The owners of the Iroquois Brewery in Buffalo, N.Y. didn’t have to think long before they decided on their corporate logo I am guessing. With a name like Iroquois, it was easy to incorporate an Indian logo into their advertising, and by doing so, the Iroquois beer brand would last over 100 years, and remains a well-known brand name to breweriana collectors worldwide.
Recently a porcelain advertising corner sign with the famous Indian logo sold for over $25,000.00 at an online auction. This astounding price certainly was driven simply because of the rarity of the sign; however, the Indian logo would have certainly brought in extra competition for the local Buffalo area collectors from the early Americana collectors too. Native American themed advertising pieces always bring higher values in the collectibles arena. This particular sign featured here uses many colors to create a striking image and the name of the Iroquois Brewery is also printed within the Indians headdress too, adding further appeal.
The Iroquois Brewery started in Buffalo in 1892 and returned after Prohibition ended in 1933. In fact, the brewery was the largest volume brewery of many earlier brewers in the Buffalo region. After Prohibition ended the Iroquois brand was supplemented by a newer brand called Tomahawk Ale, which eventually outsold the Iroquois brand and became the breweries largest seller. Unfortunately, as the larger national breweries took more business from the smaller regional players, the brewery was sold off in the 1950’s to the Independent Brewing Company. Eventually that group also folded around 1970. The Iroquois brand held on for a few more years via contract brewers, but it too ended production just a few short years later. Today the Iroquois brand lives still through some amazing advertising pieces which are cherished still today.