Anchor

Known as the Anchor Brewing Co. in the pre-Prohibition era and for much of the post-Repeal period, the company was apparently legally re-named the Steam Beer Brewing Co. by new owner Larry Steese in 1962. It and variations of that name [BELOW] would continue to be used under Maytag ownership through the 1970s.

(above & left)

1970's era labels with brewery name listed as

"STEAM BEER BREWING CO."

Below, as late as the 2000's (and, perhaps, bowing to common usage) the brewery called itself "Anchor Steam" in the table tent for it's Christmas Ale aka "Our Special Ale".

(above)

Early OLD FOGHORN label

from the 6.3 oz. bottles (pre-7 and 12 ounce).

Post-Repeal Anchor Steam Beer in bottles

While the current Anchor Brewing Co. has long implied that their steam beer was not bottled until the early 1970s, these ads certainly suggest that is not the case. The dates, all after the legalization of 3.2 abw beer but before full Repeal with the December 1933 enactment of the 21st Amendment also suggest that the bottled version was not a "full strength" beer.

The "Anchor Bottling Co." was apparently not associated with the Anchor Brewing Co., but an independent bottler - a common industry practice in the per-Prohibition era - Brewers brewed, bottlers bottled - but by the end of 19th century, many larger brewers started in-house bottling (to control quality?) and gave rise to line still seen on some beer labels - "BOTTLED AT THE BREWERY."

Independent bottling was relatively rare after Repeal but did exist (two larger brewers, Schlitz and Theo. Hamm, used them in certain regions of the country).

Anchor Bottling Co. appears to have been a short-lived concern co-owned by Rinaldo "Doc" Pucinelli, an ex-boxer, bail bondsman, failed Republican local candidate as well as a Prohibition-era "drug store owner" and scandal-prone local celebrity, in partnership with a "Joe Van" and/or his brother with whom he ran the firm Pucinelli Bros. Anchor itself, according to one report, contracted with another firm, A. Temple, for the actual bottling.

What is interesting is the similarity of the Anchor logo in the above label and the Porter label of the 1970s Maytag era.

While today the brewery claim the first "modern" bottled Anchor Steam Beer was released in 1971, the early 1970s labels clearly show a copyright date of 1968. According to the article "Steam Beer in Bottles" (Gerald Adams, SF Examiner and Chronicle Nov. 17, 1968):

For the first time in the 119-year history this commodity, it's to be bottled... "To make some money," according to the chief brewer, grizzled, former merchant marine, Lawrence Steece.

(W)ill bottling change the taste? It could, admits the brewer. But for precisely that reason he's delaying the marketing of the packaged product "until after the first of the year when we've had some trial runs."