Valentin Blatz - Brewer; born on October 1, 1826 in Miltenberg, Bavaria, immigrated to America in 1848 and moved to Milwaukee in 1849.
Blatz established a brewery next to Johann Braun's City Brewery in 1850 and merged both breweries upon Braun's death in 1852. He also married Braun's widow.
The brewery produced Milwaukee's first individually bottled beer in 1874. It incorporated as the Valentin Blatz Brewing Company in 1889 and by the 1900s was the city's third largest brewer.
Above: Wisconsinites from From Blatz Beer's "I lived in Milwaukee, I ought to know" series. (click on an image to go to the page about the Wisconsinite featured in the ad.)
For more information on Valentin Blatz, visit Wikipedia.
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Valentin Blatz
Brewer
Above: Valentin Blatz (1877 portrait).
Above: Building detail from the Valentin Blatz Brewing Company Complex in downtown Milwaukee. Photo licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported.
Above: Valentin Blatz residence in Milwaukee.
Above: Vintage Blatz advertisement.
Above: Blatz Beer commercial with Bert Lahr (the Cowardly Lion).
Above: 1960's Blatz Beer commercial with Bottleman, Canman, and Kegman.