Budweiser's Clydesdales & their Winnipeg origin

Each February Anheuser-Busch's Clydesdales get some pricey air time during the Superbowl. This year was no different.

On a couple of occasions I have come across references to the fact that the original Anheuser-Busch's Clydesdale teams came from Winnipeg, most recently in the documentary Beer Barons of Winnipeg.) I thought I would dig into the story a little further.

Mr. Pat Shea (Source: MHS)

The story begins in the 1880s with a man named Patrick Shea. He was born in Co. Kerry, Ireland on March 7, 1854 and trained as an engineer. In 1870 he came to North America to work on railway infrastructure projects, eventually settling in Manitoba in 1882. 

Cosgrave Brewery ca. 1886 (Source)

Daily Nor'Wester, September 1887

Shea soon met fellow Irishman John McDonagh and together they ran the Waverly Hotel near Higgins and Main. In 1887 the duo got into the beer business when for $16,000 they purchased the assets of the defunct and run-down Winnipeg Brewery on Colony Street at Broadway. 

McDonagh died in 1893 leaving Shea the sole owner, though he kept the "McDonagh and Shea" business name until 1926 when it was reincorporated as "Shea's Winnipeg Brewery Ltd." Business was good and in in 1903 the brewery underwent the first of many major expansions.

Crescent Creamery delivery teams (source)

The only method of intra-urban transportation at the time, be it for the fire department, streetcars or product delivery, was the horse and wagon. Different companies had their preferred breed of horse. Eaton's and Crescent Creamery used Hackneys while Manitoba Cartage and Shea's used Clydesdales.

Shea's team at Legislature (MB Archives)

Horse teams were a major investment for these companies. There could easily be more horses working for an organization than people and the amount of space needed to keep and care for them often exceeded the footprint of the building that they served. An 1882 Free Press article notes that Manitoba Cartage was building "extensive new stables" for their 42 six-horse teams !

Like an imposing edifice, an impressive horse or team of horses was good public relations. Many companies showed their best in competition and a few of the animals even became local celebrities in their own right.

November 20, 1930, Winnipeg Free Press

September 21, 1926, Winnipeg Free Press

Shea spared no expense when it came to this aspect of the company's image. He was an active Clydesdale breeder and regularly imported champion horses directly from Scotland to keep the bloodlines strong. He also had special show wagons built at a cost of $2,000 a piece. All of this paid off as Shea's horses and teams won competitions across North America. 

Another Winnipeg firm, Manitoba Cartage, took similar interest in their Clydesdales and before long Manitoba's Clydesdale industry had a stellar reputation. In fact, the Brandon Winter Fair's Clydesdale show was considered one of the best on the continent.

Delivery truck at Shea's ca 1917 (Source)

After World War I the era of the horse-drawn wagon was fast giving way to motorized vehicles. Hundreds of horses were being put to pasture by large companies each year. Eaton's, Manitoba Cartage and Shea's, though, kept their best teams 'on the payroll' and continued to show them.

In the early years of the Depression an aging and ill Patrick Shea decided to sell off his prized teams. The Free Press noted only that it was to "a St. Louis brewery."

Anheuser-Busch's team in 1934 (source)

That St. Louis brewery was Anheuser-Bush, brewers of Budweiser. On their Clydesdale web site, (yes they have their own site), it notes: "Realizing the marketing potential of a horse-drawn beer wagon....on April 7, 1933, August A. Busch, Jr. and Adolphus Busch III surprised their father, August A. Busch, Sr., with the gift of a six-horse Clydesdale hitch..."

Augustus Sr. was pleased with the gift and the following year his company purchased more Shea Clydesdales at the Royal and Guelph Winter Show. 

August, like Shea before him, took an active role in their breeding and today their stables boast over 250 Clydesdales.

July 10, 1933, Winnipeg Free Press

Just months after selling up, Pat Shea died of a "lingering illness" that saw him spend the early part of the year travelling to various U.S. clinics seeking a cure. All Winnipeg beer parlours closed in his honour on the morning of his funeral.

His only surviving son, Frank Shea, took over as company president but three months later he also died.

By this time, Shea's was a mature business with a full executive team, over 100 staff and 22 trucks. It carried on with Margaret Shea, Patrick's widow, as the majority shareholder. When she died she was succeeded by Ethel Shea, Frank's widow.

From 1934 to 1950 the brewery was run by John Boyd, a long-time executive who started out as an office boy when the brewery first opened. During that period Shea's assumed control of two other local breweries: Pelissier's and Kiewel's. It also ran beer distribution firm Brewery Products Ltd. and had a controlling interest in 41 of Manitoba's 260 hotels.

Ethel died in 1952 and left 33,000 shares each to the General Hospital and Misericordia Hospital which put them in the uncomfortable position of being the brewery's largest combined shareholder. When added to the shares owned by the Boyd estate, the three had enough to control the company.

December 12, 1953, Winnipeg Free Press

The hospitals were eager to sell, so was the Boyd family. That's when Labatt's came calling, (I have been told that it was the family's wishes that if the shares were sold it be to Labatt's versus their other competitors.) In December 1953 Hugh Labatt announced that his company's offer to purchase was overwhelmingly accepted by Shea shareholders. Manitoba's oldest and largest brewery was now in Eastern hands.

Each hospital ended up with over $1 million, ($8.5 m in today's dollars), about half of that in cash and half in Labatt shares, which they soon sold off. The General put their funds toward a new Children's Hospital in 1956 and Misericorida put theirs towards the construction of their Cornish Wing in 1957.

The Labatt Brewery on Colony Street was closed and torn down in 1979.

Related:

Most of the information above was pieced together from a couple of dozen newspaper articles. Some online sources pertaining to Shea's:

- Alcohol and temperance in modern history Blocker, Fahey, Tyrrell

- Brewed in Canada A. W. Sneath

- Shea's Winnipeg Diamond Jubilee Booklet

- Horse Show Memories Winnipeg Diamond Jubilee Booklet

Also, thanks to beer historian Bill Wright who is writing a book about the history of Manitoba's breweries. It's currently in its final stages of editing !