Consumer/Southern Brewing location now.<div> 
Consumer Brewing Company circa 1933</div>
What do you know about Consumer Brewing Company?
Long before the era of brew pubs, local breweries served a similar function. By providing their communities with a convenient source of beer, tavern owners and other customers were given an option from having to rely exclusively on larger commercial breweries.Throughout the summer of 1915, the area had a large influx of German sailors that ran into the thousands. The sailors were permitted abundant leave away from their ships and intermingled with the surrounding communities and all that the area had to offer.1 The captains and other officers were well known and very popular dinner guests with local politicians and government officials. The sailors turn into regular sight seers in downtown Norfolk, Portsmouth and at local beaches. Local businesses cherished the flood of revue in their business. Local breweries, such as Consumers Brewing Company, supplied the German ships with beer. The sailors soon opened Prinz Eitel Friedrich to tourists and even served beer and light German fare.2 Nevertheless, following the report of numerous crew and officers going Absent Without Official Leave( AWOL),the leave policy was tighten and the Germans were restricted to their vessels and the surrounding area of the Naval yard.3 You can put a fish in water and expect him not to drink. Consumer Brewing Company opened in 1896 and was closed in 1918 do to Virginia's self-imposed prohibition law. The first 22 years if it's existence, Consumers was the most successful brewery in the city Norfolk. The brewery did reopen immediately after the repeal of national prohibition in 1933.4 Consumers Brewing Company opened in 1896 and closed in 1918 it was open for 22 years. Items from breweries of this age tend to be more common and less valuable than some breweries. Early items can still be valuable as can rarer types of items. As a Pre-Prohibition Brewery, any advertising items or collectibles are likely to be valuable and desirable to collectors as they tend to be hard to find. Consumers Brewing Co. was located in Norfolk, VA, which only had 4 breweries, so there are not many that that were producing breweriana items.5 Local collectors may pay a small premium over national or general collectors because of a lack of local items. The address at 710 Washington Ave. Norfolk Virginia saw many tenants from 1896 until 1980 (Consumers Brewing Co. 1896-1918, Southern Breweries, Inc. 1934-1942, Jacob Ruppert-Virginia, Inc., dba Jacob Ruppert 1942-1953, Century Brewery Corp. 1953-1967, Banner Brewing Co. 1957-1967, Embassy Club Brewing Co.1956-1960, Grenay Brewing Co. 1959-1967, Monticello Brewery Co. 1955-1963, Red Fox Brewing Co. 1954-1960, Spearman Brewery Co.1964-1967, Tudor Brewing Co. 1961-1966, Tuxedo Brewing Co. 1958-1963, Champale Products Corp. 1967-1980) when the building was closed ,torn down and turn into a residential area.6
1 Bill Edwards-Bodmer, "The Little German Village in Portsmouth," Alt Daily, accessed December 01, 2014, http://altdaily.com/features/news/6974-the-little-german-village-in-ports.
4 Bill Edwards-Bodmer, "A Short History of Breweries in Norfolk," Alt Daily, accessed November 12,2014, http://www.altdaily.com/features/food/7291-a-short-history-of-breweries-in-norfolk
5 "Consumer Brewery Company," Bruce Mobley, accessed November 20, 2014, http://brucemobley.com/beerbottlelibrary/va/norfolk/consumers.htm
6 "Trade Names for the brewery at 710 Washington Ave., Norfolk, Virginia," Tavern Trove, accussed November 20, 2014, http://www.taverntrove.com/brewery.php?BreweryId=1301
