Kroll's Latest Gift For Wisconsin Collectors by Steven R. Libbey
Wayne Kroll reasserts his super hero status for Wisconsin beer bottle collectors and brewery aficionados
.jpg)
How quickly does hunting for and collecting artifacts evolve into a love for the history that makes the items more than just shiny/colorful knickknacks? Wisconsin’s Frontier Farm Breweries is for all of us who have reached that point in collecting.
Wayne Kroll begins this book by defining what a Farm Brewery was. He rolls quickly into synapses of what it was to be European settler in rural Wisconsin when Wisconsin truly was on the edge of the known world. Sure people stare and wonder how the Druids built Stonehenge or how the Egyptians built the pyramids. They were great societies with tens of thousands of slave laborers. More impressive from the perspective of our beloved author would be a small group or family of German immigrants scouring the wilderness to find just the right artesian water supply, digging and stone lining of cavernous hill side caves for refrigeration and the mining of ice from frozen lakes by hand. According to the author these Frontier Brewers were some of our states most hearty and industrial pioneers.
Kroll follows the defining pages by charting early Wisconsin brewers by county as best he could. Kroll makes a disclaimer that this charting is by no means complete. From our experience with Kroll’s accuracy in Badger Breweries Past and Present I think it’s safe to say he probably documented every one there was. (Except for PH. ECKHART in his hometown)
Kroll goes on to detail market factors including taxation and competition with the larger city breweries that put tremendous strain on the Frontier Brewers.
When it comes to bottles and their history I LOVE to see what I’m reading or thinking about. Kroll hits a grand slam home run in this regard! Pictures of early beer tax stamps to early photos of breweries to early lithographs of the brewery sites to new images of Kroll and his merry band of explorers in the actual 150+ year old brew caves are everywhere. The imagery is incredible. Just to see these beer caves is worth the pittance Kroll charges for his latest masterwork alone! Each image is paired with a historical blurb documenting the significance.
Kroll’s grand finally is a detailed Walk through of one early Wisconsin brewing family’s history. Kroll documents the processes the Beck family used to build and maintain their farm brewery from settling in rural Waterford in 1867 to their forced end of production in 1920 at the hand of prohibition. The Beck history gives the reader a clear view of the process including formulas, engineering and architecture that Frontier Farm Breweries counted on for success.
Wisconsin’s Frontier Farm Breweries 1830's - 1880's is both educational and entertaining. While it took Kroll 27 years after publishing Badger Breweries Past and Present to get this book done it was worth the wait. Still, only 47 pages? My goodness that’s just two pages a year since the last book! Sure it’s two more pages of book than all but a select few Wisconsin collectors have written in that time. It just seems a bit light! On the inside front cover Kroll indicates this is but a prequel to a more substantial two-volume history of all Wisconsin breweries. For the time being we will have to hold off on the picketing of Wayne’s house and accept the slight stature of this invaluable information pact historically significant documentation with a smile.
Thanks Mr. Kroll.
For your copy please contact Wayne Kroll W3016 Green Isle Dr. Fort Atkinson, Wi 53538 262-593-2338 Kroll@centurytel.net
