Part 1 lafayettesquarearchives.com/1881-schnaiders-beer-empire-part-1/ featured Joseph Schnaider and the origins of Schnaider’s Garden in Lafayette Square. In 1887, residents of Benton Place raised the 30-foot limestone wall you see on the 2100 block of Hickory Street. It was a fortification, insulating the prosperous and reclusive above from the hustle and flow of Schnaider’s below. Note the cinderblock-filled doorway in the wall that servants from Benton Place homes used to access the shops along Hickory and Chouteau.
Enter Joseph Schnaider Jr.
Schaiders Garden was a swinging affair, in a teutonic 1880’s way. Joseph’s son, Joseph M. Schnaider, assumed the helm at the brewery and beer garden upon the death of his father. He and his mother Elizabeth ran it capably for a number of years.
Joseph noted the rising popularity of baseball. Patrons would begin leaving the Gardens around game time. He worked this to his advantage by making friends with the larger-than-life owner of the St Louis Browns, Chris Von der Ahe. Schnaider often entertained both teams post-game at the Gardens.
Their newspaper ads even nestle close in 1882:
The enterprising Schnaider would try anything, even refighting the Civil War, to fill his Garden:
Reformers Move In On The Beer Garden
In 1869, A national Prohibition party was formed, and by 1874, it was joined by the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. A large part of the movement’s appeal was participating in a group activity, in an attempt to recapture the fervor once felt toward the abolition of slavery. The growing temperance movement was doing what it could to outlaw Sunday liquor sales.
Prohibition ran squarely against the German custom of gathering for beer and song on Sunday. Joseph Schnaider bravely waded in. This exchange was covered in a Post-Dispatch article from July of 1883:
(to Joe): “Are you in favor of keeping the beer gardens open on Sunday?”
(Joe) “I am.”
“For what reason?’
“Because it affords a great deal of pleasure to all classes of people.”
“What classes of people do you generally find at beer gardens on Sunday?”
“All classes. If you come here to our garden on Sunday afternoon you will see the doctor, the lawyer, the merchant, and the city official as well as the working man and it is customary for people to bring their families. Now, if you want to see temperance people and prohibitionists, just call at Schnaider’s Garden on Sunday evening and see how they enjoy themselves.”
Today we have discussion of trade wars and consumer boycotts. This is not a new development. For instance, here’s a little saber-rattling from the manager of Schnaider’s Garden that same summer:
By June of 1887, the movement for prohibition had gotten the better of City Hall, and an ordinance went into effect banning liquor sales on Sunday.
Schnaider Plays Hardball
Immediately the brewers of St. Louis, with Sunday revenues jeopardized, met at Schnaider’s Garden. They coordinated a response, in the form of challenging the law through the courts. In order to do this, someone needed to break the law first. Joseph stepped up:
That Monday’s paper reported widespread compliance, as well as the arrest of Joseph M. Schnaider.
St. Louis County passed a law in 1857, allowing for “the sale of refreshments of any kind (distilled liquors excepted) on any day of the week.” Although this law was since overturned by the State of Missouri, Schnaider’s rather elaborate defense used an earlier successful challenge by a St. Louis “bawdy house,” summarizing it in the following convoluted way:
However that logic was defended in court, the judge sided with the defense, that the sale of beer was indeed legal within St. Louis City on Sundays. He later ruled that the judgment should be immune to appeal from the state. The verdict was met with loud cheers and demonstration, and officers were deployed into the gallery to restore order.
The next day’s Post-Dispatch featured this headline:
Schnaider Victorious – Play Ball!
Joe Schnaider was a hero to the beer drinkers of St. Louis City. By extension, this decision enabled the reopening of Sportsman’s Park and baseball on Sundays. Chris Von der Ahe was well pleased:
Sometimes success boils down to good timing. These were hot days in early July of 1887. It’s also true that Von der Ahe’s St. Louis Browns were the reigning champions of baseball, having beaten the Chicago White Sox (which later became the Cubs) 4 games to 2 in the previous year’s World Series.
Charlie Comiskey was player/manager for the Brownies. He would one day become founder and owner of the new American League White Sox. There he won five American League pennants and two World Series, before being sullied by the 1919 Black Sox scandal. It’s said that his harsh and parsimonious treatment of players (like making them wash their own uniforms) led to such dissatisfaction within the team that the players alone conspired to throw that Series.
But on a Sunday in mid-July of 1887, patrons could once again hoist a stein at Schnaider’s Garden, then board the trains taking them to Grand and Dodier, and cheer on the Browns.
There is, however, much more to the story of Joseph M. Schnaider. A story that would even interest the Most Interesting Man In The World. It will take you from St Louis to Guadalajara in the days of Pancho Villa. Stay tuned for Part 3.
Thanks to research sources, including:
Temperance and Prohibition In America: An Historical Overview; Aaron and Musto.
St Louis Post-Dispatch various dates in 1883 and 1887.
For a further profile of Chris Von der Ahe, I recommend the write-up in Distilled History, a blog by Cameron Collins.
What a masterful series of deep and fascinating STL history . Baseball is down to have been in the genes of Old St. Louis a very long time – so neglected by the Ken Burns program . my Uncle Eugene Grady was a minor League star for a while , I was told by Mark D. Eagleton , his classmate and father of the Senator . Dear Eugene was given to the Creature as the Irish would say . Fine man , good to his mother and to the poor .
Keep up your work . So Ordered : T. C. Grady , J.
Much obliged, Tom. I often wonder if essays resonate for non-obvious reasons in some readers. Occasionally I get a confirmation of it from one. I hope Eugene Grady is giving it a hard nine up on that diamond in the sky.