Benjamin Johnson
The anchor object I chose is a collection of historic paraphernalia from Hulls Brewing Company. Specifically, I focused on the 3 yellow Hulls cans in the zoomed-in image. Each can present a different type of beer. These are export, cream ale, and Bock beer.


Narrative 1
At Lost in New Haven, a collection of paraphernalia from the Hulls Brewery is on display. I was immediately drawn to the artifacts due to their bright colors, clear branding, and name. Fellow architecture students will know that Hulls Art Supply is a vital fixture of our New Haven experience, so seeing that name be associated with a historic Brewery was a shock. It was this first interaction or curiosity that drove the focus of the research. Hulls Brewery was at one point Connecticut’s largest brewery and its unofficial state beer. The Hulls Brewing Company was established in New Haven in 1872 by William Hull. It quickly earned the affectionate moniker of “Hulls”. However in 1920 with Prohibition, Hulls shifted from Beer to producing ice and non-alcoholic Malts. After the end of Prohibition in 1933, Hulls moved their operations to the Old Fresenius Brewery Building at 820 Congress Ave. This change of location brought on by Prohibition, allowed Hulls to grow into a massively successful brewery. At one point touted as CT’s Only Brewery (albeit by their own advertisement). However, as the country became more interconnected throughout the 20th century, Hulls could no longer compete with National brands. Thus, Hulls shut down in 1977. However, in 2018, a New Haven resident revived the defunct brand.

Narrative 2

Prohibition, which in part facilitated Hulls’ commercial dominance, also kickstarted the proliferation of non-alcoholic beverage companies. One of these companies was Cotts Style Beverages. The bright coloration and punchy aesthetic of the cans is what initially drew me to this particular collection. Perchance this is in part why the brand saw so much success in its Hey Day. Cotts was established in 1923 by Solomon Cott, a Polish immigrant. The soda company became known for its wide array of fresh fruit flavors ranging from apple to raspberry and its can design; which was specialized based on flavor. Like many of these unique and or specialized soda brands, they began to fade into obscurity throughout the mid and late-20th century.
Narrative 3

As I finished analyzing the Cotts collection, my eyes were yet again drawn to another set of beverages. Specifically, a series of glass bottles from a company called Elm City Bottling Co. The name “Elm City” was derived from New Haven’s nickname, “The Elm City,” which referred to its abundance of elm trees. This company was founded in 1900 and similar to the other artifacts I chose, has an inextricable tie to the Prohibition era and by proxy the uniquely changing beverage landscape of the era. In the early to mid 20th century, bottling was a rapidly expanding industry in the Northeast with soft drinks and other once novelty beverages gaining popularity. This upward trajectory grew exponentially with the prohibition era. As stated earlier, with alcohol inaccessible, there was a newfound need to supply people with canned and bottled drinks that would not lead to fines and other penalties. It was during this period that local bottlers like Elm City became significant players in the beverage industry before larger companies like Coca-Cola and PepsiCo began to dominate the market.
In analyzing this series of artifacts, I started to trace this larger narrative which is the birth, life, and death of regional bottlers. The late 19th and early 20th century saw the establishment of many regional bottlers and breweries such as Hulls, Cotts, and Elm City. These companies were able to carve out lucrative and stable CT consumer niches for decades. Prohibition merely opened up the non-alcoholic bottler market. However, as the United States became increasingly national and as globalism tied the United States to its global context, consumer interest started trending towards larger companies. National bottlers such as Pepsi, Coke, and Budlight became brands that the whole country could easily purchase. Regional bottlers were unable to compete with the power, ubiquity, and success of these national brands. Today, the beverage industry is largely national if not global. Unless you can frequent specialized microbreweries such as East Rock Brewery, you’d be hard-pressed to easily procure regional beverages. The life and death of regional bottlers is a direct reflection of the growing globalism and national interrelation occurring in the country at the time.
Narrative 4?
As I stated at the beginning of this Field Note, one of my immediate reactions to the anchor object was its shared name with Hulls Art Supply. In my research, I could unfortunately find no concrete connection between Hulls Brewery Company and Hulls Art Supply. So I will preface this final narrative with the caveat that it airs on the side of speculation. Hulls (the Art Store) was established in 1947 by Harry Hull. Hulls was initially located one block west of its current location. At the time of its opening, Hulls was part of a large selection of mom-and-pop shops along Chapel Street. In the 50s and 60s when many of these small businesses were being bought out or priced out, Hulls remained due to its proximity to Yale School of Architecture and Yale School of Art. The student’s need for model + art materials provided Hulls with an endlessly revolving door of student customers that continues revolving today. So maybe there is a familial connection between the Hulls Brewery and Hulls Art Supply? Maybe the Hulls were a family of savvy business people who cornered (for a time) the brewery industry as well as the art supply industry?… Potentially?…I don’t know.

