Business and Industry | Page 20

Hamm’s Beer miniature totem pole

A souvenir totem pole, created ca. 1970, with a depiction of the Hamm’s bear. This piece is a good example of Hamm’s Brewing Company’s use of generic and often inaccurate Indigenous iconography in its advertising. Although this object was made by an Ojibwe family, totem-pole carving is not an Anishinaabe tradition; the art form is practiced by Indigenous groups on the West Coast of the United States and Canada, including the Haida, the Tlingit, and the Nuxalk.

Hamm’s Beer sunset clock

A promotional item produced by Hamm’s Brewing Company ca. 1950. This clock shows a cabin scene that embodies the essence of Hamm’s early advertising campaign around the “cool refreshment of Minnesota’s vacationland.”

Hamm’s New Brew beer bottle

A bottle of Hamm’s New Brew variety, produced in the 1930s. This bottle has the original logo and typeface typical of Hamm’s Brewing Company’s early products.

Hamm’s Brewery distribution truck

Hamm’s Brewery distribution truck, ca. 1933. Hamm’s owned trucks would distribute beer to businesses throughout Minnesota.

Hamm’s Brewery keg delivery wagon

Hamm’s Brewery keg delivery wagon, ca. 1923. Hamm’s delivered kegs of beverages via horse-drawn carts.

Hamm’s Brewery in St. Paul

A view of Hamm’s Brewery in St. Paul, designed by August Maritzen, ca. 1905. The ornamental elements of the building were later removed as the facilities were updated for operations. The large house on the bluff near the brewery was built for Theodore Hamm and his wife, Louise.

Theodore Hamm Brewing Company

The Theodore Hamm Brewing Company, one of Minnesota’s most iconic breweries, began brewing beer in about 1865 as Excelsior Brewery in St. Paul. Hamm’s was brewed in Minnesota for well over a century, and its brief national profile was bolstered by both its iconic animated bear and its Minnesota-centric slogan: “From the land of sky-blue waters.”