JACKSON, MI - Jackson has a reputation as a working man's town, and, well, beer is a working man's drink.
It only makes sense that this city would have in its history breweries that turned out barrels and bottles of the frothy beverage to saloons and stores.
By the turn of the 20th century, Jackson had 13 breweries crafting their own recipes for regional distribution, much like the microbreweries of today.
But two of them are known as the kings - Haehnle Brewing Co. and Eberle Brewing Co. Only Eberle survived into the 1960s, and it did so by producing soft drinks, not beer.
At 23, in 1882, Carl G. Eberle came to Jackson from Bavaria. As a boy of 14, he had been apprenticed to a brewer and worked as one himself in his German homeland before coming to America.
In Jackson, Eberle sought a similar job and found one with Casper "Cap" Haehnle Jr. at Haehnle Brewing Co. But, after four years, he was ready to strike out on his own.
In 1886, Eberle purchased the Jackson Brewery at 901 Water St., at the corner of Bridge Street, from Gottlieb Frye and replaced the old building with a new modern four-story brick structure in 1891.
Kegs of beer ready for distribution in front of Jackson's Eberle Brewing Co. plant at 901 Water St. (Courtesy Ella Sharp Museum)
It was a daily event in the late 1800s and early 1900s to see draymen and teamsters guiding horse-drawn wagons stacked high with kegs of beer making stops at up to 75 local saloons to deliver whole kegs, half kegs and quarter kegs of fresh beer.
Eberle produced eight kinds of traditional and seasonal beer under such names as Club Ale, Jackson Beer, Goldschaum Premium Beer and its most popular - Blue Star Beer, which was shipped all over the state.
In 1896, though, Eberle branched out, creating seven soft drink flavors to supplement the business. It was a wise choice, as Prohibition, which made the commercial production and sale of alcoholic beverages illegal, became law in 1919.
Eberle Brewing Co. survived Prohibition by changing its name to Eberle Beverage Co. and bottling and selling these soft drinks, including Imitation Orangeade, Sweet Sixteen and the very popular Frostie root beer.
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However, it's the company's non-carbonated Delaware Punch soft drink that perhaps holds the sweetest memories for many.
Named for the grape from which its flavor is derived, Delaware Punch was invented in 1913 in Texas by Thomas E. Lyons. It has been described as tasting like grapes drenched in sugar and looking like the color of Merlot wine.
Eberle was the only Jackson-area company bottling the beverage for decades.
In 1927, Carl G. Eberle died of a heart attack at age 68. His sons, Carl F. and Erwin A. Eberle took over the business.
The company celebrated the repeal of Prohibition in 1933 by bringing back only its Blue Star Beer, and quickly was producing 243 barrels a day. A year later, it purchased a new automatic bottling machine to relieve workers from bottling and capping all that beer by hand.
The new $40,000 machine increased productivity and Blue Star Beer once again was being handled by distributors throughout the state in such places as Benton Harbor, Three Rivers, Kalamazoo, Holland Grand Rapids, Muskegon, Lansing, Flint, Mount Clemons, Ann Arbor, Monroe and Detroit.
In 1941, under the leadership of Carl F. Eberle and his son Carl G. Eberle, the company changed its name to Eberle Bottling Co., and decided to stop producing beer altogether and focus solely on soft drinks.
Again, it was a wise choice, because by the end of World War II, giant national brands like Miller and Budweiser were beginning to kill smaller breweries.
Eberle Bottling Co. remained in the family for 78 years until it was sold in 1964 to Edward Schweda, Bruce Dake and Gordon J. Haach.
The new owners sold the old building at 901 Water St. to Walker Manufacturing and moved into the former Southern Michigan News Co. building at 624 Hupp Ave.
The Water Street building was razed by Walker to create a parking lot. And Eberle Bottling Co. closed its doors a year later, ending Jackson's contribution in the brewing industry.
Tidbits
* Delaware Punch was the only soft drink served at Jackson's Regent Cafe.
* The Delaware Punch brand currently is owned by The Coca Cola Company. It was last bottled in Jackson in 1964, but is still available on the Internet and in some parts of the South.
* Typically, Jackson saloons, such as Old Heidelberg Inn at Francis and Rockwell streets, bought barrels of beer from the Haehnle or Eberle breweries and bottled it for customer take-out. The bottles were returned over and over, usually in wooden cases.
* Alcoholic beverages were promoted as medicinal through the 19th century and into the 20th century. Eberle Brewing Co.'s most popular brew, Blue Star, was advertised as "The Beer Without a Headache."