M&B Stock No. 133 "Congratulations"

General
For some time, we thought this design was not stock since every example we saw was from John Wieland Brewing of San Francisco and the ones that we saw in person never had a stock number on them. However, we always harbored the suspicion that there was a possibility it was stock. We finally encountered a version from E. Porter Brewing of Joliet, IL confirming that this was indeed a stock design; however, it did not attract much interest aside from Wieland as over the years we’ve only seen a couple from E. Porter Brewing, a couple from Echo Springs Whiskey and solitary examples from Tenn-Cola, J.L. Caldwell Bicycles, and a stock sample. Hence our bifurcated scarcity rating; examples from John Wieland Brewing are fairly common, while other examples are far and few in between.

The lady is obviously formally addressed for some occasion from her careful hairstyle to her dress and most notably her formal gloves. In the modern era, it’s hard to think of gloves as anything other than a cold-weather accessory. But throughout most of history, gloves had a significant role in society. More than just an accessory, gloves were a symbol of social status, customs, and traditions. While some strict, Victorian ideals had disappeared from society during the Edwardian era, gloves were still a popular fashion accessory especially for women in middle and upper-class society. Proper women often wore gloves to social events as it appears the woman in this design has or is about to attend. In the evenings, Edwardian women wore lavish gloves made of silk, suede, or leather. More formal in design, these evening gloves often extended all the way to a woman’s bicep such as they do in this design.

In addition to the note of congratulations, she’s received a bouquet of yellow roses which traditionally are meant to bring joy and cheer to loved ones and typically symbolize friendship. Interestingly yellow roses weren’t discovered by Europeans until the 18th century when they were found in Afghanistan and Southeast Asia. Exactly what the congratulations are for is unclear.

What may be clearer is who the congratulations are from. There is a companion tray <insert image here> also produced by American Art Works (and their west coast affiliate, Bachrach & Co) with a somewhat similar looking young woman (sister, cousin) reading a letter that we’ve only seen from John Wieland Brewery. One can imagine there has been an exchange regarding news of an engagement and a note of congratulations. This companion design appears as both a small rectangular tray and a square self-framed-tin sign neither of which bear a stock number or copyright date.

Sahling does not have an entry for this design, and we have not encountered an example with an artist’s signature.

Size, Shape & Message Placement
Every example of this design that we’ve seen is a small rectangle (10.5 x 13.5) with a woodgrain rim and gold advertising text. The Wieland examples have a red W crest printed on the face of the tray.

Hager & Price
Hager does not discuss this design, but does include it in his date of introduction table (1913) and his catalog (which interestingly does not seem to be a Wieland’s example). Even very good to excellent examples of Wieland don’t get beyond low triple figures, perhaps because they are so ubiquitous. Even an excellent E. Porter Brewing example didn’t do any better. The few Echo Springs examples we’ve seen have been in average condition and only reached upper double figures.