Hoare & Co. Ltd Rectangular Black Backed Steel

Hoare & Co. Ltd black backed steel tray dating from the late 1920s. The origins of the business, most famous for its Porter beer, possibly date back as far as 1492, however the modern era began when the Red Lion brewhouse was built in 1792. Although a large Company, it was only half the size of its London competitors, Whitbread, Trumans and Barclay Perkins, when production peaked in the 1790s. George Hoare became a partner in 1802, his father had bought the business and traded as Hoare & Co. The Company was registered as Hoare & Co. Ltd in 1894 with 110 public houses. From 1910 until 1930 Hoare & Co. Ltd was a prolific purchaser of other breweries. It acquired eleven, mainly London based, breweries during that period. Despite all these acquisitions, the Company was stuggling financially in 1931, and a punitive Government Budget caused a slump in sales which the business never recovered from. The Red Lion Brewery was acquired by Charrington & Co. Ltd in 1933 and brewing ceased in 1934. Charrington & Co. Ltd immediately adopted Hoare's Toby Jug trademark when it purchased the Company. The Toby Jug trademark continued to be used by Bass Charrington Ltd, within the Red Triangle trademark, after 1967 and is still used in the branding of 'Toby Inns'. The tray featured is most probably a Hoare & Co. Ltd example produced just before the Charrington & Co. Ltd acquisition. 1920s Toby Jugs from Hoare's Brewery used the words "Ale & Stout" as advertised on this particular tray.