Typography Tipsy Tuesday: Beer labels

Having recovered from this weekend’s Reading beer festival I thought I’d take this opportunity to take a closer look at our collection of beer labels.

Initially beer bottles were unmarked, drinkers would bring their own to fill at the brewers. Tax duties on beer and glass were repealed in the 1830s, which enabled brewers to bottle their own beer. At first makers marked their bottles with wax seals over the corks, soon replaced by a foil cap. Printed labels first appeared in the 1840s as the trade of bottled beer increased. These early labels were small and simply printed in a single colour on white paper, as demonstrated by the Guinness labels above. With the invention of the screw top, a stopper label was also introduced. This was particularly important as the Intoxicating Liquors Act 1901 made it illegal to sell unsealed bottles to children. These were soon phased out and large oval labels became the focus. Automatic labeling machines then saw many labels become straight edged. By the end of the 20th century the labels were required to detail the content, ingredients, metric measure and dating. Our collection sees a range of colourful designs…is anyone else feeling thirsty?

For any enquiries relating to the collections at Typography and Graphic Communication or if you would like to arrange a visit please contact Laura Weill (l.weill@reading.ac.uk), Collections Administration Assistant.