In my last blog entry, I examined my collection of fifteen brewery t-shirts and looked at where they were made. Of the fifteen, three were made in the United States and twelve were made in Latin America. The t-shirts made in the United States were from Earnest Brew Works in Toledo, OH, Rhinegeist Brewery in Cincinnati, OH, and Dogfish Head in Milton, DE. As I did more research into the companies that manufactured these particular t-shirts, it was the one from Dogfish Head that really caught my attention.
Dogfish Head is a brewery that I really admire. Established in Rehoboth Beach, DE in 1995, it was, at that time, America’s smallest commercial brewpub. Under the leadership of its charismatic, Sam Calagione, Dogfish Head has went from strength to strength, and by 2017 was the twelfth largest craft brewery in the United States. Over the last two decades, Calagione and Dogfish Head have been at the forefront of creativity and innovation. It was the first brewery to produce a continuously hopped IPA (their iconic 90 Minute IPA). It’s Ancient Ales Program has seen it work with molecular archeologist Dr. Patrick McGovern to recreate and reproduce beers from ancient Turkey, China, Egypt, and a number of far away places and epochs. And just this week, Dogfish Head realeased Slighty Mighty, a low calorie IPA that rivals Michelob Ultra for calories and carbs (95 calories and 3.5 carbs), and “doesn’t taste like seltzer water”.
I have never visited Dogfish Head’s flagship brewery, which is located in Milton, DE, but my oldest daughter has. And when she did, she bought me the aforementioned t-shirt. The t-shirt is manufactured by TS Designs, who are based in Burlington, NC. According to the company’s website, its t-shirts “are made from conventionally grown North Carolina cotton and you can track them through the entire supply chain back to the farmer. You can even meet the farmer yourself during our annual Cotton Harvest Tour.”
My Dogfish Head t-shirt uses 100% North Carolina grown cotton
Tracking my Dogfish Head t-shirt through the entire supply chain back to the farmer sounded intriguing – it certainly appealed to the economic geographer in me. According to theTS Designs website, tracking my t-shirt’s supply chain required going to the website whereyourclothing.com, where it states:
“not only are all of our t-shirts made entirely in the United States, they have completely transparent supply chains. And when we say completely transparent, we mean it! Not only do we give you the location, but a name, photo, address, and even phone number for each member of the supply chain, from dirt to shirt.”
To learn about the supply chain in my Dogfish Head t-shirt, it was simply a case of entering a tracking code. Tracking codes are either printed on the neck label or derived from the colors of the thread sown into the t-shirts arm hem and tail hem. In the case of my Dogfish Head t-shirt, the hems of the sleeves and tail had colored thread sown into them –
Tracking codes for my Dogfish Head t-shirt were derived from the color of the thread inside the hem of the t-shirt’s sleeves and tail.
As I soon learned, my Dogfish Head t-shirt started its life on the cotton farm of Thurman Burleson & Sons Farm in Wadesboro, NC. From there is passed through the hands of eight other companies. These included a cotton gin, yarn spinners, fabric knitters, fabric finishers, and cutters/sewers, before ending up at the print and dye facility of TS Designs in Burlington. All ten of the plants involved in the making of my t-shirt are located in North Carolina and South Carolina. Information about each participant in my t-shirt’s supply chain is provided on the whereyourclothing.com website, and appears after you enter your t-shirt’s tracking information. You can read these descriptions below (for the Dogfish Head t-shirt I own), as well as view the map showing the location of each manufacturer who contributes to the final product.
All ten of the plants that played a part in making my Dogfish Head t-shirt are located in North Carolina
Learning about the supply chain of my Dogfish Head t-shirt was fun, interesting, and informative. I would not want to replicate this search for information for every piece of clothing that I own (even if it were possible). But it was, as I said, informative to do it for one t-shirt. I was only vaguely aware of the various steps involved in producing a t-shirt, and so this educated me on the t-shirt manufacturing process. As someone who teaches Economic Geography, I fully understand the economics behind sourcing t-shirts from cheap labor countries overseas. So I say kudos to Dogfish Head for purchasing and selling t-shirts whose provenance is one hundred percent American.
Craft breweries typically have strong connections with their local communities. These connections are manifest in a number of ways. The owners usually live in town. The brewery provides space for activities such as a local yoga club, and several times a year they brew a special beer, part of the profits of which are donated to local charitable causes. In discussing craft breweries, George Homewood, Norfolk, Virginia’s director of planning and community development, notes:
“there is a different food truck outside nightly. Depending upon the brewery, there may be yoga on Sundays, trivia on Wednesdays, retro video games on Thursdays, and music on Saturdays as well as neighborhood block parties, a monthly pet adoption day or a free community meal.”
Regardless of where we live, all of us know local breweries who support their communities in these types of way. Some breweries are so proud of their local community that they name beers after local landmarks, historical figures, or important events in the community’s past. A growing number of breweries are even trying to source more of their ingredients, particularly hops, from the local region. For some breweries, one of their major contributions to the community is simply to provide a gathering place for locals; a refuge of sorts where neighborhood residents can come, meet up with a few friends, and enjoy a couple of beers.
And craft beer drinkers seem to appreciate this commitment to local communities and are very happy to support the locally-owned brewery, rather than the faceless multinational corporation (e.g., AB InBev or Heineken). There’s even a name or this preference for the local – it’s called “neolocalism”. The geographer, Steven M. Schnell defines neolocalism as a “conscious attempt of individuals and groups to establish, rebuild, and cultivate local ties, local identities, and increasingly, local economies.” Writing specifically about craft breweries, Schnell and his co-author Joseph Reese, stated that craft breweries represent a desire on the part of increasing numbers of people to “reestablish connections with local communities, settings, and economies”.
There is no doubt that buying a locally brewed beer supports a local business. Advocates of purchasing locally produced food are quick to point out the economic, social, and environmental benefits of doing so – keeping more money in the local community, encouraging cultural diversity, preserving genetic diversity etc. On the other hand, economists Jason Winfred and Philip Watson point out buying local conflicts with Ricardo’s two hundred year old principle of comparative advantage. Of course, there is the whole issue of what constitutes “local”, a topic I discussed in a previous blog entry.
Many breweries are rightly proud of the contributions they make to their local communities. And on their websites, they are not hesitant to articulate their community commitment. Crazy Mountain Brewing Company of Denver, CO, for example, state that, “although beer is our passion, one of Crazy Mountain’s core values is our commitment to community involvement”. According to Fairport Brewing Company in Fairport, NY, “our commitment to the local community run deep”, while Roadhouse Brewery of Jackson Hole, WY is “committed to supporting the local community of Jackson Hole”.
I got to thinking about craft breweries and their connections to the local economies the other day, when I was putting away a t-shirt that my oldest daughter had gave me as a Christmas gift. It was a t-shirt from Boulevard Brewing Company in Kansas City, MO. My daughter had been to Boulevard recently, while visiting a friend in Kansas City. I visited Boulevard myself while attending a conference in Kansas City in June of last year. Anyway, as I picked up the t-shirt I looked at the label just inside the collar. I was curious as to where the t-shirt was made. The label said, “Made in Honduras”. That got me wondering – where were all my other brewery t-shirts made? How many were made in the United States? I took each of them from the closet and examined them. Here is what I found:
Bare Arms Brewing, Waco, TX – Nicaragua
Black Cloister Brewing Company, Toledo, OH – Nicaragua
Boulevard Brewing Company, Kansas City, MO – Honduras
Church Brew Works, Pittsburgh, PA – Nicaragua
Dogfish Head, Milton, DE – USA
Earnest Brew Works, Toledo, OH – USA
Elevator Brewing, Columbus, OH – Mexico
Grapevine Brewery, Grapevine, TX – Nicaragua
Kona Brewing Company, Kona, HI – Mexico
Lansing Brewing Company, Lansing, MI – Mexico
Market Garden Brewery, Cleveland, OH – Nicaragua
Maumee Bay Brewing Company, Toledo, OH – Nicaragua
Pike Brewing Company, Seattle, WA – Honduras
Rhinegeist Brewery, Cincinnati, OH – USA
Round Barn Brewery, Baroda, MI – Honduras
First off, I own fifteen t-shirts from breweries. I never knew that. Of the fifteen t-shirts, seven were made in Nicaragua, three in Mexico, three in the United States, and two in Honduras. Now I fully realize that my fifteen t-shirts do not constitute a scientifically valid sample, so I am not going to make any generalizations regarding the larger population of American breweries. Thinking scientifically, I thought that it might be interesting to have a control group. So, I randomly selected fifteen of my non-brewery t-shirts that I had purchased in the United States, and examined their labels. All of them were manufactured in Latin America – five in Mexico, four in Nicaragua, and three each in Honduras and El Salvador. These, albeit non-scientific, findings do hint at the possibility that American craft breweries may be more prone to purchase American made t-shirts than the average retailer.
My t-shirt from Church Brew Works in Pittsburgh, PA was made in Nicaragua
That most of the brewery t-shirts I own are made in Latin American countries did not surprise me. I teach this stuff in my Industrial Geography course at The University of Toledo. By and large, it comes down to labor costs. Manufacturing labor costs are significantly cheaper in Latin America than in the United States. For example, according to IVEMSA, a company that assists U.S. companies interested in establishing manufacturing facilities in Mexico, American manufacturers who locate in Mexico will pay 20-30% less in labor costs. Add to that a forty-eight hour work week (before requiring overtime pay) and the advantages of manufacturing in Mexico soon become apparent.
Three breweries in my non-scientific sample do sell t-shirts manufactured in the United States. They are Dogfish Head in Milton, DE, Earnest Brew Works in Toledo, OH, and Rhinegeist Brewery in Cincinnati, OH. The t-shirts sold by Earnest Brew Works and Rhinegeist Brewery are made by American Apparel, who are based in Los Angeles, CA. The company makes apparel in countries all over the world, including Bangladesh, Honduras, and the United States. Interestingly, one of American Apparel’s commitments is supporting the economies in which they are located. They do this by “using local suppliers for transportation, food services and raw materials and accessories for our production facilities such as dyes, buttons, zippers, boxes and office supplies.” The two American Apparel t-shirts I have were as I mentioned above, made in the USA. The components used to manufacture these two t-shirts came both from the United States and other countries
My t-shirt from Rhinegeist Brewery was made in the USA, with US and imported components
The t-shirt sold by Dogfish Head Brewery is manufactured by a company called TS Designs, who are based in Burlington, NC. Not only are TS Designs’ t-shirts made in North Carolina, the cotton that they are made from is grown in North Carolina.
My t-shirt from Dogfish Head Brewery
It would be nice if more breweries who sold t-shirts, baseball caps, wool hats and other souvenir items sourced those from inside the United States. If these items came from inside or close to the community in which they reside it would be another indication that the breweries are committed to supporting their local and/or regional economy.
Further Reading
Schnell, Steven M. and Joseph E. Reese. 2003. Microbreweries as tools of local identity.” Journal of Cultural Geography, Volume 21, number 1, pages 45–69.
I have a confession to make. Just like The Beer Professor himself, I too am a beer-loving philatelist. For this guest blog I want to combine my admiration for beer, its component ingredients, production and consumption, with my stamp collecting hobby. What? Did you have to look up ‘philately’ in your Funk and Wagnalls? The Beer Professor collected stamps of the British Isles as a wee lad. I collected (affordable) stamps from all over the world and I suspect that many budding geographers and historians did the same thing, learning a lot about the history, landscapes and culture of the places in the process.
But what about beer as the subject matter on stamps of the world? One of the best sources of information comes from proprietary data meticulously gathered and periodically updated by the American Topical Association (americantopicalassn.org), an organization devoted to assisting the specialized stamp collector keep up with stamps issued on given topics or themes. Most advanced collectors realize that trying to collect all stamps issued is impossible and even those issued solely by a particular country of interest would be quite difficult. So, most advanced collectors have elected instead to collect stamps dealing with particular topics or themes of interest to them. These themes could include (hound) dogs on stamps or even Elvis Presley on stamps (of which there are over 435 that have been issued worldwide by at least 55 different countries).
The American Topical Association (ATA) data include 135 stamps issued with beer-related themes as a focus dating from 1866 to the last update this past year (September 30, 2018). That number of stamps is, however, a bit misleading, as 66 of the 135 issued by the United States from 1866 through 1947 were beer revenue stamps that were required to be attached to each 32 gallon full barrel of beer (or on smaller-sized barrels ranging from 1/8th barrel (i.e., four gallons) to the half barrel (i.e., 16 gallons). The highest denomination beer revenue stamps were placed on the 64 gallon hogshead size (i.e., a double barrel). Of all of the beer revenue stamps issued by the US government, only one set contained an engraved image that was actually beer-related. That set was issued in 1875 and depicted “Bacchus serving the first fermented brew to man” (ATA Checklist 63: Beer 2018) [Figure 1]. If they didn’t include numerals representing the amount of the beer tax, all of the rest of the beer revenue stamps contained engravings of US presidents (e.g., Washington, Jefferson, Jackson), US Civil War heroes (e.g., Sherman, Farragut) or Secretaries of the Treasury and other overseers of the Senate Banking Committee (e.g., Hamilton, Corwin, Benton, Wright) (Scott 2017, 709-13).
Figure 1: Bacchus serving the first fermented brew to man
Removing the 66 beer revenue stamps from the focus of this blog leaves 69 stamps that a collector would call commemoratives. These commemorative beer stamps were issued by 42 different countries, some with a long history of beer making and an active beer culture (e.g., Germany, Belgium, Ireland, Netherlands, Czech Republic).
Others were issued by countries that don’t immediately spring to mind when one thinks of places with an active beer culture (e.g., Costa Rica, Philippines, Argentina). Still others are issued by countries that Slemrod (2008) labelled “stamp panderers”—usually small, agricultural, poor countries that include many island nations and many in Africa that emerged from colonial rule since the 1960s. Stamp pandering countries commercialize their state sovereignty in order to generate income from stamp collectors abroad. Interestingly, since by law the USPS must pay for itself, the United States is also considered by Slemrod (2008) to be a stamp pandering nation! But, we’ve never pandered enough to celebrate beer on a non-revenue stamp—yet.
Two of the entities that have issued beer-related stamps are not really sovereign countries recognized by the larger world community or supranational organizations such as the United Nations. They include two of the Bantustan enclaves within South Africa—Bophuthatswana and Transkei.
So, while I can’t show all of the stamps related to beer or the production of its components (e.g., hops, malted barley, millet), I will try to show some stamps that illustrate the worldwide commemoration of beer.
Early Beer-related Stamps:. According to the ATA data, the oldest commemorative stamp related to a beer event was issued in 1942 by Nazi Germany to “honor” the 20th anniversary of those Nazi sympathizers killed in the uprising that brought Adolf Hitler to power—the (in)famous Munich beer hall putsch. Because only a Nazi “patriot” is depicted on the stamp and if you don’t read German you couldn’t understand what is being memorialized anyway, I will not show that repugnant stamp.
One that the ATA list missed (probably because beer is not clearly evident on the stamp) is one of my favorites—a 1947 Canadian stamp depicting the iconic “streamline moderne” shape of a Labatt’s beer delivery truck. If I were a Canadian kid during that era, I would certainly have wanted a toy model version of that truck for Christmas [Figure 2].
Figure 2: Labbat’s Beer Delivery Truck
My final choice in the early group is a well-designed 1954 stamp from Costa Rica that illustrates the beer industry and its main ingredients in a simple engraved image [Figure 3].
Figure 3: Beer’s Main Ingredients
Beer Stamps that are Out-of-Place: The first country that seems out-of-place is also the one that Slemrod (2008) chose to focus on in his provocative article entitled “Why is Elvis on Burkina Faso Postage Stamps?…”about the commercialization potential afforded chunks of the world’s territory because of state sovereignty. That commercialization could be relatively benign like stamp pandering or more nefarious like tax havens or money laundering operations. We would not, for example, expect a majority Muslim nation like Burkina Faso with that religion’s strict prohibitions against the consumption of alcoholic beverages to issue a stamp commemorating beer. Perhaps that is why their 2012 beer-related stamp doesn’t show an image of beer directly but rather the hearth and the cooking utensils used to prepare millet beer (vis-à-vis beer made from malted barley) for the approximately 38% of the country’s population that is not Muslim [Figure 4].
Figure 4: Hearth and Cooking Utensils used to brew Millet Beer
Two of the entities issuing beer-related stamps are not recognized by the United Nations as legitimate sovereign countries—Bophuthatswana and Transkei. The 1984 stamp from Transkei depicts a beer tasting presumably of a millet beer [Figure 5] and the 1990 stamp from Bophuthatswana illustrates traditional beer-making activity [Figure 6]. Many collectors are wary of purchasing such stamps issued by breakaway provinces, unofficial or provincial governments or entities created by powerful controlling countries that give the illusion of independent sovereignty when they are, in fact, client states that are recognized as legitimate by few other sovereign nations.
Figure 5: Tasting Millet Beer
Figure 6: Beer Making in Bophuthatswana
The Stamps Produced by a Beer-centric European Country—Belgium: Belgium does more than produce Stella Artois for the mass market. In fact, it is the smaller breweries, especially those located in, and brewed by, Trappist monks that have captured the imagination of beer-drinking connoisseurs around the world. For a country that is small in areal extent, its beer reputation is outsized. Belgium has produced five stamp issues devoted to beer or aspects of its production. But even that number is a bit deceptive because four of those issues are souvenir sheets containing as many as six different stamps. The oldest Belgian beer-related stamp is a simple single stamp featuring a glass of beer issued in 1986 to honor it national beer industry [Figure 7]. In 2010, and again in 2012, Belgium produced souvenir sheets drawing attention to rural production in two disparate regions of the country—the Hesbaye Region, a sheet that includes five stamps, one of which shows the beer that is produced there [Figure 8]. The second souvenir sheet honors production in the Condroz Region and beer production is also emphasized [Figure 9].
Figure 7: A Glass of Beer
Figure 8: Beer Production in Belgium’s Hesbaye Region
Figure 9: Beer Production in Belgium’s Condroz Region
Also in 2012, a souvenir sheet of six stamps was issued that focused on six Trappist beers known worldwide for their excellent flavor provided by differences in the local monastery water and the various types of previously used wooden casks in which the beers are aged [Figure 10]. The individual monastery brews are featured with the appropriate glassware that should bring out the best qualities the brewers wish to emphasize. In alphabetical order, the brews and associated glassware are shown on the stamps of Achel [Figure 11], Chimay [Figure 12], Orval [Figure 13], Rochefort [Figure 14], Westmalle [Figure 15] and Westvleteren [Figure 16]. It is Westvleteren’s XII, a Belgian quadruple, that has been judged to be the rarest beer in the world and among the best. It is rare because it is produced in small batches and only sold at the monastery or a small pub across the street and only on a few days a year. Plus, one must enter a lottery in order to be chosen to buy the beer at all and then only in small amounts (Pagnotta 2013).
Figure 10: Six Trappist Beers
Figure 11: Achel
Figure 12: Chimay
Figure 13: Orval
Figure 14: Rochefort
Figure 15: Westmalle
Figure 16: Westvletern
The last souvenir sheet from Belgium was issued just last year in 2018 and contains five images lauding the beer culture of Belgium that has been declared an “Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO” (ATA Checklist 63: Beer, 2018) [Figure 17].
Figure 17: 2018 Belgian Stamps Celebrating the Country’s Beer Culture
Fine Beer-related Art on Stamps: It is not unusual for countries to issue stamps with representations of famous paintings usually by artists of that country. Some of these artistic renditions feature beer drinkers or still lifes with beer steins. In 1990, the tiny principality of Liechtenstein issued three stamps depicting paintings by the artist Benjamin Steck (1902-1981). The stamp with the highest denomination (1.50 francs) is entitled “Basket, Fruit, Stein” [Figure 18].
Figure 18: “Basket, Fruit, Stein”
In 1968, Togo, a small country along the West African coast, issued a stamp with a depiction of Edouard Manet’s (1832-1883) “The Beer Drinkers” [Figure 19] and, in 1995, Georgia honored the 77th anniversary of the death of native artist Niko Piromanashvili (1862-1918). One of his remarkable primitive-style paintings is entitled “Woman with Tankard of Beer” [Figure 20].
Figure 19: “The Beer Drinkers”
Figure 20: “Woman with Tankard of Beer”
Beyond Fine Art: Stamps with an Interesting Graphic Design: While it is interesting to see fine art on postage stamps, some countries have also dabbled in modern graphic design. Three examples are shown here—one from a country we associate more with a wine culture than one based on beer—Argentina and two that are European beer-centric countries—Germany and the Czech Republic.
Argentina is the home of some of the world’s best Malbec wine especially those grown near the city of Mendoza. But in 2011, however, Argentina issued an interesting stamp honoring their national beer festival containing simple but bold and blocky design elements [Figure 21].
Figure 21: Honoring Argentina’s National Beer Festival
A stamp of importance to beer culture is the 1983 German issue that commemorates the 450th anniversary of the beer purity law (Reinheitsgebot) [Figure 22]. That law specifies that beer shall be composed of only four ingredients—grain, yeast, hops and water. The stylized design of the stamp is undoubtedly either based or emulates a 16th century woodcut. I wonder how stray wild yeast strains could be kept out of the open vats shown on the stamp, but that opens up an entirely different line of inquiry that goes beyond the scope of this blog.
Figure 22: 1983 German Stamp Celebrating the 450th Anniversary of the Reinhetsgebot
And, since the holiday season was not that long ago, I end this stamp-related beer blog with an interesting 2005 graphic design from the Czech Republic that was somehow overlooked by the creators/updaters of the ATA spreadsheet (ATA Checksheet 63: Beer 2018). The stamp depicts a holiday meal of fowl and a beer [Figure 23]. So, as they say in Czech—pro vase zdraví—to your health!
This blog entry was written by guest blogger. Thomas L. Bell. Tom is Professor Emeritus of Geography at the University of Tennessee. He currently lives in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Tom’s research interest are in marketing geography and location theory. More recently he has done some work on the American craft brewing industry in the southeastern United States and also on home brewing.
