Lucky Lager

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Photo of a bottle of Lucky Lager
Photo of a bottle of Lucky Lager

Lucky Lager is a mass produced beer, generally sold at a low price, that was originally made by General Brewing Company in San Francisco, California beginning soon after the repeal of Prohibition. General Brewing became Lucky Lager Brewing in 1948 and began building and buying new breweries.

Contents

[edit] Breweries

Lucky Lager Brewing opened a second brewery in Azusa, California in 1949, and bought smaller breweries in Vancouver, Washington in 1950 and in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1960. Thus, Lucky Lager was made at four breweries during the brand's heyday and was a popular regional Western United States brand. The Salt Lake City brewery was closed in 1967.[1]

Lucky Lager Brewing changed their name back to General Brewing between 1963 and 1969, and then changed the name to Lucky Breweries, Inc. in 1969.

During the late 1960s Lucky Lager's market share faltered among younger drinkers. This led to the ill-fated introduction of King Snedley's Beer. According to some accounts King Snedley's was just Lucky Lager repackaged with a different brand and marketed toward counterculture hipsters. The new brand flopped and was withdrawn from the market.

In 1971, millionaire beer baron Paul Kalmanovitz bought Lucky Lager Brewing and - again - changed the name back to General Brewing Company. The Azusa, CA brewery was closed immediately. The San Francisco brewery was closed in 1978. This left Vancouver, WA as the only location where Lucky Lager was brewed.[2]

After the Vancouver brewery shut down in July 1985 , the Olympia Brewing Company brewery in Tumwater, WA began to produce this lager. On July, 1 2003 this brewery was also closed. Since then, Lucky Lager has been brewed in Irwindale, CA (along with other brands such as Olympia and Rainier brands).

[edit] Bottles

Lucky Lager was once famous for its in 11oz stubby bottles featuring a cryptogram puzzle under the cap. Since the closure of the Tumwater brewery, this famous bottle has been discontinued.

The label for Lucky Lager has also seen many changes. In the 1950s the big red X was made less prominent, but it still remained on the labels and on advertising. In 1957 the X was reduced in size somewhat; the same logo, different size. In 1962 the label was again redesigned and the X was made smaller still, although it was still the design's focus. This can with the smaller "X" is sometimes called the 'bug' can by collectors because there is a small "dated" seal that can appear on different spots on the label, like a bug moving around. The "bug" design was then replaced by a label that got rid of the "X" entirely and replaced it with a large "L".

The "L" was written in the cursive form with the rest of the letters following. The origin and reason for this new design (X to L) is somewhat unknown, but is said to have been created by the son of a Lucky Lager distributor in the Northwest.

[edit] Availability

In recent years, the beverage has been hard to find, but is still available in various establishments on the West Coast. Lucky is commonly found all across Vancouver Island. Cumberland, a small island town was named the most "Lucky" city with the most Lucky beer sales located here. Labatt's Lucky Lager is also found in Southern Ontario. Inside of Alberta, Lucky Lager is a widely available beer, and due to the relative inexpensive cost of the beer, a popular item. Lucky is available in a "Salmon Pack" which contains 15 beers instead of the usual 12.

[edit] In films

In the film Kalifornia, Lucky Lager was the favourite drink of Brad Pitt's character.

Jack Nicholson's character drank the old oil can style of Lucky Lager throughout the 1970 movie, Five Easy Pieces.

Cans of Lucky feature prominently in many scenes in the film The Van, in one scene being sold out of a cooler for 35 cents at a van show.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Van Wieren, Dale P. American Breweries II (West Point, PA.: East Coast Breweriana Association, 1995) 17, 37, 372, 385.
  2. ^ Decamp, Bob. "It's Lucky When You Live in the West" Beer Cans and Brewery Collectibles (Feb/March 1997) 6-8.

[edit] Secondary sources

Decamp, Bob. "It's Lucky When You Live in the West" Beer Cans and Brewery Collectibles (Feb/March 1997) 6-8.

Hernon, Peter and Terry Ganey. Under the Influence: The Unauthorized Story of the Anheuser-Busch Dynasty. (New York: Avon Books, 1992)

"General Brewing Corporation Will Enter West Field" (Reno) Nevada State Journal. (April 11, 1934) 10.

"General Brewing Management Plan, The" Modern Brewery (December 1934) 43-46.

Novins, J. K. "General Brewing Corp. Begins Operations" Modern Brewery (March 1934) 52-54, 80-81.

Novins, J. K. "Lucky Lager Centers Promotion on the Label" Modern Brewery (May 1939) 24-27, 66.

Van Wieren, Dale P. American Breweries II (West Point, PA.: East Coast Breweriana Association, 1995) 17, 37, 372, 385.

[edit] Websites

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