EXHIBITS
Utah Brews: The Untapped Story of Ogden’s Becker Brewing and Malting Company: Prohibition Goes Nationwide
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Prohibition Goes Nationwide
State and federal Prohibition forced the Beckers to rename their Ogden plant and retool it to create products that were legal under the new dry regulations. The first change came in 1917, when the company reincorporated its Utah business as the Becker Manufacturing Company. Two years later, the family dissolved the Becker Manufacturing Company and again reincorporated, this time as the Becker Products Company. Under this name, the company produced a variety of nonalcoholic beverages. Their most popular product was a nonalcoholic beer, or “near-beer,” called Becco, named after the way Albert’s son, Robert, pronounced their last name. Becco was extremely popular in the West and was most likely the company’s number one seller. It was so popular that it won a blue ribbon at the Utah State Fair in 1920. Together with sales from soda, Becco actually helped increase production at the plant from the 65,000 barrels of beer in 1917 to 75,000 barrels of the nonalcoholic beverages in 1924. In addition to these products, the Beckers sold ice, malt extract, and leased their cold storage space to generate revenue during Prohibition.
Despite being brewers in a nation that had legally rejected alcohol, the Beckers remained wildly popular during Prohibition. There was strong community support for their products, and Gus received as much column space as ever for his shooting antics. Albert was elected to the Utah State Legislature in 1929 and to the Ogden Chamber of Commerce in 1930. Even Heber J. Grant—president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and an outspoken advocate for Prohibition—corresponded with Gus to thank him for remaining a law-abiding citizen and to compliment him on the company’s new line of products.
