Featured here is a nice tin flanged style sign from the William Schotten Coffee and Spice Company from about 1920. This particular advertising flange sign was simply hung either outside or inside of an old general store from the wall of the building. Flanged signs have been popular for years, and the bold blue and white contrasting colors made this sign an easy one to notice, and hopefully drive the sales of their products by the consumers in the store. Flanged signs are still used today in many capacities, but their heyday was from the 1940’s through the 1960’s based on the amount of flanged signs you see today from soda brands, some beer brands, shoes, and many other miscellaneous categories of consumer products.
The Schotten Coffee and Spice company was founded by William and Christian Schotten, brothers who started the business in the 1847 as denoted on this sign, and eventually was run by Williams son, Jerome Schotten. William Schotten was born in Duesseldorf, Germany in 1820 which at the time had a world-wide reputation for the manufacture of table mustard. He would make his way to America and settle in St. Louis, Missouri. A few years later in the 1860s, he was followed by his brother Christian to help run his brothers firm. They would eventually form Wm. Schotten & Bro. Mustard and Spice Mills and become one of the largest importers and wholesale dealers in teas, coffees, and spices in the Western States. The company was in business through the 1930s before national brands ended up overrunning many smaller brands in this category across the United States. So ended the long run of the Schotten brothers dream and successful run with their business.