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Cranston Historical Society
1351 Cranston, Street, Cranston, RI 02920
401-944-9226
cranstonhistoricalsociety@gmail.com
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Protecting, Preserving and Promoting Cranston's History Since 1949
The following article was in the newsletter that publicized our guest speaker making a presentation on the history of the Narragansett Brewery.
Skunked Beer, yuck!
By James Hall, Curator
It was a sunny day and you were finishing the last bottle of your Gansett six-pack. The muted sun peeked through the bottom of your upraised bottle interrupting your melancholy by an observation—the glass had a rich brown color. Of course because of your having had some modest experience with these things you knew that already but then again, weren’t they green? You may philosophize that it is just one more thing you don’t know—but I do.“Skunking” is why. When beer is exposed to strong light a chemical reaction occurs. You may have already guessed from the word “skunking” that it makes the beer taste bad. Brewers found that making the glass brown prevents skunking. Yes, some beer bottles are green but that is only for marketing. It makes the bottle pretty--but doesn’t help the skunking. Of course some guilty brewers make the walls of their six-pack carriers higher to keep the light off the bottles.
Bottle from
our collection
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Gansett and other brewers used to make the glass thicker to prevent breakage and chipping so the bottles could be cleaned and reused. And how about the necks? After prohibition most brewers opted for “steinies”, or short necks, and compensated by making the bottles fatter. This was because they could then be packed into smaller spaces reducing shipping and handling. After the 50’s the necks got longer and still are because buyers prefer them. Of course that made for “glassing” in bar rooms. Glassing is when a bloke smashes a bottle over another bloke’s head. Morticians say that a beer bottle can break a human skull.
If you go on eBay you can buy old Narragansett beer bottles and caps from a few to hundreds of dollars. The caps actually make pretty displays and can be made into coasters and other decorative objects. But, as unlikely as it is, you may not want to buy old beer bottles. In that case you can make the ones you have into candle holders, vases, and herb planters. Lastly, for those who are not satisfied with just collecting bottles and caps there are old Narragansett beer crates but they go for up to $500. Not for nothin’ but you can buy a lot of beer for that.
Curator's Corner
The Cranston Historical Society uses a museum software called Past Perfect to catalog our extensive collection of over 6000 photos, artifacts and documents and make them accessible to the public. Anyone is invited to contact our curator, Jim Hall, to ask him a question or to make an appointment to do research. He is available at
james.william.hall@gmail.com. Jim also writes a column named ‘Curator’s Corner’ that appears in each edition of our newsletter which is sent out before all of our general meetings.
He chooses an object or photo from our collection that pertains to the theme of the speaker’s presentation.Jim also writes a column named ‘Curator’s Corner’ that appears in each edition of our newsletter which is sent out before all of our general meetings. He chooses an object or photo from our collection that pertains to the theme of the speaker’s presentation.