Consumers Brewing Co.
Arlington Brewing Co.


Company Names, addresses, dates1:
  Consumers Brewing Co, Rosslyn VA (1895-1902)
  Consumers Brewing Co office, 517 9th street NW DC (1899-1901)
  Arlington Brewing Co, Rosslyn VA (1902-1918)
  Cherry Smash, Rosslyn VA (1920-ca.1950)
  Dixie Brewing Corp, Rosslyn VA (1934)

arlington_07
Brewery circa 1910-1926 (from Library of Congress)
Notes:
 The dates above came from a combination of American Breweries II2, DC City Directories1 and old articles in the Washington Post.

Consumers Brewing Co started in 1895 and built a brewery in Rosslyn VA. In 1902, due largely to the high cost of building the brewery, it went bankrupt. Then it re-opened as the Arlington Brewing Co. If you compare the bottles shown below it appears that some of the bottles were the exact same size, style and color - the only difference being the name change from "Consumers" to "Arlington".

After prohibition closed the brewery down, it was bought by John E. Fowler, who moved his Richmond based Cherry Smash soda company to Rosslyn. In 1933, Dixie Brewing Corporatin was formed, but it doesn't appear that the company lasted long enough to brew any beer, and the building went back to producing Cherry Smash. The Brewery building was torn down in 1958 to make way for the Key Bridge Motel & Hot Shoppes Restaurant, which is now the Key Bridge Mariott Hotel.

Bottles (Consumers Brewing Co):
consumers_05 book # 178
This is a 9.5" aqua blob-top (the only blob-top on this page), embossed:
diagonal: Consumers
below: Brewing Co. / ROSSLYN, VA.
back: EHE CO
consumers_01 book # 179
The bottle on the left is aqua and the one on the right is amber with a lady-leg shaped neck. Both are 9.5" crown tops embossed:
diagonal: Consumers
below: Brewing Co. / ROSSLYN, VA.
back: EHG CO
consumers_02 book # 179
This is a 9" aqua crown-top embossed:
diagonal: Consumers
below: ROSSLYN, VA.
 (the embossing was painted with water colors to make it stand out)
consumers3 book # 180
These bottles are the same except for the color (left is amber, right is aqua). They are 9.5" crown tops embossed:
round slugplate: CONSUMERS BREWING CO. / TRADE / CBCo / MARK / ROSSLYN VA.
below slugplate: REGISTERED
back: THIS BOTTLE / NOT TO BE SOLD
consumers_04 book # 181 / 182
Left is a 9.1" aqua crown, center is a 9.7" aqua crown, and right is a 9.5" amber lady-leg crown. They are all embossed the same:
oval slugplate: CONSUMERS BREWING CO. / TRADE / CBCo / MARK / ROSSLYN VA.
below slugplate: THIS BOTTLE / NOT TO BE SOLD
 The left bottle has a small glassmakers mark on the back:
back: S C Co



Bottles (Arlington Brewing Co):
arlington_01 book # 51
These are 9.5" lady-leg crown-tops, in 3 different shades of amber. They are embossed:
diagonal: Arlington
below: Brewing Co. / ROSSLYN, VA.
 The dark one with the painted letters is also embossed on the base:
base: MALT BEVERAGE
arlington_04 book # 51a
This is the same as the bottles above, except that it has a label:
label: ARLINGTON / Brewing / Company / Pale Amber / BOTTLED / AT / BREWERY / ROSSLYN, VA. / PHONE / WEST 129.
arlington_03 book # 51
These are 9.25" aqua plain-neck crown-tops. They're embossed the same, but I included the right one because the embossing is painted so it looks cool. They are both embossed:
diagonal: Arlington
below: Brewing Co. / ROSSLYN, VA.
arlington_02 book # 52
These are 9.5" light-amber lady-leg crown tops. The left bottle is embossed:
shoulder: ARLINGTON BREWING CO. / CAPACITY / 12 1/2 OZ /ROSSLYN, VA.
rear along the base: C. C. CO 931 A
The right bottle is embossed:
shoulder: ARLINGTON BREWING CO. / ROSSLYN, VA.
rear along the base: C. C. CO 931 A



Other Consumers/Arlington Brewery Items:
arlington_05 This is a 3" long metal bottle opener. It is engraved:
front: ARLINGTON BREWING CO / WIENER BEER / ROSSLYN, VA.
rear in small letters: PAT'D FEB 19, 1901 / M.C. ROSENFELD CO. BOSTON
arlington_06 This is another 3" long metal bottle opener, but it has different engraving from the one above. It says:
front: COMPLIMENTS OF / ARLINGTON BREW. CO / ROSSLYN, VA.
rear in small letters: PAT'D FEB 19, 1901 / M.C. ROSENFELD CO. BOSTON



1 Boyd's Directory for the District of Columbia (various years)
2 American Breweries II by Dale P. Van Wieren


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This page last updated on March 15, 2024.