Brand History
The company has historically claimed its flagship beer was renamed Pabst Blue Ribbon following its win as "America’s Best" at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893.
| “ | This is the original Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer. Nature's choicest products provide its prized flavor. Only the finest of hops and grains are used. Selected as America's Best in 1893. | ” |
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—Quote from PBR label, referring to the award it received at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. |
Whether the brand actually won an award in 1893 is unclear. Some contemporaneous accounts indicate that many vendors were frustrated by the fair's refusal to award such prizes. One account says that the only prizes awarded by the executive committee were bronze medals, in recognition of "some independent and essential excellence in the article displayed," rather than "merely to indicate the relative merits of competing exhibits."
Sales of Pabst peaked in 1977, when they reached 18 million barrels; by 2001, the brand's sales were below a million barrels, 90% less than the peak. While there is some disagreement about the origin of Pabst Blue Ribbon, it has been proven by beer historians that it is an American and not a German beer.
Read more about this topic: Pabst Blue Ribbon
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