CAPTAIN PABST'S policy of establishing expensive retail outlets
such as hotels and restaurants rested ultimately on the expecta-
tion that the association of Pabst beer with certain smart places
would create a demand for it everywhere. The owner of a small
saloon, he hoped, would regard the carrying of Pabst beer as
a badge of standing and respectability, and travelers would be
induced to patronize with confidence places that displayed the
Pabst sign.

The Captain persisted in this policy even during the depres-
sion after 1893, and in the late nineties, he intensified his cam-
paign to make the name Pabst synonymous with quality and
distinction. He knew, of course, that the working classes would
always be the most numerous customers, but he was anxious
also to raise the social standing of beer through associating it
with luxurious living. This could best be done by associating
beer with the smartest restaurants in the big cities. Naturally,
the greatest fame was to be won in New York, so the Captain
made his strongest bid there. He had an additional reason to tie
up with the best places in New York, for that was about the
only way he could successfully invade the metropolitan market.
New York's local brewers had a particularly tight grip on the
saloon situation there--Ehret, alone, controlling 800 or 1,000
such outlets. ¹ With "exclusives," places selling only Pabst, very
difficult to acquire, the best way to impress the Pabst name on
the independent retailers and the general public was through
two or three outlets of real distinction. Even if they provided no
great volume of sales, they would give the Pabst name a lead-
ing position; and, in addition to the local advantages, the im-
portance of New York as a travel center made this a matter of
national importance.

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