Rastal Beer/Brewery Glasses

[Choirgirl21]

Bear with me and my slightly long story to get to my question if you would. My dad unfortunately passed away suddenly a few months ago. I am still slowly unpacking some of his things that I brought back with me. Back in the 70's he took a trip to Germany courtesy of his employer at the time, BMW (by the way, I'd like to live in a time when it was more common for a company to reward your good service with a trip to a foreign country!) and there was a box where he saved a lot of his souvenirs from the trip, including 6 Rastal beer glasses, each designed specifically for use with a particular beer, with the brewery's logo on the glass. I was fully intending on using them until I unpacked the boxes. Each glass is individually packed in a box with a paper describing the history of the brewer, a numbered certificate of authenticity and a matching coaster.

I did a little digging and Rastal has a very nice description of the history of these glasses, including one from my dad's collection, the Bitburger pilsner glass, which was apparently the first one made back in 1964:

"Clothes Make People; The Glass Makes The Beer" on rastal.de

My dad would have got these glasses sometime in the early to mid 70's. I'm torn now about using them. Obviously if I use the glasses over time the logos will fade and deteriorate, but then, why have them only to sit on a shelf? I tried to look around on ebay to see if the glasses have any value (not that I would sell them), but I don't see any this old, with the certificate of authenticity, having been listed or sold.

Just curious if anyone knows more about the history of these glasses, or what your thoughts are on whether to use them or just display them? Here are a few photos of what I have:

[ol_ironstomach]

What a neat souvenir, Jen!  I bought a Weihenstephan glass in that same shape in the early '90s, but sadly mine did not survive my luggage packing job.  The weissbier glasses did, though.  My later Rastal glassware (circa 2000) is not made to the same quality as my earlier pieces, though.  The glass is more or less the same, but the later logos used a different "ink", especially the yellow areas which are no longer the shiny metallized gold of the earlier pieces, and even the lettering betrays a loss of precise and crisp edges.

Even apart from your pre-unification "W Germany" markings, I'd have to say that they truly don't make them like that anymore.  If you do decide to use them, hand wash and dry only.  They machine wash them in Germany, but the printing absolutely will wear.  Hope that helps a smidge.

[Choirgirl21]

It does, thank you. 

[DonRocks]

Wow, what a *great* story, Jen, and I'm really, really sorry about your dad.

Believe it or not, I'm something of an expert when it comes to - of all things - antique german beer steins (so if anyone has any they want me to look at, let me know - they also aren't worth all that much) - but that expertise in no way extends to relatively modern beer glasses.

However, I can give you some sound advice. Dave is absolutely correct in what he says: Don't *ever* let these things see a dishwasher because the decorations *will* fade over the years, and one day they'll be next-to gone. My advice is to use them for special occasions only - such as your dad's birthday - and use them as they were intended: a Weihenstephan glass for a Weihenstephan beer, Bittburger for Bittburger, etc. These beers themselves - not just the glasses - are not what they once were either, and many have been sold to larger conglomerates, so does it *really* matter? 

Well, yes, but not for the reasons we hope. However, for reasons even more meaningful and powerful: ceremony, memory, and honor. Guard them well - yes, in a cabinet - but get them out and use them when you want to honor your father. Drink to him while you talk about all the wonderful memories you have of him - after all, at the end of the day, that's really all there is that's of value, and that includes pretty much everything in life. This ritual, if you will, will make these memories all the more powerful. When you're finished, carefully hand-wash them (I wouldn't even use soap), and store them for the next time. I definitely would *not* leave them in boxes, never to be opened again, because the truth is that your great-grandchildren are just going to give them away a century from now unless you take on the responsibility to keep giving them life.

Treat them as family heirlooms, and if one breaks? It's not *that* great a loss - these are material objects, material objects wear out and break, and they would have led a full life, just like your father did. If you ever get down to your very last glass, *then* you can make a decision about how best to use it.

Thank you for sharing this with us.