That is NOT a Baseball Card: Anchor Steam PCL Postcards

It's time to start yet another fun (?) feature here at TCIC. As I travel, I try to find interesting tchotchkes, both related to baseball and the cultural and historical sites I visit along the way. I'll try to keep it to baseball only, unless I have something really cool. Let's get started, shall we?

If you live in America and don't know what Anchor Steam is, you can't claim to know anything about beer. You don't have to like it, and you don't have to have ever tried it, but Anchor Steam is the beer that started the entire modern craft beer and microbrewery movement. The company can be traced back to the gold rush,  but its modern microbrewery roots began in 1971.

Anchor Brewing continues to be a San Francisco staple. Tours given by actual working employees fill weeks in advance, and offer a great sampling of their products. As a marketing/souvenir move, Anchor made a few tobacco-style card mock-ups featuring San Francisco Seals players with the Anchor logo. This is a postcard of Carl Zamlock, the image taken from the 1911 Obak tobacco issue. There are other mock-ups, but they weren't available in postcard form. I have the set of drink coasters (9 different - a future post), and there are beer tackers (signs) available for at least three of the cards.

If you're a beer fan and you travel to San Francisco, Anchor Brewing is a must-go location. Just remember to make reservations as early as possible for the tour. While you're there, be sure to either arrive early or stay late to look around the waiting room/bar. The display case has some old tobacco cards, and there are several interesting brewerania items to be found.