Through researching Leinenkugel related Newspaper articles on Access Newspaper Archive, I came across the Wisconsin State Journal. The date of this Newspaper publishing was December 3, 1987, the year that Miller had purchased Leinenkugel’s. At the bottom of the front page, the article reads, “Miller to buy, not ‘swallow’, Leinie’s.” This fantastic article explains on how Miller’s goal was not to take over the Leinenkugel Brewery, but only enhance it. I selected this source because it provides a first hand account of the expansion of the Leinenkugel Brewery, and how it came about. I picked this source for my research because of the history of the Leinenkugel transformation that it gives. The purchase of the Leinenkugel Brewery by Miller helped Leinenkugel’s become a better-known company, however, they did not change the quality of their beer.
The article gives first-hand accounts individuals of high-ranking status in the two respective companies of Leinenkugel and Miller. Throughout the article, the key point was that Miller’s goal in the purchase of Leinenkugel was not to completely take over the brewery. Miller had a distinct plan for this purchase. As the article states, Leinenkugel did not sell the company because of financial struggles, the Leinenkugel brewery was doing quite well financially. The owners of Leinenkugel sold the company to better it, not to make a quick buck on their family’s extreme hard work put into the company. This was a family-run business, and has been since Jacob Leinenkugel and John Miller started the Brewery in 1867.
My response to this source was very positive, it helped me gain ideas of where I want to take my research. It offered information on the purchase of Leinenkugel’s by Miller in which I was extremely interested in researching on. I could not find a problem with this source. After reviewing the article, I concluded that it gave key points of what Miller’s plans were for Leinenkugel’s, and the same for Leinenkugel’s. Each company had their own benefits from the deal, and this Newspaper article explained them entirely well.
My ideas of where I want to take my research have been shaped through my analysis and reading of this source. This source gave me insight of some details of the purchase of Leinenkugel’s. I would like to look further into the purchase of Leinenkugel’s, and also the early years of after the deal had taken place. This source was published in 1987, 27 years ago from today, which gives me room to research these 27 years. From reviewing this source I would like to start looking more into the future of Leinenkugel’s and Miller’s partnership, but also look back at what went on during prohibition.
Very interesting research! I like keeping along with your blogs because each one is really interesting. The only thing I recommend going back and looking into a little bit further is the rhetorical context question. I know it’s a difficult question to answer but what kinds oh rhetoric do you thing the author is using? Also, I think you are headed in the right direction of researching what happened during the prohibition time. I’m really interested to see what happened. Do you know did the community responded to this change?
Very interesting post, I like how it answers the question of the takeover. That Miller didn’t want to completely merge with it. One of my questions is what did Leinenkugel want to get out of it? In your third paragraph you said that Leinenkugel’s wanted to better the company. How did they want to better it? You didn’t say. So try to answer that in your essay.
It sounds like this article provides a solid description of an important moment in Leinie’s history. But one against the grain point you could make is that all of Miller’s promises are just that: promises. It would be worth noting that, whatever the benefits, Leinie’s will be losing at least a degree of control in their operation and there could be consequences down the road such as indirectly suffering loss of some financial resources if another division in this large company has fallen on hard times. It might be worth checking a more recent source to see how the deal is working out.