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From: Frank
Remote Name: 12.65.36.190
Date: 02/23/2004
Time: 07:22:56 AM
Ron - As a Beer Stein Library member, you probably already know that Steinzeugwerke was a marketing consortium that produced no products of its own. Since Steinzeugwerke pieces are never marked as such, the only evidence we have that a particular piece was sold by Steinzeugwerke is its appearance in a known Steinzeugwerke catalog. There are, however, many steins out there that share characteristics with those sold by Steinzeugwerke but which, as far as anyone currently knows, were not part of the Steinzeugwerke product line. In all likelihood, these steins were produced and sold directly by one of the four Steinzeugwerke partners (Hanke, Merkelbach, Gerz, Müller).
The bottom line is that unless a particular piece appears in a known Steinzeugwerke catalog, there is no existing basis for concluding that it was marketed as a Steinzeugwerke offering, even if it closely resembles another stein that we know was sold through the consortium.