Walter Brothers Brewery

                          

Christ Walter was the owner of Walter Brothers Brewing Company, brewer of Gold Label and Gem beers.  While not as celebrated as the Busch (Budweiser), Uehlein (Schlitz), or Pabst families, in the 1950s, the extended Walter family were the largest brewers in America, operating breweries in Menasha, Eau Claire, Appleton, and West Bend, Wisconsin as well as in Pueblo and Trinidad, Colorado.  Unable to match the marketing and sales budgets of the big national breweries, the Walter breweries closed one after another  in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. The last one to survive was Walter Brewing in Eau Claire which lasted until 1989.  While Christ Walter’s brewery was the first to shutter its operations in 1956, he maintained a separate political career in Menasha, becoming the Third Ward representative in the City Council and later, president of the Board of Aldermen.