When it comes to eBay, the most popular items available for auction with the name Sebewaing no doubt has to be brewery related items. Today, there are fifty-two entries! Everything from single labels and bottle caps to poster board presentations of many different labels. Some of the specialty machinery built for the brewery like a pasteurizer had a special plate (pictured) on it from the company. This item is listed at $850 or best offer!  It is amazing what collectors may pay for a piece of history.  Proxy cards, payroll checks, and other business papers also make appearances on eBay.  I have seen my grandfather, Otto H. Thede’s business card with the title “Bottle house Superintendent” from time to time.

How did these people obtain these items?  Did they purchase them from others?  Did they visit the brewery after it closed and search for relics knowing one day they would be worth some money?  I remember the floors littered with papers, labels, bottle caps, and so many other items that would be considered valuable today.  The blue plastic barrel caps along with the foil were in several brown cardboard boxes in the Keg Storage Room just waiting for someone to help themselves.  I remember empty barrels of various sizes in this same area.  If I were just a bit more business savvy as I entered my young teenage years living next to the brewery!  At least these relics did not end up getting hauled away in a dump truck or buried during the demolition years that started in 1979.

Good luck to all the eBay sellers and buyers.  Keep the brewery memories alive.