Stein Collectors International
Featured Stein: August 2021

A Surprise Appearance!

By Sal Mazzone (Florida Sun Steiners)

My 1.5 Liter Fischer Bamberg
Reproduction Creussen Apostleskrug

In 2014 I picked up a 1.5 liter reproduction Creussen Apostleskrug. It carried on its base the mark of the Fischer/Bamberg Company, a company that made various ceramic wares, including a small production of beer steins in the 1950s. It's a nicely done and authentic looking piece and I'm pleased to have it in my collection.

As a part of my continuing education on all matters pertaining to steins, I recently decided to peruse previously published issues of Prosit starting with the earliest issue shown in the online SCI Prosit Cumulative Table of Contents and working my way backward - or should I say forward.

I immediately learned that Prosit was initially named Der Gemütlichkeit because "the German noun represents a togetherness of spirit that is hoped to be found in the club," and that Issue No.1 was published in September 1965. I further learned that the title was subsequently changed to Prosit four years later beginning with the September 1969 issue.

Featured in that first Prosit-named issue was a gentleman named Bill Schwartz. Bill had a collection of over 4,000 steins and had recently been awarded a plaque honoring him as the "Dean of Stein Collectors" at a special SCI banquet that had been held in his honor. The feature story described how and why he got into stein collecting and had many photos showing some of his extensive collection. Although these photos are only the proverbial tip of the iceberg that was Mr. Schwartz' collection, they are certainly enough to show that it was a very fine collection indeed and that Mr. Schwartz had some very old high-end museum-quality pieces in it.

But wait! What's that lurking in the middle of the photo snippet in the upper right hand corner of the montage? Let's take a closer look. (Click on the cabinet image for a larger view.)



There's no doubt about it - it's definitely a Fischer/Bamberg 1.5 liter reproduction Creussen Apostleskrug, a twin to the one I own if not the very same one! What a surprise.

So, I wonder: (a) Did Mr. Schwartz believe this to be an original Creussen or did he recognize it for what it was and simply felt that it looked good in his collection? (b) As unlikely as it may be, could this possibly be the very same stein that has since found its way into my collection?

Unfortunately my efforts to find answers to these questions hit a dead end. Nevertheless, it was fascinating to have found the stein in Mr. Schwartz' legendary collection.

And it just goes to show that you never know what might pop up if you just turn over enough rocks, or enough Prosit pages!

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