Milwaukee, WI
The Kirby-Coggeshall-Steinau Co. was established in the mid 1940’s era located in Milwaukee, WI. Kirby-Coggeshall-Steinau Company was most well known for creating detailed composite display signs for various companies and industries across the country.
These signs were only about a foot wide and were made of a wood pulp composite or masonite material; the signs were made this way during the metal shortages of WWII. Each sign would be pressed out a mold, hand painted in detail, and then be mounted on a thin wooden stand. Most of the signs have a Kirby-Coggeshall-Steinau Co. Milwaukee, WI label adhered to the back of the sign, although some have the company name printed on the back of the sign too.
Some of the most well known signs that they made for companies like Coca Cola Company as well as a lot of breweries across the country as well. The Kirby-Coggeshall-Steinau Co. produced many advertising signs for various breweries like Old Reading, Barbey’s, Sunshine, Boyertown, Horlacher, Rolling Rock, Latrobe, Esslinger, Hornung, Otto Erlanger, Hohenadel, Altes, Delta, Miller, Pabst, Budweiser, Anheuser Busch, Red Top, Barbarossa, Piels, and Michelob just to name a few.
Below are a few examples of KCS Signs:
