Heritage, Quality, and Innovation: The Anheuser-Busch Story, Located at the Anheuser-Busch Brewery. St. Louis, MO. Permanent exhibit.

Established in 1857, The Anheuser-Busch Brewery in St. Louis, Missouri grew from a small, local company to being a worldwide distributer of beer. With buildings still standing from when they were first constructed in the 1800s, beer tasting, and tours available, visitors of the brewery have ample opportunities to learn and experience. The visitors entrance opens into a large space with tall ceilings surrounded by tinted windows. As visitors continue forward, to their right is a souvenir shop, in front of them is the guest relations and tour desk, and to their left is a small exhibit on the history of the company. Set apart from the indoor Biergarten, this exhibit seems to be marketed to those most interested in learning about Beer, or perhaps those that are waiting for their tour to begin. Regardless of the visitors’ reasons for viewing, much of the information provided is later explained during the tour, so it serves as supplemental information for those who wish to know more about their experience that day. Based upon a chronological timeline, the exhibit provides visitors with easy to understand visuals along with objects used for advertising and of beer products made by Anheuser-Busch. This exhibit is meant to show the history of the company in a concise and easily digestible manner so that viewers are inclined to also continue to consume their readily available beverages.

Anheuser Busch Brewery Tour Pictures – Daily Appetite
Inside of the guest entrance to the brewery. Image courtesy of https://dailyappetite.com/anheuser-busch-brewery-tour-pictures/.

Titled Heritage, Quality, and Innovation: The Anheuser-Busch Story, the exhibit aims to tell the story of the company and how hard work allowed for them to become a success story. According to the exhibit, “The Anheuser-Busch story is one of remarkable achievement.” Plainly stated in the first panel on the left side of the display, their story is one of values, vision, courage, and integrity. This framework is reminiscent of plaques or short stories that are often present in the lobbies or conference rooms of large businesses. Their years developing their business, period of struggle or contention, and their overcoming of obstacles to be successful are common in telling a more commercialized version of history for viewers. It prepares viewers for the tour if they have not yet attended it or provides more visuals for them to remember what they learned that day. The exhibits narrative plays to the American myth of picking oneself up by the bootstraps and their positively presented effort within a capitalistic system.

First panel presented in the exhibit. Photograph taken by Emily Eckles.

This exhibit is not set up in an enclosed space, rather it is a portion of a wall that is open to the large entrance hall one side, the indoor Biergarten on the other, and the customer service desk diagonally across from it. With a curved shape, the exhibit invites visitors to stroll through on their way to get beverages, or for them to wait for their tour to begin. Because of the nature of the brewery, it is loud inside, and voices carry because of the high ceilings. This space is set up with a plethora of chairs inviting guests to sit and look at the timeline in front of them, and it gives opportunities for those who are more interested to get closer and read from the display cases.

A portion of the exhibit is hung on a slightly curved wall, and the other portion can be found in the display case attached to the wall. Writing and explanations for the objects included are printed onto the wall or onto plaques help bring context to the Anheuser-Busch story, and the objects chosen for display. Two TV screens are included as a part of this display but were not in working condition. Some other screens were also built into cabinets and seemed to be interactive, but again were not in working condition.

This exhibit presents unique objects for viewing, and its brief coverage of Anheuser-Busch’s products during the United States’ prohibition era are especially of interest. The exhibit presented a selection of premiums, small giveaway items that advertised the company. However, this exhibit lacked attention from its proprietors. The screens for more material related to the exhibit were off or not in working conditions, the window wells that contained items on display were not only dirty, but their lack of maintenance also made it difficult to view the items with the overhead lights because of all of the smudges. This exhibit limits its own viewers to those who are able to stand, those who use mobility aides can maneuver the area, but may be unable to see portions of the exhibit due to items being placed into window well-esque spaces that viewers have to look down into. The exhibit also does not offer any auditory clips for viewers who may be blind or have poor eyesight. This exhibit also does not provide the information of the person that curated it.

Visited on June 4th, 2022, this exhibit was interesting to view before my tour of the brewery began. Its simplistic nature made the information easy to understand, and the most interesting aspect was their panel on prohibition and their response to it, and their competition against Pabst in the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago, IL. This exhibit is not the main driver to go to visit the Anheuser-Busch brewery, it is present to give visitors something to do while they consume products of the company from the Biergarten that is located directly next to the exhibit. Visiting this exhibit is great supplemental information for viewers to think about while attending the brewery tour.