This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed human. Saturday, August 22nd in Tampa, witnessing MMA Legends final fight. Chris Cyborg, one of the greatest in history. She's an absolute pioneer in the sport.
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For tickets, visit pfl.info/slash tampa. Spending time outdoors, then let's talk about skin cancer. Non-melanoma skin cancers, or NMSCs, including basal cell carcinoma and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, are the most common cancers in the U.S. and can become harder to treat if left undetected. That's why sun protection and timely detection matter.
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Here's something good on women's health and longevity. To learn more, go to lifeemd.com slash iHeart. And we return to our American stories. And up next, a story from Pete Kors on Adolph Kors. Take it away, Pete.
Well, so Adolph. was born somewhere in the 1840s. Yeah, A little place called Barman on Vippertal in Germany. Kind of an interesting story. People say the COORS name is is kind of Unusual for a German name.
His birth certificate, he was signed in as Koors KORS, which is very German, and his Father actually signed KOHRS. And by the time his sister was born, about eight or ten years later, there was a Dutch magistrate. who brought the double O from their language and it became COORS. His father was a flour miller. died when he was 10.
He had been apprenticed three times in order to survive. Once as a flour miller, his father's trade. Once as a printer bookbinder. And those are three years indenture ships, which as I understand in those days that meant you got room and board and that's about it. And then the third one in brewing.
Yeah. We don't know the details of how or why he decided to leave Germany. He was always very proud of his German heritage. But he stowed away on a ship, landed in Baltimore. Had no papers, had no money, had no uh was able to work off his passage.
As soon as he did, he started working his way across the country. I guess it's uh You know, a typical great American story of coming to a land of opportunity and freedom, but. With no safety nets. I mean, you came here, you were on your own. As so many pioneers did after this country became free from the monarchical rule of England.
And he Worked on the Erie Barge Canal as we understand it. He worked at a brewery in Naperville, Illinois. The Stener Brewery. Yeah. General manager of the brewery there left, came further west.
Ended up in Denver, started a business importing cask wine from California and taking it by pack horse up to the mining towns between Idaho Springs, Georgetown, Central City, Blackhawk. and selling them and that's how he made a living and then I guess some of his German friends in Denver said, well, you know how to brew beer, we could use a good brewery. joined up with a financial partner I think he invested about $10,000 in 11 acres in Golden, Colorado, where he had found a Source of spring water. The brewery was incorporated in 1873, three years before Colorado statehood. His partner lasted About eight years and decided the beer business wasn't going anywhere.
And Adolph. I turned into a sole proprietorship and He really had no formal education, but he had a practical education. And I think that was probably True for most immigrants at that time. They came. with their skills, with their ability to do hard labor.
And it wasn't easy, I'm sure it wasn't easy. And as I look at some of the pictures that we have in the archives of the brewery workers sitting around the tanks and the kegs, it's pretty obvious that they were a pretty rough crew. You know, he struggled, but the business was growing. In those days, there were... Over 20 breweries in Colorado.
Most of the mining towns had their own breweries. We would equate to craft breweries today, boutique breweries. If you hike throughout Colorado and pay attention, a lot of these old abandoned mining towns and mining areas You'll find hops growing, hops growing wild. And he literally started by, you know, hauling beer by pack horse, and then he began to buy properties. And pre-Prohibition, you sold beer by having, like Craft Brewery is doing today, by having saloons and bars.
We have a Listen, actually 19. I think the first year of taxes were 1915. And he did a full accounting of all his properties in Denver and in southern Colorado and around the region. Prohibition changed all that and brewers could no longer Own. Retail liquor saloons and bars.
Another interesting story about Adolf. He needed to double the capacity of his brewery because they were doing quite well and growing. I believe it was 1884. Can't remember for sure the date. He had just completed the new facilities and a flood came down Clear Creek.
and wiped out his new brewery. And he had borrowed money from the banks in Denver to build that. Beer sales primarily grow in the summertime.
So here his brewery in the spring has wiped out all of his inventory. Went back to the banks and said, look, if you'll double down, I'll rebuild and I'll pay it off. And he did. but he never borrowed another dime. He decided that that was not a good way to proceed.
Really the company didn't ever borrow money until about the late 1880s. We had been growing and we needed the additional capital to expand the brewery. People often ask, why in the world in the 60s and 70s when the company was growing so fast, were you only in 11 states? And the simple answer is: every dime that we had was invested back into the company because we had no debt. We couldn't borrow money to grow any faster.
In the mid-70s when uh Competition from the east, particularly Anheuser-Busch, came more west. We began to expand our territory and People used to say it had something to do with quality, and to a certain degree it did. In 11 states, we could have pretty good control of quality. But the real reason is we needed to in order to become a competitor with the big guys and keep them from Burying us, we Expanded territory. The rest, I guess, they say is history.
A couple of funny stories after Prohibition. Back in those days, a banquet was a big deal. You didn't have fast foods restaurants. You didn't have people on there, you know, going out to. Clubs and I mean If you had a banquet, that was a big deal.
And my grandfather... Dead to the We had no marketing department per se in those days. He said, well, uh... I think we ought to. This is a beer that's good enough for a banquet.
And so that's where Banquet came from. And the other funny story, you know, now we have the Coors Banquet has the stubby bottles and it's a retro. It goes back to the early days after Prohibition when we had stubby bottles. And I asked my uncle one time, I don't know if this is a true story or not, I asked my uncle one time, why did we... Why do we go to long necks?
He said, Well, He said A cowboys When they go dancing, they would put their bottles in the back pocket so they could dance. and the beer was slosh out. And so That's why a lognips got started.
Now, I don't know if that's true, accurate, or not, but that's why everybody went to long necks and everybody had pretty much had stubbies back in the early days after Prohibition.
So now we've gone back to the I guess they put their beers down when they go dance. I don't know, but anyway. And a special thanks to Monty and to Alex for the storytelling and putting that story together so beautifully. And a special thanks to Pete Kors. And what a story he had to tell about Adolf Koors.
Born in Germany, he became an apprentice. and even talked about indenture ships. This is back when young people would work. for room and board. And that was it.
And my goodness, by 1873, having come to America, moved all the way out to the West and learned not by formal education, but by practical education, that is, experience. Forged and formed a company that was incorporated in 1873, three years before Colorado was even a state. And all these years later, this family business, well, it's still a family business, and that doesn't happen often. The story of Adolph Koors and Koors Brewing Company, as told. by Pete Coors here on Our American Stories.
Saturday. August 22nd in Tampa, witnessing MMA Legends final fight. Chris Cyborg, one of the greatest in history. She's an absolute pioneer in the sport. Defends her PFL world title one last time.
Unforgettable and An unforgettable career. Saturday, August 22nd, live from Benchmark International Arena. For tickets, visit pfl.info/slash tampa. Spending time outdoors, then let's talk about skin cancer. Non-melanoma skin cancers, or NMSCs, including basal cell carcinoma and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, are the most common cancers in the U.S.
and can become harder to treat if left undetected. That's why sun protection and timely detection matter. Our sponsor, Regeneron, is raising awareness about advanced NMSCs. Learn more and take the pledge to see a dermatologist annually at Let's Get RealaboutskinCancer.com. Upgrade to Elite Checking from America's Christian Credit Union and earn up to 4% APY, plus everyday perks and access to your paycheck up to 2 days early with early pay.
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The Big Three Championship is coming to Charlotte, who will be crowned the Big Three Season 9 Champion. Plus the Big Three All-Star Game, the biggest names in the game, all on one court one more time. Two games of the most physical, competitive, and non-stop three-on-three action. The game played the way you love. Watch live Saturday on CBS at 1 p.m.
Eastern, 10 a.m. Pacific, and catch replays Monday on BET. Presented by iHeart. Yeah.
