Beer in Pre-Prohibition USA: From a German Cultural Asset to an Americanized Mass Product? A 'Reinvention of Tradition and Consumption'

• Applicant: Jana Weiß, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Modern and Contemporary History ; African, American and Oceania Studies
• Term: from 2015 to 2016
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 273440193

By building upon studies in the field of (German-)American immigration and food studies, the project analyses the historical development of the marketing, consumption, and perception of beer in the U.S. from the beginning of the 19th century when German-style beers were first introduced until national prohibition in 1920 when the production, sale, and transport of alcohol over 0.5Vol.-% was legally banned. While British and Dutch brewing traditions had crossed the Atlantic in the 16th century and British-style ale in particular had become the dominant drink by the 1800s, German immigrants triggered the so-called 'lager beer revolution' in the middle of the 19th century and fundamentally changed America's drinking culture. Since then lager is one of the key cultural carriers of German immigrants in the U.S. and brewers became transcultural brokers representing and spreading the image of 'the' German beer drinking nation. Based on case studies of three regions (Midwest, East and West Coast) the project studies the cultural transfer of beer as a '(re)invention of tradition and consumption', i. e. as a differentiated geographical and socio-cultural exchange process between German, British, Dutch, Irish, and (later) Czech brewing traditions in the U.S. Overall, the project aims to trace back the marketing and consumption practices as expressions of reconstructed 'cultural identities' and to determine the form, role, and influence of brewers. I propose three hypotheses: (1) Beer became highly politicized as an emblem of a complex and constantly negotiated German-American identity, self- and other perceptions; (2) beer was increasingly marketed as a national, 'German' product in order to establish an overriding sense of group identity and a distinction to other ethnicities; (3) yet, it was increasingly marketed as suitable for all consumers beyond ethnicity, class, or gender through an idealized vision of the 'American Way of Gemütlichkeit' leaving the product actually void of anything 'German'. The focus is on three interrelated aspects: (1) product development and marketing in relation to pre-existing and newly emerging patterns of consumption; (2) the role of breweries/brewers as centripetal forces; (3) the effects of recurring anti-German propaganda, public health campaigns, and the temperance movement.

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships
• International Connection: USA
• Host: Professorin Cora Lee Kluge