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Great Falls Breweries, Inc. Records, 1933-1968

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Great Falls Breweries, Inc.
Title
Great Falls Breweries, Inc. Records
Dates
1933-1968 (inclusive)
Quantity
26.7 linear feet, (38 archival boxes and 29 oversize volumes)
Collection Number
Mss 042
Summary
This collection contains correspondence, financial, legal, organizational, and promotional records generated and collected by the Great Falls Breweries, Inc. and its subsidiary, the Montana Malting Company. Collection materials document procedures and finances within the company and professional relationships with product distributors, industry representatives, other regional breweries, suppliers, elected officials, and government regulators.
Repository
University of Montana, Mansfield Library, Archives and Special Collections
Archives and Special Collections
Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library
University of Montana
32 Campus Dr. #9936
59812-9936
Missoula, MT
Telephone: 406-243-2053
library.archives@umontana.edu
Access Restrictions

Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of Archives and Special Collections, the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, and the University of Montana--Missoula. Materials in box 18, folders 6 and 7, box 19, folder 1 are restricted access under Social Security Administration regulations.

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for creating this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Historic Publications and Records Commission. Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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Historical Note

Great Falls Breweries Inc. was founded by Emil Sick in 1933 immediately after the repeal of Prohibition. It was begun with the purchase of the interests of the Montana Brewing Company and the American Brewing Company, two Great Falls firms dating from the 1890s that had been closed by Prohibition. Mr. Sick continued the operation until 1949 when he sold the property to local interests. It was again sold in 1966 to Blitz-Weinhard Company of Portland, Oregon, which continued operations until September, 1968 when severe economic conditions forced the closure of the Great Falls plant. At the time of its closing, the Great Falls operation was the last operating brewery in the four state area of Montana, Idaho, North Dakota, and Wyoming

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Content Description

This collection contains correspondence, financial, legal, organizational, and promotional records generated and collected by the Great Falls Breweries, Inc. and its subsidiary, the Montana Malting Company. Collection materials document procedures and finances within the company and professional relationships with product distributors, industry representatives, other regional breweries, suppliers, elected officials, and government regulators. These records provide insights into rural Montana brewing businesses in the years following repeal of Prohibition, through the Great Depression, and into the post World War II economic transformations across the American west. Collection materials particularly evidence the impacts on regional (bottle-oriented) breweries precipitated by 1960s canned beer packaging innovations.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

Researchers are responsible for using in accordance with 17 U.S.C. and any other applicable statutes. Copyright not transferred to the University of Montana.

Preferred Citation

[Name of document or photograph number], Great Falls Breweries, Inc. Records, Archives and Special Collections, The University of Montana-Missoula.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in seven series:

Series I: Correspondence

Series II: Financial and Legal

Series III: Organization

Series IV: Printed Material

Series V: Montana Malting Company

Series VI: Photographs

Series VII: Artifacts

Custodial History

The Blitz-Weinhard Company purchased Great Falls Breweries, Inc. in 1966 and suspended Montana operations in 1968. The Blitz-Weinhard Company placed all Great Falls Breweries Inc. records in a storage unit until donation to the Archives.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Blitz-Weinhard Company, 1970. The remainder, two original stock ledger journals, 1938-1966, now in Series II, Box 40, and 3 copies of stockholder lists, two from 1966 and one from 1967, now in Box 37/12, were donated by Stoel Rives, Attorneys at Law, 2012.

Processing Note

The specific actions of the original processors were not documented. During 2004 reprocessing, distinct series were applied to collection materials, items were reorganized for consistent identification and access, and the full collection was extensively re-described.

Separated Materials

During 2004 reprocessing, 5 folders of general interest publications (all dated 1961) were transferred to the Mansfield Library's Special Collections.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Beer industry--Montana--Great Falls
  • Beer bottles
  • Beer cans
  • Beer industry--West (U.S.)
  • Breweries--Montana--Great Falls
  • Brewing industry--Montana--Great Falls
  • Brewing industry--West (U.S.)

Form or Genre Terms

  • Business records--Montana--Great Falls

Other Creators

  • Corporate Names

    • Montana Malting Company

Finding aid prepared by Jodi Allison-Bunnell and Jack Rowan (2004)
2004

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

About Creative Commons Licenses in Archives West

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