Our vintage Whitbread London stout advertising mirror is a unique piece of brewery memorabilia. It features stunning graphics that showcase the famous brand with bold, stand-out colourful fonts in a selection of red and green. The intricate stout bottle in a beautiful finish and the brand logo of the deer in a plaque and hop motif add to its charm. The antique price is a testament to its popularity and unique design, making it a must-have for collectors and vintage enthusiasts.
Sleek and elegant mahogany wooden frame.
Great vintage condition with minimal signs of authentic patina.
Height: 86cm
Length: 63cm
Width: 3cm
The business was formed in 1742 when Samuel Whitbread formed a partnership with Godfrey and Thomas Shewell and acquired a small brewery at the junction of Old Street and Upper Whitecross Street and another brewhouse for pale and amber beers in Brick Lane, Spitalfields. Godfrey Shewell withdrew from the partnership as Thomas Shewell and Samuel Whitbread bought the large site of the derelict King's Head brewery in Chiswell Street in 1750. The new brewery was for the specific production of porter and was renamed the Hind Brewery after the Whitbread family coat of arms.
While not the first to discover Porter production, Whitbread was the first to exploit it commercially on a large scale. This coincided with an increase in beer consumption in the UK, following regulations to limit gin sales due to the gin excesses of the Gin Craze. By 1758, production at Chiswell Street was 65,000 barrels, and the firm had become the largest Porter brewer in the UK.
By the 1780s, Whitbread had become the largest brewery in the world. In 1796, the company produced 202,000 barrels of porter. The firm struggled after the death of Samuel Whitbread Sr and saw ownership transfer to his son, also called Samuel Whitbread. The company adopted the name Whitbread & Co Ltd in 1799.
Whitbread produced several Stouts at the outbreak of war: London Stout, London Oatmeal Stout, Mackeson Stout, Extra Stout and SSS. But, unlike Barclay Perkins, which had several different recipes for its Stouts, all of Whitbread’s had the same recipe. Inevitably, as they parti-gyled them all together.
Their main brand was London Stout, which came in both draught and bottled form. Costing, respectively, 7d and 8d per pint in the public bar. (If you bought a crate of four quart bottles, the price was just 7.5d per pint.) At least at the outbreak of war. Tax increases soon pushed that price upwards.