Stein
Collectors International, Inc.
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The Bud Man
Quartet ~
by Jerry Berg
Photos provided by Jerry Berg and the ultimate Bud Man collector, Bill
Parkinson |
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Note: The photos in this article are
"clickable" to view larger versions.
Back in 1969, the marketing/advertising geniuses at Anheuser-Busch
introduced a character that was destined to become perhaps the most
recognizable symbol of Budweiser in the history of the brand. I’m
referring, of
course, to that "Dauntless Defender of Quality" --- Bud Man. He quickly
became
the official mascot of Budweiser and has been used in such varied
promotional products as display signs, key chains, inflatable figures,
salt &
pepper sets, shirts, hats, belt buckles, even costumes. Some six years
later
the marketing people realized that he would be a natural as a character
stein - and that brings us to 1975.
Although Anheuser-Busch had been issuing steins and mugs since 1894
(two
steins by Villeroy & Boch) there was no comprehensive list of the
steins. It
was in the year 1975 that they finally instituted a cataloging system
for their
future stein introductions by using a letter-number combination to both
categorize the stein/mug and indicate its order of introduction. The
first stein
issued under this new system was also their first character stein, Bud
Man, and
was given the series number CS-1 (Collectibles Series Number 1). Other
letters
have been assigned for other categories of Anheuser-Busch steins: SO
(Special
Order), N (Novelty), CB (Collectors Club), GM (Gerz Meisterwerke), GL
(Gerz
Collectorwerke) and GZ (Gerz Old World Gallery).
1975 CS-1 - Bud Man Makes His Debut
Two of the major variations of CS1
Bud Man are
the knotted and the unknotted bow tie. |
The first Bud
Man stein
was introduced with a retail price of $5.95 and was made by the firm of
Ceramarte of Brazil. It is 7 ½" high and is known to have been produced
in
at least 13 variations. Contributing to the variations are 3
thumb-rests, 2
hinge types, two head types (solid or hollow), 3 basemark variations, 2
body
types, and color variations. The red colors vary from bright to light,
and
sometimes even orange, while the blues range from a rich, dark blue to
a light,
faded denim shade. The skin tone varies from a cream color to a dark
tan. Among
the hollow head steins, some have a plastic plug inside the head (at
the back of
the nose), while others have none. Different styles of the painted eyes
are
known, and variations on the body include a knotted bow tie as well as
an
unknotted version. Also, some of the early production runs did not have
the
Registered Mark (®) following "Bud Man." Generally, these differences
are attributed to hand production methods and technological
improvements
introduced during production. However, I have also read that Budweiser
had
numerous prototypes under evaluation and may have inadvertently
approved
multiple versions for production. Even with its multitude of looks,
CS-1 is easy
to recognize. He wears no belt, sports a tan colored bow tie, and the
lid opens
where his mouth is located. The stein was produced in an "open"
edition and the exact number produced is unknown.
1989 CS-100 - A Bud Man Update
The second version of the Bud Man Stein was introduced in 1989. In the
14 years
since the original, he really didn’t change that much. He was still a
rotund
little fellow, although at 8" he had grown a little. He took to wearing
a
yellow belt, and now favored a red no-knot bow tie with Budweiser
written across
it. His uniform gained the word "genuine" on the sleeve and he changed
from blue to red shoes. The most noticeable difference was that the lid
was now
formed from his entire head, with the stein opening at his shoulder
line. Again
the stein was produced by Ceramarte of Brazil and was issued in an
"open" edition. At a retail price of $29.95 he had been seriously
impacted by inflation, but was still popularly priced. The June 1991
Prosit
(the SCI quarterly magazine for Stein Collectors) contains a wonderful
article
by Les Hopper featuring the first two Bud Man steins. In that article
he goes
into much more depth than I can here.
1993 CS-213 - Bud Man, Dude!
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In the span of only 4 years, quite a bit changed. The Anheuser-Busch
Collectibles Series of steins went from number 100 all the way up to
number 213.
While indicative of the increased popularity of stein collecting in
general,
this also demonstrates the very strong following claimed by
Anheuser-Busch in
our hobby. There were quite a few changes in Bud Man during those 4
years also.
He must have gone on a diet and started hanging out at the gym, because
all of a
sudden our round little fellow developed quite the buff bod. His waist
was slim
and trim, he developed arms with muscular definition, and he acquired
some
designer sunglasses. In a word, the Bud Man became hip. The newest
edition from
Ceramarte was a totally different Bud Man. He no longer wore a bow tie,
of any
color. His arms were out, away from his body. One arm was extended and
holding
forth a can of Budweiser and the other arm was cocked with his fist
against his
waist. The stein was the same 8" in height as the previous version, but
it
ended slightly below his waist rather than including his shoes, giving
him a
long-torso appearance. Once again Anheuser-Busch issued the stein in an
"open" quantity edition. With a suggested retail price of $45.00, this
was a lot of stein for the money.
1999 CS-401 - Bud Man Turns 30
Six years have passed and the impact of Anheuser-Busch on stein
collecting
continues to grow. Their Collectibles Series continues to add steins at
a
breakneck speed. In a world of such rapid growth and instant change, it
is a
pleasure to report that Bud Man has returned to his roots. Gone are the
sculpted
waist, the bulging biceps, and the expensive designer shades. As most
of us can
attest, diets don’t work and people who hang out in gyms are just weird
showoffs. We have back our beer-belly bodied Bud Man! In honor of the 30
th
year since the inception of the Bud Man Mascot, the newest version of
the Bud
Man stein has elements from his previous incarnations. He once again
has a mouth
that opens with the lid. He again wears no belt and is back to his blue
shoes.
He now sports the red bow tie with "Budweiser" written across it and
has misplaced his sunglasses, exposing those eerie Bud Man eyes. He has
a banner
on his ample body explaining that he is the 30
th Anniversary
Bud Man.
And, as most of us who have ever fallen off a diet can relate to, he
has come
back bigger than ever. The newest Bud Man stands almost 10" tall and
has
gained admirable girth. Unlike the previous Bud Man steins, he was
issued in a
limited edition of less than 25,000 steins and at an issue price of
$100.00 he
is by far the most expensive entry in the Bud Man series.
Some other interesting and related observations (in no particular
order)
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- In his 1991 Prosit article, Les Hopper predicted that
Anheuser-Busch would
someday issue a Spuds MacKenzie stein. Almost 10 years later they took
his
advice and issued CS 455. I understand Les is getting a hefty royalty
from every
Spuds stein sold.
- Ceramarte has grown to become the largest stein producer in the
world. They
now employ an unimaginable 1500 production workers at their Rio
Nigrinho, Brazil
facility.
- Although Brewery mugs and steins have been around almost as long
as there
have been breweries, brewery sponsored Character Steins are seen much
less
frequently. Among American breweries, the first to create brewery
characters was
Utica Club in 1959 (Schultz & Dooley) followed by Budweiser in
1975. Other
American breweries that have issued character steins include Corona,
Miller, Titletown, Neuweiler,
Hamm’s, and Leinenkugel.
- If you had purchased 2500 Bud Man steins in 1975 and stored them,
that
$15,000 investment would be worth almost $1,000,000 today. I wish I
could
remember where I stored mine.
- The term "Open" Edition infers a production quantity planned
above
50,000. The actual quantity produced may have been less.
- Last, but certainly not least, thanks
must be
given to Bill Parkinson who supplied the photos of CS1, the original
Bud Man
stein. Bill has made it a personal quest to own every single variation
of Bud
Man known to exist. His collection of the original 1975 Bud Man steins
now
includes 14 different versions. Yes, 14... one more than Anheuser-Busch
has
acknowledged. Anyone want to start a pool on how many versions Bill
will
eventually find?