Two delightful labels today, a big thank you to Eric for sending these in. It’s is not difficult to see the differences in this pair from Truswell’s Brewery, but my guess is that the label on the left is the earlier. I am not sure why I think that, anybody else with a view?
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2 Comments
30 January, 2019
at 9:03 pm
If you are right Peter, I wonder why the change from the red diamond to a red inner oval? To me, the diamond looks better. So, was it an enforced change? Anyone know?
10 February, 2019
at 2:25 pm
I regret that I don’t know but might it, as Eric perhaps implies, simply have been Bass stamping down on the use of a red diamond in the design? I don’t think that Truswell’s was retained as a brewery after the takeover by Hope & Anchor so it seems unlikely to have been a consequence of internal diktat.
As an aside does anyone know whether there was any form of commercial alliance or collaboration between Truswell and H&A (or more specifically Carter, Milner & Bird) prior to the 1955 takeover?
I have a ‘Truswell’s Brewery Co. Ltd.’ Sunbright Pale Ale label with no reference to brewer or bottler which is almost certainly late 50’s or early 60’s (ie. an H&A brewed beer). This was a CMB brand wasn’t it? As I understand CMB had a very limited estate and got big on the basis of broad distribution of it’s bottled beers whilst Truswell’s had a substantial estate which was probably retained under the same livery for a period after takeover. Would this label then have been an imposition of an alien, rebadged, brand onto the faux-independent estate, or could the brand have been transferred/acquired earlier beacause CMB or H&A didn’t have the capacity to brew it any more?
Also, were beers produced by other breweries (perhaps Tuswell’s) badged as CMB during their production ‘dead zone’ around WWI?
There is a peculiar note in a local text (Lamb) regarding H&A (seemingly contradicted in his notes on Truswell’s brewery) which reads ‘taken over by Truswell’s Brewery in 1954’! Is this just an error or could there possibly have been some kind of estate disposal or management agreement between the two companies which preceded the full takeover of 1955?
Apologies for the indefinite nature of the above. I expect the points can be answered rather succinctly. Hopefully somebody will know.