James Calder & Co. (Brewers) Ltd Round Alloy

James Calder & Co. (Brewers) Ltd alloy tray dating from the late 1940s.

The Shore Brewery

The Shore Brewery was built for John McNellan in 1816.
By 1860 McNellan, Sons & Co. had agencies in Glasgow, Belfast, Liverpool, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne. However, the Company ran into financial difficulties and was put up for sale.
Despite having no brewing experience James Calder acquired the Shore Brewery in 1862. James Calder probably retained McNellan in an advisory capacity as evidenced by the firm continuing to trade as McNellan & Co. until the early 1870s.
Calder also acquired two whisky distilleries in the 1870s and 1880s.
The Company's 'Bee' trade mark was introduced in 1873.
In 1890 James Calder's eldest son, John Joseph Calder, became the manager of Calder & Co.
The Company was registered as James Calder & Co. (Alloa) Ltd to acquire the business of Calder & Co. in 1905.
In 1913 John Joseph Calder was appointed manager of the struggling brewer, Samuel Allsopp & Sons Ltd of Burton-on-Trent in England, by its receivers.  John was also appointed Chairman of Archibald Arrol & Sons Ltd of Alloa in Scotland, in 1918.

Brewing Ceases at the Shore Brewery

The Company was re-registered as James Calder & Co. Ltd in 1920, when its whisky interests were sold to James Dewar & Sons.
All brewing ceased at the Shore Brewery in 1921 when it was downgraded to a bottling plant and store.
All its beers, including pale ale, lager and stout, were contract brewed and supplied by Archibald Arrol & Sons Ltd at its Alloa Brewery until 1951.
Despite the closure of the Calder's brewing plant 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 housesi 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.
In 1947 James Calder (Brewers) Ltd became a Public Limited Company which owned five subsidiary companies in hotels, wine & spirits, and in the bottling and mineral water businesses. It had also expanded brewing with the premises of James Calder (Newcastle) Ltd.
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 in Edinburgh.
The Company opened a new bottling plant at Bankhead Medway in Sighthill, Edinburgh, in 1956.

Northern Breweries of Great Britain Ltd Takeover

John Joseph Calder died in 1962 at the age of 95 years.
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 Calder name was re-introduced by Carlsberg Tetley Ltd in 1995, and later by Greene King & Sons Ltd before it retired the brand in 2010.

The tray featured advertises 'Calder's Scotch Stout' which was produced at Archibald Arrol & Sons Ltd's Alloa Brewery, then a subsidiary of Samuel Allsopp & Sons Ltd of Burton-on-Trent.
There are two versions of the tray, this one coloured silver, and the other gold.