Banner Brewing / Henry Bush


Company Names, addresses, dates1:
  Banner Brewing Co, 421 10TH Street NW, Washington DC (1892-1897)

Notes:
 According to American Breweries II by Dale P. Van Wierin, the Banner Brewing Company was in Cincinnati Ohio from 1888-1897.2
This website is about the Washington DC branch of the that company.

As shown in the embossing on the bottle below, the Manager of the DC branch was Henry Bush (1861-1900)3.
Henry and his brothers were in the bottling and saloon business.
Henry Bush shows up in DC city directories as follows:
  Henry R. Bush, 424 10th NW, Washington DC (1888) [bottler]
  Henry R. Bush, 425 10th NW, Washington DC (1889-1890) [bottler]
  Henry R. Bush, 421 10th NW, Washington DC (1891-1898) [saloon owner]
But during some of the years that Henry was listed as a saloon owner, he was also listed as the manager of the Banner Brewing Company, at the same address as his saloon (421 10th Street NW).1

The earliest mention I found of the Banner Brewing Company in DC was a newspaper mention in May of 1887, which said it was located near the B&O Depot.4
The earliest mention of Bush being the manager of Banner Brewing was in 1892, which is also the year the company first shows up in the DC City Directories. That newspaper said that George Samuel had charge of the business before Bush.5

Henry Bush had a tough life. In May of 1894, Henry became violently insane, and had to be arrested. He had the desire to go back to New York, where 2 weeks earlier he had purchased some diamonds then gave them away to people on the street, and when his wife argued against him going, he "lost all reason".6
Henry's brothers petitioned to have Henry declared insane,7 and the court agreed. George Everett succeeded Henry's position at that time, so George likely ran the business from that time on.8

There is also a beer bottle from Henry Bush (with no mention of the Banner Brewery) listed in the club book.

Bottles:
banner_01 book # (unlisted)
This is a 9" aqua blob top bottle embossed:
front: THE BANNER BREWING CO. / CINCINNATI BEER / (picture of soldier holding an American flag) / HENRY BUSH, MAN'G. / 421-10TH ST. N.W. / WASHINGTON, D.C. / REGISTERED


1 Boyd's Directory for the District of Columbia (various years)
2 American Breweries II by Dale P. Van Wieren, p.266
3 Washington Post, 6-Mar-1900, p.3 (Henry Bush Obituary)
4 Evening Star, 2-May-1887, p.3 (mention of Banner Brewing Co)
5 Evening Star, 22-Feb-1892, p.8 (article: "Held for the Grand Jury")
6 Washington Post, 4-May-1894, p.2 (article: "A Saloon-Keeper Insane")
7 Washington Post, 17-June-1894, p.5 (article: "Henry Bush's Mental Condition")
8 Washington Post, 22-June-1894, p.8 (article: "Bush Proven Insane")


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This page last updated on January 19, 2026.