56

Reports and correspondence of the California Wine Association.

San Francisco, CA, 1910-1918
14 items, various sizes, in one folder; mailing folds, generally minimal wear.

  • Notes: The California Wine Association was formed by several leading wineries in 1894 and became a near monopoly in the state. They fought against a statewide prohibition campaign in addition to marketing and retailing efforts. This collection includes:

    9 circular letters and printed reports to stockholders (including 2 duplicates), 1911-1918; carbon copy summary of the Association's estimated profits for October 1914 broken down by wineries including Italian Swiss Colony, Lachman & Jacobi, and Brun & Chaix; and a manuscript statement of assets and liabilities for 1909 and 1910; and retained copies of 3 outgoing letters regarding Association business, 1913-1914. One of the letters is to Sutro & Company explaining the finances behind the Association's bonds; one thanks C.O.G. Miller for "the splendid fight engineered by you, on behalf of the Wine Association." 

    Finally, on 4 April 1914 a company officer extends his resignation as a trustee of San Francisco's First Congregational Church: "I am an officer of the California Wine Association, representing an industry which will be destroyed if the people of this State at its next general election adopt an amendment to the constitution which prohibits the manufacture, the sale and the giving away of wine in California. . . . I note the head of our church is on the opposite side of this question from me, consequently he might be embarrassed if I remain an officer of his church, and I herewith tender you my resignation as trustee and treasurer." 
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