M&B Stock No. 43 "John Mitchell"

From a design perspective, this stock design harkens back to much earlier M&B standards like the drape rim; the wide, segments border; and the photograph like black and white monotone of the unattributed McKinley and Bryan trays (assumed to have been created for the 1900 election). It would seem that this tray was created and should have appeared earlier in the catalogue sequence; somewhere in the No. 14 to No. 31 range. Also, it seems odd given that the brewers, who by this time were emerging as the main customer for trays, were having their own challenges with labor unions as documented in Hermann Schluter’s The Brewing Industry and the Brewery Workers’ Movement in American, 1910. In fact, M&B had recently had its own challenges with labor organization efforts. So, who exactly was this design supposed to appeal to since stock trays were theoretically meant for a broad spectrum of buyers? The sole advertising example we have is from a clothing retailer in Wellston, OH which was located in the midst of coal and iron reserves, so one assumes the store would have had a sizeable customer base of miners and this design would make sense as a premium.

The last design represented in an M&B catalogue or price list is No. 42 (Falstaff), but J.F. Meek did reference this design in his 1903 interview with Printer’s Ink, “…we produce excellent likenesses of, for instance, President McKinley, John Mitchell, Pope Leo, or idealistic art designs.”

Shape & Rim & Ad Text
The only example of this design that we have seen is in oval tray form with the low pie shaped rim and rolled edge. It has a red drape rim harkening back to designs No. 31 and earlier and includes “picture” panels at 3 and 9 o’clock, another throwback element. The windows depict a miner outside mining facility (9 o’clock) and woman holding a baby outside with a homestead in the background (3 o’clock). It also features the broad segmented yellow border seen primarily on M&B trays No. 14 to No. 31 (as well as later-issued versions of early trays like No. 1). We do note that a union bug (LIP&BA—a lithography and printing union) appears in the yellow band surrounding the image on this tray, one of only a few trays to carry it.

For our one example, the advertising text appears on the back of the tray. However, this is the first tray to sport a “title” on the tray itself; in this case “Mr. John Mitchell” appears in relatively small text on the rim at the 6 o’clock position.

Hager & Price
This design is neither discussed nor included in Hager’s catalog. The one example we’ve encountered for Wellston Clothing was in slightly better than good condition and sold for slightly more than typical non-brewery stock images of the era. Given the unlikelihood of this design appealing to brewers, we’d anticipate any example that shows up to go for a hefty price.

General
No. 43 presents something of a mystery both in terms of content and design. Tuscarora and Standard, as well as Shonk, had previously done trays with politicians (McKinley and Bryan), but who is this John Mitchell guy? Turns out that Mitchell was President of the United Mine Workers of America and had come to prominence in 1900 and again in 1902 for his role in negotiating a resolution to large-scale coal mining strikes. Among other things he secured an 8-hour work day for miners. He was instrumental in centralizing the power of the UMWA at the national level; previously it had been distributed among the various regional districts. This made the UMWA more powerful and for the first time the US Government recognized the legitimacy of a union to negotiate on behalf of workers. Mitchell remained president of the UMWA until 1908 when he “stepped down”; it appears more likely that he was forced out because he was viewed as too accommodating to management and did not aggressively push the more progressive demands of the more socialist elements of the union.