Hamm's is the name of a former American brewery in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Hamm's breweries were also found in other cities, such as San Francisco.
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The original Hamm's was established in 1865 when Theodore Hamm, a German immigrant, inherited the Excelsior Brewery from his friend and business associate, A. F. Keller. Keller had constructed his brewery over artesian wells in a section of the Phalen Creek valley in Saint Paul, Minnesota, known as Swede Hollow. Hamm hired Christopher Figg to be his masterbrewer, and by the 1880s the T. Hamm Brewing Company was reckoned the second largest in Minnesota.
His son, William, and grandson, William Jr. inherited the operation in 1903. During Prohibition, the company survived by producing soft drinks and other food products, leaving it in a position to expand rapidly through acquisitions after the repeal of Prohibition in 1933. In 1968 the company was acquired by Heublein, which sold it to Olympia Brewing Company. Pabst then purchased Olympia along with Hamm's in 1983. Miller Brewing acquired the brand in 1999. Miller was later purchased by South African Breweries and the name changed to SABMiller. Subsequently, SABMiller formed a joint venture combining their US and Puerto Rican assets with those of MolsonCoors to form MillerCoors, the current owner and brewer of the Hamm's Brand.[1] MillerCoors now produces three Hamm's Beers, Premium, Golden Draft, and Special Light.[2]
The Hamm's brewery in San Francisco opened in 1954 at 1550 Bryant Street, close to the Seals baseball stadium. The brewery closed in 1972. In the early 1980s, the beer vats were rented out to punk rock bands, and it was a used as music studios until the building was renovated and turned into offices.[3]
Now the legacy of Hamm's beer must live on through its hockey team that plays in the HNA (Hockey North America).
Hamm's is often one of the cheapest beers found on the shelf - roughly $10–$12 less than most national brands for a 30-pack is common. This factor has made it enduringly popular with drinkers on a budget, like college students.
Several beers are produced: the original Hamm's Premium, a pale lager; Hamm's Golden Draft; and Hamm's Special Light.
The name is most famous not for the company's beverages, however, but for its advertising jingle and for its mascot, the Hamm's Beer bear.
The original jingle, with lyrics by Nelle Richmond Eberhart and music by Charles Wakefield Cadman was derived from a 1909 art song entitled "From The Land of Sky-Blue Water." It was first used on radio and later extended to television. It started with the beating of tom-tom drums, after which a chorus intoned:
Even more famous than the jingle was the Hamm's Beer bear. The bear was incorporated into the first campaign produced by the Campbell Mithun advertising agency, which sought to emphasize the supposedly superior cleanliness and naturality of Hamm's beer owing to its clear water and production in pristine Minnesota, the "enchanted Northland." The first television commercial depicted animated beavers beating their tails to the tom-tom beat of the jingle, as well as live action shots of the forests and lakes of the "enchanted Northland." The second, produced in 1952, introduced the clumsy dancing black-and-white cartoon "Beer Bear," actually named "Sascha," which proved so popular it was used for the next three decades. The "Beer Bear" and other woodland creatures were seen many afternoons as Hamm's was the beer sponsor of the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox in the late 50s and early 60s.
In Minnesota after WWII and into mid-century at least, "Hamm's" was a common synonym for beer, as in "It's been a long day -- let's get a Hamm's." Or packing for a summer picnic: "Don't forget to put in the Hamm's!" For older Minnesotans today, it is quite shocking that younger Americans (even those who are beer connoisseurs) have never heard of Hamm's.
William Hamm, Jr. was kidnapped in St. Paul, MN by the Barker-Karpis Gang in the 1930s. The investigation of this kidnapping by the FBI featured the first attempt at raising latent fingerprints from paper ransom notes.[4]. The Al Capone gang attempted to frame-up rival gangster Roger Touhy for this crime.