Monthly Archives: November 2014

Antique Safe — the Ultimate Breweriana

“Breweriana” is what collectors of beer-related stuff, call that beer-related stuff they collect.  Usually those items consist of bottles, signs, bottle openers, tap handles, etc.  This beautiful antique J. Baum safe is from 1908 and was owned by Furniture City Brewing Company.  Not one collector in a hundred would have an old brewer’s safe.

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Furniture City Brewing was one of the last independent brewers here in Grand Rapids.  As far as I can tell they were in business from 1905 to 1919.  Old pictures show that their building was a big four story structure.  There are still a few Furniture City bottles around, but nothing else that I could find.  Incidentally, Grand Rapids was a big beer town a hundred years ago, and the phenomenal growth in our modern local brewers has earned us the title of “Beer City USA” two years in a row.

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This antique safe is a perfect size at 32.5”h x 21.5”w x 20”d.  It would make a great end table, TV stand or holder of other breweriana.  On a scale of 1 to 10 it would get about a 9.5 because its original paint is very interesting and in unusually great condition.  The interior is also very nice showing only minor wear.  It also came with four very old money pouches bank bags which may have held the brewery’s “beer money”.

There are no immediate plans for this Furniture City Brewing safe.  It will be on display at our shop for a few months.  I will entertain serious offers from interested buyers.

Buy Guns From a Gun Store, But Buy Gun Safes From a Safe Store

It may seem like a natural fit for gun stores to display and sell gun safes.  But just like we don’t know enough about guns to provide proper advice and service for weapons, gun stores don’t have appropriate knowledge to provide advice and service for safes.  To them safes are a sideline, a way to boost sales and profits.  At Hoogerhyde Safe, safes are our business — you can tell by the name, right?  We know more about safes because we work on them every day, just like a gun store works on guns every day.

We have the tools, training and years of experience to do any service work that might be required after the purchase.  It is common for customers to tell us “I bought my safe from the gun shop. Now that I have problems with it they say they can’t repair safes.”  When you are out buying a new rifle and you are tempted to buy a new gun safe at the same store, ask this question:  “If the lock fails and the safe cannot be opened, what specifically can YOU do to fix it?”  If they do not have the ability to open it themselves that is the wrong place to buy a safe.