James Calder & Co. (Brewers) Ltd Round Black Backed Steel

James Calder & Co. (Brewers) Ltd black backed steel tray dating from the 1930s. The Shore Brewery was built by John McNellan in 1816. After McNellan, Sons & Co. ran into financial difficulty, the Shore Brewery was acquired by James Calder in 1862. Calder also acquired two whisky distilleries in the 1870s and 1880s. In 1890 James Calder's second son, John J.Calder, became the manager of Calder & Co. The Company was registered as James Calder & Co. (Alloa) Ltd in 1905. In 1913 John J.Calder was appointed manager of Samuel Allsopp & Sons Ltd, Burton-on-Trent, England, by its receivers, and he was also appointed Chairman of Archibald Arrol & Sons Ltd, Alloa, in 1918. The Company was re-registered as James Calder & Co. (Brewers) Ltd in 1920 and its whisky interests were sold to James Dewar & Sons. Brewing ceased at the Shore Brewery in 1921 and it was downgraded to a bottling plant and store. All its beers, including pale ale, lager and stout, were brewed and supplied by Archibald Arrol & Sons Ltd until 1951. Despite the closure of the Shore Brewery in Alloa, the Company acquired other breweries in Scotland, the North of England and Belgium. In 1921 Calders acquired a Belgian brewery in Ostend, and jointly acquired Robinson Brothers (Brewers) Ltd of Houghton-le-Spring with 63 public houses, in 1925. The public houses were split with the other joint owners C.Vaux & Sons Ltd of Sunderland. Local competitor, Robert Henderson & Co. Ltd Mills Brewery was purchased in 1944, as well as breweries in Malta and Kenya. In 1946 the Company purchased the Greenhead Brewery in Glasgow, one of Steel, Coulson & Co. Ltd's two breweries. A major Scottish bottler, George Thomson & Son Ltd, was purchased in 1950. From 1951 Archibald Arrol & Sons Ltd continued to supply Calder's lager requirements but all other ales and stouts were brewed at the Heriot Brewery of John Jeffrey & Co. Ltd, Edinburgh. The Company opened a new bottling plant in Edinburgh in 1956. James Calder & Co. (Brewers) Ltd was acquired by Northern Breweries of Great Britain Ltd in 1960 and all trading ceased. The Shore Brewery was demolished. The manufacturer's mark states - G.Van Hecke, 56 Allee Verte, Brux. Calder's supplied the Belgian market and this is therefore one of the only foreign manufactured trays in my collection.