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THE HARVARD BREWING COMPANY
 
     Although the brewery sent out 3,500 invitations, over 
8,000 people showed up to Payton Street on the hot day of the 
event.  One spectator to the opening related that, "Something 
like 100 kegs of lager were consumed during the afternoon.  In 
the early part of the afternoon the respectable invitees could 
get up to the drinks but despite the efforts of the police under 
Sergeant Webster the bum element crept in and secured 
prime positions up front where they drank till they couldn't 
stand up.  In the brewery are iron stairs.  These soon got 
slippery and all gents with unsteady legs went down various 
flights with their legs in the air.  After a while the bums became 
so obnoxious and jaggy that the police made a final effort and 
cleared them out quite effectively about 5 o'clock.  When the 
bums were kicked out they lined Ayer City highways in all 
directions, straggled across fields, sang, fought and blessed the 
brewery."

     During the brewery's early years, a majority of the workers 
were German immigrants who created a small but thriving 
community in Ayer's City.  The Germans, carrying over 
European traditions, organized in 1896 and formed the United 
Brewery Workmen of the U.S.A.  The union was one of the 
first in the nation to win an eight hour workday and helped 
maintain excellent working conditions and benefits for its 
members.  Some time later, the German workers built their 
own community meeting place, Der Deutsche Halle (the 
German Hall), in Plain Street across from the brewery, which 
was used for union gatherings, cultural activities and company 
functions.

THE HARVARD BREWERY IS BORN
In January of 1898, a stockholders meeting was held where 
New York interests who recently gained control of a 
majority in shares were represented.  One of the decisions 
made at the meeting was to change the brewery's name to the 
Harvard Brewing Company in order to distinguish the concern 
from other Consumers' Brewing Companies in Chicopee, 
Massachusetts and in New York state.  Another change was in
 

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