Ho, Ho, Ho! Merry Christmas from Santa, Schultz & Dooley
By
Steve Steigerwald
SCI Master Steinologist, member of the Burgermeister chapter
The Santa stein
produced by Gerz in Germany for the F.X. Matt Brewing Company, is one
of the favorite steins that I ever received as a gift. I do not own too
many post World War II pieces but the few that are in my collection are
all connected to some favorite memories. My wife tries her best each
year (and often succeeds) to add something interesting to my collection
as part of my Christmas gift. This piece was purchased by my wife at a
convention member’s auction that I did not attend because I did not see
anything in particular on which I wanted to place a bid. She paid cash
and snuck it into her luggage for the plane ride back. She knows my
affinity for Santa steins and she also knew that I have a particular
affection for the Utica Club Brewery (part of F.X. Matt Brewing
Company) from my college days.
Long ago, I remember heading up to Utica from college in an older
Chevrolet piloted by one of my longtime friends with 4 others in his
car to head for our regular Utica Club Brewery tour trip. It got to the
point where the company would have been well off hiring the six of us to
do the tour as we knew it as well or better than the actual guides. The
reason, of course, were the tickets we received for two free beers at
the end of the tour. Thereafter, we would go next door to the Rainbow
Room, a local tavern, to play foosball on a table that looked like it
was 100 years old while listening to music and enjoying a couple of
cold Maximus Supers. Of course we always had a designated driver
appointed to ensure we were able to safely negotiate our way
home.
The Santa stein pictured here is one of a long series of steins
manufactured for the F.X. Matt Brewing Company as part of its Schultz
and Dooley line of steins. Those steins were first made in 1959 and
additional editions were made by several manufacturers over the years.
These characters were based on the Utica Club beer advertisements that
were on television at the time. In 1973, other characters in the
television advertisement series were introduced as steins. Finally, in
1992 there were steins made depicting additional characters which were
not part of the original television advertisements. The Santa stein was
first produced in 1998. It is a relatively tall (almost 10”) ½ liter
character stein depicting Santa in his red and white outfit complete
with hat and red mittens. He is carrying a black sack containing four
items: a wrapped gift, a small Christmas tree with multicolor bulbs and
a pair of Schultz and Dooley steins. The base reads : First Edition; © WEBCO; Made in
Germany for FX Matt Brewing Co.; Utica NY. I do not know if there were
additional Editions of the stein produced but the Beer Stein Library
notes a price difference for the First versus subsequent editions.
Starting the day after Thanksgiving each year, the stein (together with
my other post World war II Christmas themed steins) makes its journey
from the stein cabinet it occupies most of the year down to the main
floor where it is proudly displayed with our other Christmas
decorations. Our relatives and friends that regularly visit during the
holidays know the story of this stein so well, I let them give the
rendition each year to anyone who has not heard it before.
For anyone that wants to gather further information on the Schultz and
Dooley series and the brewery, there are several very good articles
available for study. In addition to two articles that appear in the
Beer Stein Library
(
Schultz & Dooley et al., A Collector's Guide and
Schultz & Dooley Character Stein Catalog), I strongly recommend an
article written by John Manning and Dennis
Hunsicker that was
written for Steve on Steins.
Wishing everyone a
Very Happy Holiday Season!!! Prosit!!!
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