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Old Reading "Gus" Chalkware

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Bar Statues25 of 41Ceramic Iron CityBlatz Bottleman 1952
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    Posted 10 years ago

    Breweriana…
    (70 items)

    Here is my collection of Old Reading "Gus" Chalkware statues. These chalks were made for the Old Reading Brewing Company located in Reading, PA featuring Old Reading beer and the brewery's PA Dutch mascot "Gus". They would be used as advertising pieces to be placed on the bar backs and bar tops of taverns and pubs to advertise Old Reading beer. They were made of plaster and hand painted. It's very hard to find them without cracks, chips, or paint touch-ups. Both of mine are as original as you can find them and in excellent condition.

    These are only 2 of the 4 that were made to advertise the brewery at different times, but they all look pretty similar to each other. There is another one that looks similar to the one on the right except it's painted like the one on the left and it reads "Old Reading on Tap" on the barrel. The rarer of the 4 looks like the one to the right except it reads "Porter" at the bottom of the base. The Porter is very hard to come by but I'm always going to keep an eye out for one. The one to the left is the only one that Old Reading made with the bottle display; this one is also the last promo run of these chalkware statues. All of them have a small indentation behind the figure for a cup to be placed that would hold swizzle sticks, straws, and foam scrapers.

    Both pieces look amazing in my collection and I hope to come across the other 2 that I don't have sometime in the near future. If I come across anymore I will post them on this thread so check back later.

    Thanks for looking!

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    Comments

    1. Beer4all, 10 years ago
      I currently have the one withGus holding the barrel with "Old Reading on Tap" and on the base "Traditional Pennsylvania Dutch" . Also back of base indicates made at plasto mfg in chicago. Got this when my dad passed in the 90s and he got from his dad. He was born in hershey and raised in harrisburg. I also have original Schmidt's figure holding two frothing mugs that has "Since SCHMIDT'S 1860' front of base with 'Philadelphia, Penna underneath. The Schmidts font is that which was on their bottles.

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