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From: john
Remote Name: 208.187.13.20
Date: 09/02/2003
Time: 10:20:09 PM
There are two dates that you may encounter from time to time, 1891 and 1895. For instance, Gary Kirsner's "Beer Stein Book" states that it was the "1891 Marking Law" that required it and Mike Wald's "HR Steins" states that it was "required after 1895," with no specific law mentioned. The problem is that both of these dates refer to laws of the United States. The "Marking Law of 1891" required that all products marked with the country of origin, be marked in English. For example, if a Japanese vase is marked "Nipon" it was imported before 1891. After that it had to be marked "Japan." Finally, the "McKinley Tariff Act of 1895" required, for the first time, that all products imported to the U.S. be marked with the country of origin. Germany was already complying with both of these laws because it was the German "Merchandising Marks Act" that went into effect in 1887. This marking act was forced upon Germany and much of the rest of the world, by Great Britain for economic and political reasons. The German law, based on English requirements, stipulated that all products made for export be marked "Germany" or "Made in Germany." Therefore, all steins being exported, were so marked beginning in 1887, not 1891, or 1895.
So you will find the same stein with and without the "GERMANY" mark depending on whether it was for export or home use. Sometimes the maker didn't know if the stein was going to be exported so if there was to be a mark added it was sometimes stamped on by the distributer in ink or paint over the glaze.