me was the “mats and coasters.” We always had little ‘paper’ coasters around the house and when we’d visit the neighborhood restaurant for a yummy fish-fry, they’d put them on the wooden tavern tables too, to save the surface. I never realized how many, and varied, of these little ‘disks’ there were! And then I found out there is even a term for a collector of these mats and coasters – are you ready? It is a “tegestologist.” This was derived from the Latin “teges” which literally means a covering or mat. More humorous, and probably pretty fitting, is an affectionate term among collectors – a “dripsomaniac.”

Of course, the simple coasters with the brand name such as Pabst or Schlitz are not that desirable, but many found in the book were quite interesting. Some had a complete set with riddles, others had ‘palmistry’, others nursery rhymes or puzzles. Beck’s Bier had a large offering showing scenes from around the world (some have been re-issued over the years.) Because these are made of paper and intended to be discarded, they often were and some can be quite hard to find, especially in good condition.

As with any collection, there are societies for the enthusiasts. The oldest and largest is the British Beermat Collectors Society, BBCS, founded in 1960. At the time of the book’s printing (1979), the BBCS had grown from its initial 20 members to 1,200, from all around the globe. Wonder how many there are today? Each year they hold a competition to find the “mat of the year” with the prize being a gold-plated beer mat, a highly cherished trophy.

Coasters are often called “drip mats” because all sorts of firms, not just breweries, use them to promote their products. The forerunner to the drip mat was the porcelain or pottery tankard stand. The first wood pulp drip mat was patented in 1892 in Germany and they have been used ever since. There are various ways to determine the date of these, the best being the printer’s name on the piece. The style of advertising and reviewing of trademarks can also help. Those collecting mats which advertise tobacco products can find more formal records kept by the Imperial Tobacco Group. The book offers a table to help you identify the age.

I also learned that not all mats are of wood pulp, although it is the most common material. Others have been printed on foam, cork, rubber, glossy cards, linoleum, plastic, linen, and even leather.

These coasters and mats were also printed for a lot of special occasions. For example, political advertising, Royal events such as the 1977 Queen’s Silver Jubilee, and coronations. Some were made for sporting events, others for celebrations such as a brewery’s 100^th anniversary, and some were issued near Christmas time with a “safety on the road” and “Drinking and Driving Don’t Mix” message.

Some of the most desirable include those from Whitbread (British Brewery) and features characters from the British TV program “The Forsyte Saga.”

The next time I head to my local pub, I’m planning to ask if they have any coasters from Pale-Ale, Dortmunder Bier, John Smith’s Christmas Beer, or the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games. When the ‘barkeep’ stares at me, I’ll just say I am a tegestologist in need of some mats. They will, of course, understand and head to the back bar for a supply.