Ottawa's Brading Breweries (1865-1970): Images & Ads

May 02, 2022

Ottawa's Brading Breweries (1865-1970): Images & Ads

Photo by Yousuf Karsh. (From "Brading Men" ad campaign – Macleans, 1956)

The below bonus images and ads - presented in chronological order - didn't fit into my current Apartment613 story, "Capital History Ottawa: Henry Brading's Union Brewery, Est. 1865." Yousuf Karsh photos and 1950s colour ads start partway down the page. Enjoy!

Henry Fisher Brading, 1836-1903.

(Ottawa – Sept. 9, 1890) Henry's collie Kintorina ultimately finished 2nd in her division.

Brading's beer ad from "Directory of the members of the Sons of England for the city of Ottawa and the Ottawa Valley," 1899.

"Commencement in Hull of big fire of April 26, 1900." Brading's Union Brewery in foreground narrowly escaped destruction, saved by the gorge behind and possibly also a bucket brigade of loyal lumberjacks who doused any embers that crossed said gorge.

Brading's beer ad from "Ottawa Picturesque," 1901.

Brading Breweries ad, 1916.

Brading's Temperance work-around. (Ottawa Journal – Sept. 6, 1916)

During Temperance, “[a]n Ontario customer could write to a Quebec merchant, place an order for beer and enclose payment. The Quebec merchant could then transmit this order to the Brading plant in Ottawa, which would ship the beer direct to the consumer. Thanks to this Brading’s was able to sell enough to pay off a $90,000 mortgage before the law was amended.’’ ["In Search of the Perfect Brew in Ontario and Quebec," by Ian Bowering, 1993.] (In Quebec, only hard liquor was banned at the time.)

Brading's beer ad. (Ottawa Journal – May 7, 1918) Other wells had been dug on the brewery premises starting in 1866, however it wasn't until 1915 that the ballyhooed 1000-foot artesian well was excavated and put into use.

Brading's beer bottle, ca. 1920-50.

Ottawa Journal, 1926.

Brading's truck in front of CNE Princes' Gates, Toronto. (Ottawa Journal – Jan. 29, 1938)

Brading Breweries on Wellington St. (where Wellington & Sparks once converged), Ottawa, July 1938. (Original photo via Library & Archives – colourized by Ashley Newall)

Rear of Brading's building, Wellington St. (by Pooley's Bridge), Ottawa, 1938. 'Business in the front, party in the back': The Brading's facilities were much larger than they appeared from the street. (Original photo via Library & Archives – colourized by Ashley Newall)

The final iteration of Brading's brewery, top right corner, which became an affiliated O'Keefe's brewery in 1944: "(2) O'Keefe's Ottawa Brewery," ca. 1950. (Image via brewerianacollectors.ca)

Brading's Preston & Wellington location, Ottawa, where Brading's was brewed starting in 1944. The original brewery on Wellington @ Sparks brewed O'Keefe's from 1944-56. (Undated photo; Ottawa Citizen – Aug. 29, 1987)

Quebec Brading's Old Stock Ale ad, 1952.

Brading Breweries ad from Maclean's, 1954.

Brading's Cincinnati Cream Lager label, ca. 1955. First trademarked in 1927.

Brading's bottles (Porter, Lager, & Ale), mid-1950s. ("Unitt's Canadian price guide to antiques & collectables," 1991 – via Internet Archive)

Brading's Cincinnati Cream ad, (Maclean's, 1956)

"Active young moderns are changing to Cinci..." (Macleans, 1956)

Brading's Ale ad. Photo by Ottawa's Yousuf Karsh. (Macleans, 1956) Noticing a theme? ('Modern' young couples.)

Brading's ad. (Maclean's, 1957)

Brading's Ale ad. Photo by Yousuf Karsh. (Maclean's, 1957)

Brading's Cincinnati Cream ad. (Maclean's, 1957)

Brading "Cinci" ad. (Maclean's, 1958) Noticing a theme? (Doting women, goofy guys.)

Brading's Cincinnati Cream ("Cinci") lager suddenly now brought to you by Carling, as of 1959. (Maclean's, 1959)

Brading Ale suddenly also brought to you by Carling. Photo by Yousuf Karsh. (Maclean's, 1960)

Carling's Brading Ale ad. Photos by Yousuf Karsh. (Maclean's, 1960)

Brading Breweries being torn down. (Ottawa Citizen – March 24, 1960)

Brading's ad. (Ottawa Citizen – July 8, 1966)

Brading Ale stubby, ca. 1976. Brading's as a company ceased to exist in 1970, but for how long after the beer continued to be offered is unclear. (Canadian Breweries was renamed Carling-O'Keefe in 1973.) Two things wrong with this tagline: Brading Ale was not brewed by Carling "since 1867," but rather by Brading's starting in 1865. (Image via stubby.ca)