Grain Belt Heaven
1903 Calendar Girl
You have found Grain Belt Heaven!
This site has 3 purposes:
1) To share stories about Grain Belt Beer! My stories start when I got into the beer business in about 1968.
2) To highlight and show off cool old Grain Belt Beer advertising. Most of it I am proud to own, but some is just a photo on loan from a fellow collector who was nice enough to share his slice of heaven.
3) To sell off my tons of duplicate pieces. Yes, tons. According to my wife, this should have been #1. I will post the item and the price here before putting it on an auction or other selling site. Find the items somewhat categorized, like Paper Items, Signs/Lighted, Prints, or Glassware, each having its own page or section.
Feel free to ask what I have! It will take a year for me to dig through the boxes and get it all listed. I came upon all this stuff by buying big lots back in the early 1970s. A lot of it came from making "runs" to faraway places and if they had a box of it, I'd buy the whole box. Now I need to get down to just ONE of everything.
This is a free DIY site, and I chose a template that has lots of photo space. It is currently populated with pics of good-looking women since it was a FASHION template, purely coincidental. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. Pay no attention to these good-looking women photos, as I will soon replace them with much prettier GB beer photos. No, the site does not have spellcheck.
UPDATE, 11/1/2020: The content on this site will be slowly moving toward fewer items I have for sale, to more INFO on Grain Belt Beer, an THAT is free! In the last few years, I'm finding less time to maintain a website, and the likes of eBay, Marketplace, and now Facebook Groups makes these venues much more efficient for selling. I have been writing what I know for decades, based on my time working for my Dad in Brainerd, Minn. from 1968-1978. He came here from Des Moines in 1955 as a distributor there, lost his shirt as he stated, then came to Brainerd...the right place at the right time! Don't pay too much attention to the For Sale department...I need to go in and update it. But DO LMK what you might need! In time, not much will be for sale here. I will replace that with info on the item, about when it came out or the problems we had with them and how got around that problem. For instance, how we stopped that annoying growl in the 1970s Fountain Sign.
Check out the RESEARCH page for a start. Have a question? LMK what kind of stuff you like and I may have some duplicates left. Give me a holler!
Here are some items I have that are not listed on the site yet. If you're interested, send me a note and I'll put them up with photos!
NIB=New In Box. The original packaging, maybe a bag or a box, is intact.
NOS=New Old Stock. If you like the more minty stuff, I have gobs of NOS...trays, cardboard, coin mats, glassware, menu inserts, and covers, most ca. 1969-70. Keep in mind that NOS does NOT necessarily mean mint! I had a box of the large red coin mats complete with the onion skin paper dividers. Well, guess what, the red from the upper one's bottom bled into the white one from the one below. Brand new, never been out of the box, but tainted nonetheless.
RPOG=Reverse Paint On Glass (mirror signs)
-CASES: I have at least 3 available, one being an unusual 12/32 oz, 1960s vintage. Find them under Paper & Cardboard items.
-GBX: Lots of glasses and trinkets, stickers.
-Labels: If you like labels, I have dozens! These came from a wooden beer barrel in the brewery, basement I think, in the early '70s..
-Matchbooks and cases: These are the little white boxes looking like a case of beer, that fold up to hold matchbooks. $5, case only.
-Mugs: Many varieties, lots of Amber Mugs by Siesta Ware!
-Patches: Some new, and others used from old Unitiog GB shirts.
-Stickers: 3M reflectorized for snowmobiles and helmets. $5 for large, $1 for small.
-What are you looking for?
NEW ARRIVALS!
2016/1/3: Stanley & Albert inserts for both versions of the easel. Look under Signs, Unlighted. NOS!
2016/1/11: Foil Over Cardboard can; repack corrugated cardboard 12 pack, both NOS! Look in Paper & Cardboard Items.
2021/4/22: Finally, Acetates, Canvasettes, and Transparencies are explained! See the RESEARCH page.
2022/2/4: Updated photo gallery of items I have for sale. No prices in the photos, so send me a note on the items you are interested in.
Some notes:
-Some items in a wide view picture may not be for sale.
-I have many chimney lamps, AND spare globes.
-Back in the early 70s I was able to get some old labels, found in a wooden beer barrel at the brewery. Hundreds, and maybe a hundred different ones. I can put together a nice collection for you if you like. Many have matching neck labels.
-I can sell many items in bulk with good discounts.
-As you can see, a lot of what I have are regular-use bar items. So if you have an at-home bar, you can pretty well outfit it right here! Napkins, too
-Need glassware? I have amber mugs, hourglasses, a dozen or 70s salt shakers, GBX glasses.
-Napkins by the pack. NOS trays. Combs, nail files, pocket knives, stickers, snowmobile trail markers, sewing kits, bug repellent packets, first aid kits, coasters, patches, ashtrays, coin banks, and you name it.
-I am pricing things based on SOLD eBla prices, then offering a price lower than the average. If you find an item is too high, send me some SOLD prices of late. Now, a fairly common embossed brown bottle just closed on auction with no bids at a starting price of $3. That does not mean it is worth zero, just maybe nobody was in the market that week, or it is indeed too high. It may also get listed tomorrow and sell at $10 BIN to a new looker. I need to move this inventory out to get my beer room finished. it's the last unfinished room in the house! Make an offer on bulk items! Better yet, stop in. If I have an item priced, it will be in the "For Sale photo gallery" below.
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Do you want to see some quality messaging? You just HAVE to see these Barry Travis dandies:
In case a web search for the Grain Belt Wrecking Crew or "GBWC" brought you here, find more on it here: