Los Angeles County
Biographies
EDWARD R.
MAIER
MAIER,
EDWARD R., President and General Manager of the Maier Brewing Company, Inc.,
Los Angeles, California, was born in Los Angeles, January 5, 1883, the son of
Joseph and Mary (Schmidt) Maier.
He
attended the public schools of Los Angeles and a
preparatory school at Berkeley before taking a
course at the University
of California. He entered
the last named institution in the year 1901 and studied one year, going abroad
in 1902.
On
his return he decided to enter business with his father, who had built up one
of the largest breweries in California—the
Maier Brewing Co.
On
July 12, 1905, his father died, and the responsibility of managing the great
business and the estate were left to his elder brother, J. Fred Maier, and to
himself.
His
brother became president and manager of the brewery. “Fred” Maier, as he was
familiarly known, was one of the most popular public figures in Los Angeles. The brewery
expanded rapidly under his management. He was particularly noted for his
willingness to sacrifice personal interest to the good of the city. He died, in
the prime of life, April 11, 1909. On his death the presidency of the company
went to Edward R. Maier, and he was left sole manager of the Maier estate.
Under
the management of E. R. Maier the brewing company, already a firm of big
proportions, employing hundreds of men, has been pushed ahead until the
business is today one of the biggest in the western half of the United States.
Its branch houses are found in Nevada, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Old Mexico, and all over California. There is even an export trade to
the Hawaiian and Philippine Islands. The brewery is equipped with the most
modern and scientific plant, all of the machinery and methods being the result
of the very best experience in beer making.
The
brewery, which is located on Aliso street,
comprises twelve different buildings, ranging from two to six stories in
height. There are clarifying cellars, bottling plant, stables, garage, stock
houses, blacksmith shops, paint shops, malt house, laboratories, pharmaceutical
department, malt kiln, mill house, brew house, malt
elevators, refrigerating cellars, carpenter and cooper shops, and all the other
essential departments of a modern plant. Everywhere the most improved machinery
is being used. The construction and equipment cost over two million dollars.
The
conduct of this vast enterprise is not the sole occupation of Mr. Maier. He is
a rancher as well. He owns the well known Maier Rancho Selecto,
in Ventura county, comprising thousands of acres stocked with fine
cattle and horses. He spends a good deal of time on the ranch.
The
estate which he has inherited and manages owns much valuable real estate in Los Angeles. Around the
brewery have grown up many allied enterprises, to all of which he must give
attention.
While
at high school and college he was an enthusiast in athletics, for which he is
physically well fitted. He always played on his nine, and was accounted good enough for professional baseball. He is perhaps as well
known to the world at large as president of the Vernon Athletic Club of Los
Angeles, owner of the Vernon Baseball Club, as he is for his prominence in
business. He became interested in the club at first because of his love of
baseball, but with the growth of the Pacific
Coast cities his interest
became more than mere play. The attendance at the games runs into the hundreds
of thousands annually, and the final games are seen by crowds that rival those
of the National and American Leagues. The baseball club and plant now represent
a big business in themselves.
He
is immensely interested in the growth of Los
Angeles, and is one of the most popular of its
citizens. He is an ardent sportsman, and is a member of the Los Angeles Driving
Club, Recreation Gun Club, Chico Gun Club, Los Angeles Athletic Club, Western
Bowling Congress, and is president of the Vernon Baseball Club, and president
of the Los Angeles Bowling Association. He belongs to a number of the business
clubs, among them the Los Angeles Jobbers’ Association, Chamber of Commerce and
Merchants and Manufacturers’ Association.
Other
clubs, social and special, to which he belongs are:
Bohemian Club of San Francisco,
California Club, Jonathan Club, San Gabriel Country Club, Sierra Madre Club,
Gamut Club, Los Angeles Convention League, Los Angeles Rotary Club of Southern
California, Automobile Club of Southern California, the Press Club of Los
Angeles, and to the Berkeley D.K.E. college fraternity. He is also a prominent
Mason and Elk.
Transcribed
11-18-11 Marilyn R. Pankey.
Source: Press
Reference Library, Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I, Page 857, International
News Service, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston,
Atlanta. 1913.
© 2011 Marilyn R. Pankey.
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