Ledgers from the Griesedieck family brewery in St. Louis dating from 1897-1919

[krickard]

In my parents basement I have come across a old briefcase full of ledgers from the Griesedieck family who owned and operated a brewery in St. Louis in the late 1800's and into the mid 1900's. Are these of any value? what type of collector would be interested in purchasing these? Thank you for your time.

[waywardangler]

Yes, yes, yes, they have value and do not toss them out!  Breweriana collectors and historians would drool over this find especially if there are any associated graphics on the papers.  I am sure there are many collectors in the the St. Louis area and nationwide that collect Griesedieck Brewery memorabilia.  I just Googled it and the brewery is still active (revived in 1992).  Have you contacted the owners about your historical find?  They may be very interested.  Putting the papers on an eBay auction may generate the most $$$.

[KC]

Totally agree with Wayward!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griesedieck_Brothers_beer

Family descendant Raymond A. Griesedieck, son of Henry A. Griesedieck (the last president of the original Griesedieck Brothers), incorporated the new Griesedieck Brothers Brewery Company in 1992. By 2002, Griesedieck Brothers Beer re-emerged in the St. Louis beer market.
Raymond A. Griesedieck owns the GB shield and Griesedieck Bros. trademarks. Griesedieck Brothers Brewery has provided to various local establishments in the St. Louis area since 2002.
The original Griesedieck Beer was a classic American lager. The current incarnation is a Golden Pilsener (a German pilsener beer).

The family might be interested in this if this is original papers!!!  Wonder how your folks acquired them?!

[krickard]

My mother loved buying old books, yearbooks, and postcards from garage sales. While looking at these today it looks like these ledgers are from some sort of a general store. Maybe they owned a store prior to their brewery? Very interesting though to me. Maybe I can somehow get in touch with them to see if they would be interested.

[talesofthesevenseas]

I like your way of thinking. Ideally it would be neat to see the history stay with the company or the family that started the business. Hopefully that will pan out!

[KC]

I would try as well.

Here's their site:
http://www.gb-beer.com/Welcome.html
Contact info on their site:
We’re working out some kinks in our contact form.  In the meantime, you can call or fax us at 314-966-6061.

[krickard]

Thanks so much, I'll call them tomorrow 

[KC]

We are pretty curious here and would like to know what you end up finding out!

[krickard]

Hi, I wanted to update everyone. I spoke with Ray Griesedieck today about the ledgers, he said he is very interested. We will be meeting thurs. at Bread Co. so that he can take a look at them. Does anyone have any advice on what I should try to get for these??? I have no clue! Also, I feel guilty trying to sell something to someone that belonged to his family in the first place. Doesn't that seem wrong? Maybe I should just offer to give them to him. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[syl]

If you really play your cards right he might pay you off in beer!! WooHoo!!!

[regularjoe2]

I think you could ask the family member(s) , without any great embarassment , if he/they thought a 'finders fee' would be appropriate , since you did find both 'items' (owners & ledgers) .

In so asking , you'd lay the decision at their feet , without having to come up with some figure yourself .

This , of course depends on your sentiments towards the questions you pose .

I'd check the books , looking for purchases of beer-making mat'ls & quantities of same ... I say this because such data may be worth a bit more ( commercially ) , if it relates directly to any/all beer recipes the former/original brewers used .


All in all , syls' idea has much more merit ( providing you like their beer ) !

[hosman321]

I'm half and half on the money part. One one hand, it would be very polite and noble to offer to give them back to the family for free. Maybe you could keep a couple for yourself to sell, so at least you get some money for them. It wouldn't be fair for you to be empty handed.

On the other hand, part of me feels that just because you found something that belonged to a family long ago, doesn't necessarily mean they have a "right" to get it for free. Quite frankly, all of us have items that belonged to a family long ago, they cherished these items and these items also have some good value now. That doesn't mean they have a right to it forever. If somebody brought something to me that my family owned a century ago and they offered it to me for free, I'd feel obligated to give them something for their generousity. I guess it's all up to you, I think there's no wrong way or a right way to go about it!

[waywardangler]

Yea, I am with syl and regjoe on this...if you like their beer (and you like beer), maybe a free lifetime pass to their bier stube (if they have one) or so much beer a month for a few years.  You could enjoy those ledgers with every sip!

[krickard]

Ha, unfortunately I'm a Budweiser girl! My sister thinks I should take no less than $100 (but she's getting half ) Does $100 seem fair? You guys have been a lot of fun and a great help. My mom has a house FULL of antiques, so I may be back for more advice. Thanks so much!

[waywardangler]

Too bad on the Bud, I like Spotted Cow myself but that is a local Wisconsin beer.  For a Bud product, I am partial to Michelob AmberBock.    Anyway, $100 is more than $0, which is what you have now.  Without seeing the ledgers and what info may be in them, it may or may not be a good price.  You could see what Ray G. thinks of them and if he is real interested let him make the first offer.  If it is lower, you can always counter with the $100 and say this is what "my sister and I would like to sell them for" spiel.  With most deals there is a fair amount of haggling back and forth until the deal is actually done.  Good luck.