Advertising for Beer: Local Identity and the Klondike Brewery, 1900–1920

Yukon entrepreneur Thomas O’Brien opened the O’Brien Brewing and Malting Company, better known as the Klondike Brewery, in Klondike City in 1904, after the population of Dawson City had dramatically declined following the end of the Klondike Gold Rush (1896–1899). O’Brien’s decision to open a new business following the gold rush refl ected his hope that Dawson would continue to develop and modernize, and O’Brien intended to be part of this growth. The Klondike Brewery operated from 1904 to 1919 and was the fi rst brewery in northern Canada. Local newspapers—the Yukon Sun and the Dawson Daily News—frequently reported on the progress and activities of the brewery during its construction and operation, and O’Brien took advantage of the media to advertise his products. He used both his brewery and its promotion to highlight not only what was special about his products, but also what he believed Dawson’s future could be. These ads emphasized the beer’s homegrown origins, they celebrated Klondike beer using Klondike cultural imagery, and they emphasized the brewery’s modern nature. O’Brien not only sold beer, but he sold an idea to those who remained after the rush. We argue that the ways in which O’Brien branded and marketed his products, specifi cally his beer, tapped into a developing sense of local cultural identity among the post-gold-rush settler population in Dawson City, and that O’Brien used his brewery to shape his idea of Dawson’s potential future. Published by Yukon College, Whitehorse, Canada The Northern Review 49 (2020): 133–165 https://doi.org/10.22584/nr49.2019.001 134 The Northern Review 49 | 2020 Craft beer and the breweries that create them have been growing in popularity globally since the early 1980s. Geographer Derreck Eberts described microbreweries as “tools of local identity which help to reconnect people with the places in which they live.”1 Th rough a process labelled “neo-localism,” Eberts argues, microbreweries invoke geography and place in their branding and marketing. Th is branding and marketing technique was no diff erent in the Klondike region of the Yukon Territory between 1904 and 1919 when the O’Brien Brewing and Malting Company, more commonly known as the Klondike Brewery, operated. Today, microbreweries utilize neo-localism within their marketing strategies. For example, Yukon Brewing in Whitehorse has several beers alluding to history and place in the Yukon using names such as “Chilkoot,” “Midnight Sun,” “Lead Dog Ale,” “Yukon Gold,” and “Bonanza Brown” (http://yukonbeer.com). Th e Klondike Brewery was an early example of a microbrewery in Canada’s North using similar neo-localism strategies. Th e language that owner Th omas O’Brien used in the advertisements he placed in local newspapers, such as the Yukon Sun and the Dawson Daily News, fi ts Eberts’s concept of neo-localism, suggesting that the Klondike Brewery was an early example in the long tradition of breweries attempting to connect their beer with sense of place and local identity. Anthropologist Mary Douglas has argued that the consumption of alcohol is, like other collective practices, an action in which identity is constructed and boundaries of inclusion and exclusion are formed.2 Th is seems to have been the case in Dawson during and following the gold rush. Saloons were the most common meeting place—for non-Indigenous people—and acted to shape who was included in planning Dawson’s future development and who was excluded. Breweries in other gold rush towns emerged with the infl ux of miners—as was the case with Circle City, Alaska, which had three breweries and twenty-eight saloons.3 However, there was no permanence to these breweries and they quickly closed once local mining populations moved to the next gold rush. Where most breweries were a fl ash-in-the-pan reaction to a large population infl ux, O’Brien seems to have built something diff erent in Dawson City. Our study of the Klondike Brewery expands on the 2002 work of archaeologists David Burley and Michael Will—one of the only published works that focuses explicitly on the brewery.4 In their work, Burley and

Craft beer and the breweries that create them have been growing in popularity globally since the early 1980s. Geographer Derreck Eberts described microbreweries as "tools of local identity which help to reconnect people with the places in which they live." 1 Th rough a process labelled "neo-localism," Eberts argues, microbreweries invoke geography and place in their branding and marketing. Th is branding and marketing technique was no diff erent in the Klondike region of the Yukon Territory between 1904 and 1919 when the O'Brien Brewing and Malting Company, more commonly known as the Klondike Brewery, operated. Today, microbreweries utilize neo-localism within their marketing strategies. For example, Yukon Brewing in Whitehorse has several beers alluding to history and place in the Yukon using names such as "Chilkoot," "Midnight Sun," "Lead Dog Ale," "Yukon Gold," and "Bonanza Brown" (http://yukonbeer.com). Th e Klondike Brewery was an early example of a microbrewery in Canada's North using similar neo-localism strategies. Th e language that owner Th omas O'Brien used in the advertisements he placed in local newspapers, such as the Yukon Sun and the Dawson Daily News, fi ts Eberts's concept of neo-localism, suggesting that the Klondike Brewery was an early example in the long tradition of breweries attempting to connect their beer with sense of place and local identity.
Anthropologist Mary Douglas has argued that the consumption of alcohol is, like other collective practices, an action in which identity is constructed and boundaries of inclusion and exclusion are formed. 2 Th is seems to have been the case in Dawson during and following the gold rush. Saloons were the most common meeting place-for non-Indigenous people-and acted to shape who was included in planning Dawson's future development and who was excluded. Breweries in other gold rush towns emerged with the infl ux of miners-as was the case with Circle City, Alaska, which had three breweries and twenty-eight saloons. 3 However, there was no permanence to these breweries and they quickly closed once local mining populations moved to the next gold rush. Where most breweries were a fl ash-in-the-pan reaction to a large population infl ux, O'Brien seems to have built something diff erent in Dawson City.
Our study of the Klondike Brewery expands on the 2002 work of archaeologists David Burley and Michael Will-one of the only published works that focuses explicitly on the brewery. 4 In their work, Burley and Will discuss the brewery as a symbol of future prosperity and they briefl y examine marketing techniques employed by O'Brien. Th ough Burley and Will draw out some themes they see emerge from these ads, and devote a paragraph to discussing Klondike Brewery advertisements, their focus is on the industrial archaeology of this brewery. 5 It is our intention to examine these same advertisements and marketing techniques to gain better insight into the ways in which O'Brien relied on concepts of neolocalism. We argue that the ways in which O'Brien branded and marketed his products, specifi cally his beer, tapped into a developing sense of local cultural identity among the post-gold-rush settler population in Dawson City, and that O'Brien used his brewery to shape his idea of what Dawson's future could be.

Drinking in Dawson After the Gold Rush: Th e Klondike Brewery
Most people who went to the Klondike went for gold, but entrepreneurs were just as important to gold rush narratives as miners-they saw the gold rush as a possibility to capitalize on miners' needs for goods and services. 6 In the fi rst winter of the gold rush (1896-97), the town of Dawson was made up of Indigenous locals-primarily the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in-and those miners and prospectors who were already up North. But by the summer of 1897 the Klondike stampede brought a population explosion of "cheechakos"-a contemporary Chinook term for newcomers-to the Yukon, providing the opportunity for entrepreneurs to start businesses serving the miners. 7 Saloons and bars were the most plentiful, and most popular, businesses in Dawson beginning in 1897.
Historian Max Nelson has argued that "the consumption of alcohol is usually very strongly embedded in socio-cultural ideologies since they tend in most societies not to be solitary activities but social ones performed in a social context." 8 During the gold rush years, Dawson City's population consisted of predominantly young, male, and transient people; to this demographic saloons were not only important for relaxation and social life, but also for learning the news-in the case of Dawson, news of the next gold rush or learning when claims had all been staked. 9 Similar to mining regions elsewhere, pubs and saloons were a staple to social life in Dawson (see Figure 1).
Historians have examined the role of the saloon and the tavern in contributing to the formation of social life and class consciousness. 10 In her study of American beer history, historian Amy Mittelman argues that "the quintessential saloon, as distribution outlet, seemed to occur most often in two situations, the frontier town and the industrial city." 11 Th ough Dawson was not an industrial city, it was considered by contemporaries, and many historians who write about it, as a frontier. 12 Th ose who went to the Klondike perceived it as unsettled land at the edge of civilization. Many stampeders who wrote of their experiences in the Klondike discussed typical frontier ideologies, such as the conquering of land and environment, and the frontier as a masculine space. Like many "frontier" areas, bars and saloons played an important role in the Klondike's social life and social relations. Th ere, people met friends, exchanged information, made business deals, and talked politics. Saloons in Dawson also served as a form of social welfare in times of unemployment, each winter providing food and shelter to the destitute after closing time. 13 Saloons' popularity continued after the rush; Lord Minto, who visited Dawson in 1900, remarked that "every third house [building] was a saloon." 14 Saloons retained their societal and cultural value in post-gold- rush Dawson, with many establishments becoming synonymous with political parties and as sites of planning for Dawson's future. For example, because of O'Brien's association with the Liberal Party in Dawson, the group held their meetings at the brewery and they became known as the "Steam Beers," maintaining the brewery as the Liberals' home base throughout O'Brien's affi liation with the party. 15 While the culture of alcohol consumption and spending time in saloons was an essential aspect of Dawson at this time, as well as part of Dawson's historical image, it is important to note that the saloon culture was fostered for the settler population in Dawson; not everyone was invited to participate.
In her study of taverns in Upper Canada, historian Julia Roberts argues that taverns were both public spaces where people could relax racial boundaries but also spaces where they were strictly enforced. 16 For Roberts, tavern life was very much concerned with forging a sense of belonging, a practice that often entailed hostility and violence towards "othered" groups, and that these practices refl ected the mixed nature of Upper Canadian society; the tavern serves as a window on "wider social and cultural patterns." 17 People of various ethnicities and genders met in the saloons in Dawson, to varying degrees of inclusion, but the Indigenous populations in the Yukon were excluded. A detailed analysis of the legal relationships between alcohol consumption and Indigenous populations in the Yukon is outside the scope of this article; however, some facts are required to demonstrate how saloons, and the Klondike Brewery, acted as venues of exclusion for Indigenous peoples in Dawson.
Th e discriminatory image of the "drunken Indian" informed settler perceptions about alcohol consumption and about Indigenous peoples. Th e stereotype was established as early as the nineteenth century; it refl ected the fact some Indigenous peoples engaged in excessive drinking when fi rst exposed to alcohol but, more so it refl ected settlers' anxieties about Indigenous peoples and their place in mainstream society. In 1835, the British colonial government passed the Act to Prevent the Sale of Spiritous Liquors to Indians-this regulation infl uenced Indigenous participation in tavern social life based on their race, and it emphasized their place on the margins of public life by "delegitimizing their participation in one of its everyday locales." 18 Th is exclusion continued with the implementation of the Indian Act of 1876, which further enforced the illegality of Indigenous peoples consuming alcohol and of anyone supplying or selling alcohol to them anywhere in Canada. 19 Th ese racial ideologies associated with drinking were refl ected in the spatial venues of consumption in Dawson. 20 Just as Indigenous peoples were banned from consuming alcohol under the Indian Act, they were also not permitted to enter local liquor establishments unless they were enfranchised. 21 Where non-Indigenous men and women congregated in saloons and pubs, which acted as political gathering sites, sites of community, and sites of economic exchange, Canadian law kept Indigenous people out, relegating them to the margins of daily socioeconomic and cultural interactions. 22 While drinking alcohol and spending time in saloons was a large aspect of life for many people living in Dawson during the gold rush and the decades after, drinking beer was an expensive hobby. Before the Klondike Brewery opened, saloon owners shipped beer long distances from southern Canada and the Lower 48, which raised its cost for barkeepers and customers alike. Imports from cities such as Seattle and Vancouver could run as high as $1,580 in 1903 for thirty cases of beer (with approximately $400 in shipping fees on top of product price). 23 Th e challenges of shipping into the Yukon limited deliveries to after spring breakup when ships could reach Dawson, leading to constricted supply over the winter months. 24 Not everyone in Dawson was pleased with the frequent consumption of alcohol, and prohibition and temperance movements impacted the liquor industry in the Yukon as early as 1897. Prohibitionists began the Eldorado Bottling Works in Dawson in 1897 and it operated until 1901. Th e company made syrups, ciders, ginger ale, sarsaparilla, lemon, cream, and strawberry sodas, along with mineral water. Th e Eldorado Bottling Works delivered to homes and businesses within Dawson and set up a mail order business to the goldfi elds in order to encourage Dawsonites to choose non-alcoholic options. 25 Once the population of Dawson declined following the gold rush, as indicated in Table 1, further tension emerged in Dawson regarding alcohol consumption. Prohibitionists and temperance reformers lobbied to limit-or eliminate-the number of saloons and liquor licences in Dawson. 26 Saloon keepers also petitioned the government in 1905 to limit the number of licensed saloons in order to keep themselves competitive. 27 In July of 1902, the Yukon Territorial Government issued a Liquor Ordinance that led the number of saloon licences to decrease in favour of licensing hotels. 28 In 1900 there were nine hotels and twenty-three saloon licences granted; in 1901, twelve hotels and twenty-two saloon licences; and in 1902, thirty hotels and twenty-one saloon licences. While there are no sources that explicitly lay out O'Brien's vision for the future, his involvement in Dawson industry and politics suggests that he believed Dawson's economy would grow. All levels of government, and most individuals living in Dawson after the rush, considered mining to be the future of the Yukon. Gold production in the Yukon increased after the gold rush even though the population of miners declined. Th is was due to the shift from placer mining to industrial mining after 1906. Th e year 1908 saw the beginning of a slow and steady rise in production until 1914, with peak production in 1913 when the Yukon Gold Company and the Canadian Klondyke Mining Company mined nine tons of gold, combined. 32 Th is increase in gold production paralleled O'Brien's beer production, and it is likely that increased mining seemed to promise a profi table future for business in the Klondike region.
While southern companies no longer targeted Dawson as a market, Th omas O'Brien knew there remained a demand for beer among the post-gold-rush settler population and took advantage of decreased foreign supply and accessibility. O'Brien, an entrepreneur and prominent economic and political fi gure in Dawson from the late 1880s until his death in 1916, identifi ed this post-gold-rush settler population as a ready market for beer and in 1904 he formed the O'Brien Brewing and Malting Company along with fi ve investors including Dr. Alfred Th ompson, a member of the Liberal Party, and Edward "Black" Sullivan, an old friend of O'Brien's from Forty Mile. 33 Before his brewery, he had been involved in retail trade and the sale of liquor at his store. 34 O'Brien built his new brewery in Klondike City-an area at the confl uence of the Yukon and Klondike rivers on the outskirts of Dawson. 35 When construction of the brewery began in 1904, the announcement was heralded in the Yukon Sun with great aplomb, announcing, "Dawsonites May Tipple Before Spring" and "Brewery Nearly Ready to Brew: It Will be a Great Institution." 36 Part of the general excitement was certainly for the novelty of a local brewery and the expectation of local industry. Th is was no amateur operation that O'Brien had brought to Dawson City, but included O'Brien's original store property, to act as the main space for brewing, and a newly built adjacent building holding the boiler room to power the brewery. Th e back of O'Brien's former store held vats and hot water tanks, and the front, cooling tanks and fi ve 2,000 gallon storage tanks. 37 O'Brien reported in the Yukon Sun that he anticipated his brewery could produce 15,000 gallons of beer per day-though it never actually produced that much-more than enough to wet the whistle of Dawson's population. 38 It was clearly O'Brien's design to expand his market beyond Dawson, as the mission of the brewery is spelled out within one of his ads in the Yukon Sun, which stated "all downriver trade will naturally fall to the institution [the brewery]," as his beer would be cheaper than the competition. 39 If the brewery's mission is to be taken literally, this would mean following the Yukon River through Alaska to its mouth in the Bering Sea. However, whatever the intended market, it was clear the brewery meant to provide its product not only to local Dawson consumers, but to those outside Dawson wishing to imbibe. Another possibility is that the mere mention of the capability of the brewery and its intention to distribute far beyond Dawson might have been a rhetorical approach to add excitement to its opening. In reality, there is no evidence that Klondike beer ever moved outside of Dawson.
Th e Klondike Brewery operated from 1904 to 1919 producing steam beer, lager, bock, porter, ginger beer, and champagne cider. Th e brewery also produced non-alcoholic drinks such as ginger ale, cream and lemon soda, aerated water, and sarsaparilla, and it sold imported cigars. O'Brien also sold his products wholesale to saloons, hotels, and retail outlets. By the end of 1904, O'Brien's beer (the only local option) was outselling imported beer in the most popular saloons in Dawson, such as the popular MacDonald's Saloon, which bought exclusively from O'Brien by 1907. 40 Before the Klondike Brewery began operating, the most commonly available beer in Dawson was Lemp's Beer from St. Louis. Th e Klondike Brewery was cheaper than imported beer, going for between twenty-fi ve to fi fty cents a bottle as opposed to $1.00 a bottle for other brands. 41 Th e opening of a new business when others were closing may have contributed to a positive opinion of the brewery among Dawsonitesrecords that discuss individual reception of the brewery are minimal. However, it is reasonable to suggest, based on the production of 289,000 gallons of beer in its fi rst fi ve years of operation, that the brewery was a welcome addition to Dawson. 42 Burley and Will argue that, in 1904, the Klondike Brewery, "formed a symbol of stability and a verifi cation of the town's anticipated prosperity." 43 In the post-gold-rush community, the Klondike Brewery was considered a large employer, employing thirteen men throughout its lifespan and fi fteen for most of the year in 1909. According to the Dawson Directory, O'Brien's sons Henry and James were employed as bottlers from 1910-1917 and his son Charles as bookkeeper from 1916-1917.
Th e lower cost of local beer, the limitations placed on imported beer, the restrictions under the Liquor Ordinance discussed earlier, and the hope for future growth and employment all contributed to the early success of the Klondike Brewery. O'Brien, an established businessman, also worked to draw customers to his product by frequently printing advertisements in local newspapers, which highlighted what he perceived was special about his products-their relation to a specifi c post-gold-rush Yukon identity.

Neo-Localism and the Klondike Brewery
Th roughout the course of the brewery's life, O'Brien used newspaper advertisements and reports to drum up interest and business. Before the brewery opened in 1904, O'Brien regularly printed updates in his own newspaper-the Yukon Sun-on the progress of the brewery, and he created anticipation for its opening day in April of 1904. 44 O'Brien was confi dent in his product early on, suggesting in the Yukon Sun that his beer "will make the Pabst article taste like soda water without any soda in it" and will sell at a price that will allow his company to "put any other beer out of contest." 45 His competitor, the Dawson Daily News-the most widely read paper at the time-also printed Klondike Brewery ads and reported on its activities. Once the brewery opened in 1904, the Yukon Sun and Dawson Daily News printed advertisements and reports on the brewery until 1917. Th ese ads emphasized the beer's local and homegrown origins, celebrated Klondike beer using Klondike cultural imagery, and emphasized the brewery's modern nature. Two common themes present themselves within O'Brien's Klondike Brewery advertisements, refl ecting on the history of the brewery itself: the fi rst emphasized how Dawson continued to develop and thrive after the gold rush, and the second was how O'Brien's brewery promotion attempted to contribute to post-gold rush society and identity in Dawson.
In ads that evoked a sense of place, O'Brien emphasized the brewery's "homegrown" origin, even though he frequently advertised that he purchased ingredients from outside the territory. Geographers Jay Gatrell, David Nemeth, and Charles Yeager argue that the geography (and history) of brewing and beer has been linked to natural resources and the location of critical inputs, such as rivers. Ideally, industry "seeks to optimize production by identifying locations that minimize transportation costs." 46 For O'Brien, it was not possible to place his facility in a location that would minimize transportation costs. Dawson faced certain limitations of isolation that other contemporary breweries did not, forcing O'Brien to use non-local ingredients. It was common for Canadian brewers to import hops from Washington, California, and Idaho, and O'Brien reported that he would get his malt and hops from "the California metropolis [San Francisco]." 47 Aside from hops and malt, there were other ingredients O'Brien required that did not grow in the Subarctic climate. For example, according to an 1899 recipe for ginger beer, O'Brien would have needed to import ginger root (possibly from Jamaica), lemons, and a special brewer's yeast. 48 Beyond ingredients, the brewer O'Brien employed was an expert from San Francisco who used the infamous California method of making steam beer using the specifi c technique of kräusening, which is to put top-fermenting beers through a second fermentation process meant to speed up and add carbonation to beer. 49 Burley and Will argue that "Th e types of beer and other commodities that were produced [at the brewery], the machinery by which they were produced, and the means by which they were packaged and marketed articulate the brewery with the outside world." 50 At the same time, they refl ect local conditions, challenges, and consumer demands that tied Dawson with southern Canada and the Lower 48.
Dawson and the rest of the Yukon maintained strong connections with the Outside (beyond the territory) since the beginning of the gold rush; not only did most people who came to the Klondike during the gold rush come from all over the world, but they brought with them southern ideologies, institutions, and structures. 51 Newcomers who came to Dawson, like to settlements elsewhere in Canada, made concerted eff orts to reproduce their older home communities in the Klondike. 52 Not only did they maintain ideological connections with the Outside, but material ones as well-people had luxury items, such as silk stockings and pianos, shipped to Dawson. 53 Although they had access to local meat and fi sh, Dawsonites also imported livestock not present in the Yukon, such as cows and chickens, in an attempt to replicate southern diets. Th erefore, importing ingredients for beer was not unusual, especially given that the climate of the Yukon did not allow for local sourcing of the required ingredients-with the exception of water. What is interesting, however, was that O'Brien continued to promote his beer as "homegrown" despite the reliance on Outside ingredients.
Th ough the beer was clearly not crafted from local ingredients, that fact did not deter O'Brien from advertising his beer as homegrown-it was brewed in Dawson at a local facility, which seemed to matter more to the idea of locally produced than the origin of the ingredients. Th e Klondike Brewery off ered a local option that came directly from the town rather than imported from Outside. Th ey had local labels and a brand that stood behind place and community. 54 Th roughout the tenure of the brewery's operation, O'Brien fi rst, and then Joseph Segbers, who bought the business from O'Brien in 1915, continuously expressed to customers that buying Klondike beer meant supporting local business and keeping money in the Yukon (see Figure 2). 55 Beyond the practical and material elements that connected Dawsonites to Klondike beer, were important cultural elements. In his discussion of neo-localism Eberts argues that, "brands are used to convey multiple layers of meaning or values, and this can include an appeal to consumers' sense of identity. For many, this identity is inextricably tied to place." 56 Th rough implementing typical "Klondike" imagery in their ads, the Klondike Brewery took advantage of the place-based identity present in Dawson by connecting its emphasis on locally produced beer with a sense of unique local culture. In his examination of beer commercials and masculinity, media ecology specialist Lance Strate identifi es several techniques in modern beer advertising that utilize nature and extreme conditions, as well as leisure after a hard day of work, in order to appeal to a male audience. 57 Th ese techniques of emphasizing human connection with nature are also present in O'Brien's Klondike Brewery ads meant to appeal to Dawson's male population. Th e brewery itself was often called Klondike Brewery in ads, not its offi cial name of O'Brien Brewing and Malting Co. Th is was a purposeful choice that appealed to the connection between place and identity in the Klondike. Th e image of the Klondike as a remote land with a harsh and extreme climate that "man" had to overcome was common in contemporary writing about the Yukon. Many people who spent time in the Yukon and who wrote memoirs or reported on their time there, often characterized the environment of the North as an untamed wilderness and an enemy that "man" had to fi ght, resist, and conquer in order to be successful in the Klondike. 58 As mentioned earlier, the image of the Klondike, historically, was that of a very masculine space. Much of this was rooted in reality, with the population of Dawson during the years of the Gold Rush made up of ninety-two percent male to eight percent female in 1898. 59 Historians have examined a trend across North America at the turn of the twentieth century, which encouraged men to seek connections with nature and escape the confi nes and limitations placed on them by modern, industrial life. In her environmental history of the Klondike gold rush, Kathryn Morse argues that industrialization led to a feeling of human alienation from nature, but those who participated in the gold rush stepped away from the industrial world in the Yukon and came to rely on direct relations with the natural world. 60 Th e idea of the Klondike off ering a pre-industrial way of living and labour attracted many Americans to the gold rush as they sought an escape from the boredom of industrialized life and society. Historians Tina Loo and Tina Adcock have each examined the belief, held in the late nineteenth century, that the modern world was making men eff eminate, and that engaging with nature was an ideal way to restore masculinity. 61 In 1898, American novelist and essayist Hamlin Garland, who visited Dawson, explained in a McClure's Magazine article that the type of man who could reap the benefi ts of the Klondike's wealth was, "a man enlisting for a war. He should be able to pass the examination which is required of a soldier in the German army. [...] It is no place for weak men, lazy men, or cowards." 62 Th is idea of the Klondike strengthening the relationship between "man" and nature was strongly tied to concepts of the working man and frontiersman. Between 1896 and 1900, semi-skilled and unskilled workers made up sixty-fi ve percent of Dawson's workforce, over half of whom were miners. Even after the gold rush, the majority of workers in Dawson were semi-skilled tradesmen. 63 Appealing to the working class in Dawson made good business sense for O'Brien. Many of his ads directly appealed to the labourers in Dawson, while also connecting to the Klondike's specifi c local environment. For example, in May of 1905 one ad in the Dawson Daily News specifi cally referenced the harsh winters (see Figure 3).
Th e Klondike winter was no easy place to live and work, and this ad suggests that surviving a gruelling winter should mean rewarding oneself with a beer. Further, this ad worked doubly to appeal to workers who were about to the endure a season of physical labour and heat, and a big glass of refreshing beer-such as a lager or a steam beer-after work would indulge a worker's thirst.
Th e idea of the Yukon as a working man's space correlated with the concept of frontier masculinity in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Characteristics of frontier masculinity were quite similar across the British Empire. Historian Angela Woolacott examined frontier masculinity in the Australian context, and Adele Perry and Elizabeth Furniss have both studied the gendered aspects of resource extraction  May 25, 1905. in frontier zones in British Columbia. Th ese studies have shown that across the empire, frontier masculinity was characterized by freedom and independence from the constraints of modern life; bravery and courage; knowledge of the natural world and physical and mental ability to conquer nature; sportsmanship; resilience; individualism; and a willingness to engage in violence if, or when, necessary. Expressions of frontier masculinity also included the assertion of dominance not only over local environments, but over women and local Indigenous populations. 64 Th e concept of frontier masculinity in the Yukon shared these characteristics, but also included localized traits. Historians Peter Kikkert and Whitney Lackenbauer have analyzed these beliefs about frontier masculinity in their work on Yukon soldiers in the First World War, with a thorough analysis of editorials and published soldiers' letters in the Dawson Daily News, which often proudly remarked on the masculine characteristics of Yukon soldiers. 65 Th ese editorials suggest that men from the Yukon were more self-reliant, could more easily physically and mentally adapt to challenging environments, and were more innovative in diffi cult circumstances than men from elsewhere in Canada. 66 In the Yukon, the ultimate frontiersmen were the Yukon pioneer and the sourdough. Th e sourdough-a term that described an experienced gold miner or a southerner who became a long-time resident of the North-was a crucial image to the unique local culture of the Klondike. Th e sourdough was a true Yukoner, one who was there before the rush-the term could also create a sense of pride among those who stayed after the rush to settle and call the Yukon home. Even as mining in the Yukon shifted from that of placer mining to industrial dredging, the image of the individualistic and independent sourdough remained the stereotypical image of Yukon masculinity decades after the gold rush ended. Figure 4 portrays a typical mining scene around the Klondike goldfi elds-as the original caption suggests, these men fi t the ideal image of the Yukon sourdough.
O'Brien called upon the image of the sourdough in marketing his brewery. Th e most obvious of these ads was one that O'Brien ran annually between 1912 and 1917 that had a bold headline exclaiming that his beer was "Th e Sourdough's Favorite Beverage." 67 As the population declined, O'Brien devoted more newspaper space stressing the permanency of his business. He also printed ads targeted specifi cally at members of the Yukon Order of Pioneers (Y.O.O.P.)-a fraternal club for men who had resided in the Yukon, "in good standing," for at least ten years. 68 In using terms like "sourdough," and demonstrating connections to Y.O.O.P., he attempted to appeal to the loyalty of those who remained after the gold rush.
O'Brien's personal reputation also helped strengthen the branding of the brewery as a pioneering venture. O'Brien was a well-known and respected Dawsonite. He was a sourdough himself and an early Yukon entrepreneur. 69 72 Unlike many others who came into the Klondike at the turn of the century, he made his fortune in the Yukon and remained, making it his home until his death. 73 His involvement in various business ventures and politics proved he was a committed Yukoner who worked to develop the region. He was so popular in town that in 1902 Dawson citizens began a petition to persuade O'Brien to allow his nomination for Yukon Council. Within two hours it had gained hundreds of signatures from Dawsonites. Th ey applauded his "loyalty to everything that would advance the best interests of this country." 74 Before the brewery opened, the Yukon World reported on the brewery and stated that O'Brien, "has always been on the frontier all his life. Th ere is no more typical pioneer than Mr. O'Brien." 75 When O'Brien died on August 24, 1916, ironically from liver trouble, notice of his death occupied full front-page news in the local papers. Th e Dawson Daily News described O'Brien as a Yukon Pioneer and Empire Builder, and his funeral closed down Dawson businesses and government operations for the day out of respect and esteem. It was one of the largest attended funerals in the Yukon to that point with hundreds lining the streets and attending a parade procession. 76 Th e combination of O'Brien's notoriety and his ads championing Yukon pride worked to secure a certain image of his beer and his customers. Th ere is no doubt that Tom O'Brien felt a sense of attachment to the Klondike and a large part of his individual and community identity was tied to place. O'Brien had great pride in being a Yukoner and believed that those who remained after the gold rush felt similarly. Capturing nostalgia about the pioneering days at the turn of the century in his advertising was important to sense of place and the culture of the Klondike.
But O'Brien was not stuck in the past; his ads and the way he ran his brewery also expressed his commitment to "modernizing" the Klondike. 77 Even before the brewery opened, the Yukon Sun boasted it would be the "most extensive brewing plant in the North." 78 Th e Klondike Brewery was the only brewery in the Yukon, but Alaska boasted several breweries that may have taken umbrage with O'Brien's claims, including the Tanana Brewing Co., Barthel, and Arctic Brewing in Fairbanks; Nome Brewing Co., Skagway Brewery, and Eagle Brewery in Skagway; Valdez Brewing Co. and a host of breweries in Douglas City and Juneau, Alaska. 79 Despite these Alaskan options, O'Brien expected the market to extend beyond Dawson, though it never did.
O'Brien and his team, including master-brewer Charles E. Bolbrugge from San Francisco, attempted to place the Klondike Brewery on a global scale by connecting his modern operation, modelled on San Francisco breweries, with the growth of technological transformation in brewing more broadly. Th is was particularly evident in his decision to adopt the Steam Beer technique. Th e choice to use the steam beer technique was both technologically and culturally signifi cant. Steam beer is a style still familiar today in California, now called California common beer. Th is distinct technique was created for the hot temperatures associated with brewing beer in California and west coast breweries that had trouble acquiring ice for low temperature fermentation. Utilizing both German lager technique and yeast, Californian brewers developed a method by which steam power was used to ferment lager yeast at higher temperatures in shallow open-air fermenters. Fermentation resulted in fl at beer, so brewers carbonated through a second fermentation, or "krausening," in a colder environment, to remove any unwanted fl avours associated with brewing at high temperatures, and which led to strong carbonation that gave the appearance of a release of steam when the keg was tapped, creating a heady top foam. 80 Krausening was not required to make clean-tasting beer in Dawson where the temperatures are far colder than in California. O'Brien's decision to produce steam beer from his brewery-bringing in the equipment to create steam beer and hiring a Californian brewer who was experienced in the krausening process-was a purposeful action either to associate the Klondike Brewery with technological achievements in brewing, and support his claim of building the "most extensive brewing plant in the North," or because this beer style was meant for specifi c consumers in Dawson City. 81 O'Brien's choice to produce a steam beer in Dawson could have refl ected his consumer base, or at least who he believed his consumer was. Steam beer was simultaneously an endemic American style born from the needs of beer consumers and reactionary to the specifi c needs of the hot Californian environment. However, contemporary brewing manuals as well as popular literature from this time suggests that steam beer was more than the quintessential Californian beer, but was also the quintessential beer of the working classes. Wahl and Heinus's American Handy Book of the Brewing Malting and Auxiliary Trades, published in 1902, describes steam beer as "a very clear, refreshing drink, much consumed by the labouring classes." 82 Author Jack London, who spent time in Dawson during the gold rush, also alluded to steam beer's working-class roots in his memoir John Barleycorn. 83 In using the name Klondike Brewery in his advertisements and news articles, as well as advertising the brewery's connection with California ingredients, O'Brien was purposefully aligning his brewery with the bustle and wealth of gold-rush-era Dawson City and with his own notoriety as a sourdough and pioneer in the Klondike, in an appeal to his male customers.
However, there is also evidence that O'Brien was cognizant of a possible female customer base as well. Historical studies of alcohol and beer from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries generally focus on men, as public drinking was identifi ed as more of a masculine activity. In Dawson, women did not shy away from the drinking culture and social life of the town, however it was more common for prostitutes and other "unrespectable" women to be open about alcohol consumption. Figure 5 shows a group of prostitutes posing for a photo at their "drinking bee" in 1900. Th ere is evidence that suggests O'Brien also appealed to women in his ads, specifi cally through the context of family and domestic life. For example, the ad in Figure 6, which mentions family, as well as home delivery, suggests that O'Brien recognized that the numbers of women and families were growing in Dawson and they off ered a new customer base. As mentioned earlier, during the gold rush year, males made up between eighty-eight to ninety-two percent of Dawson's population. By 1921, that gender divide had decreased with sixty-eight percent men and thirty-two percent women. 84 It seems likely that O'Brien was engaging with women through the woman's domain of household and family in this ad, which he produced again in future years. He further hoped to capture more customers through his non-alcoholic products. Th is is indicated in ads that mention soft drinks and, in addition, by 1914 the brewery made home deliveries. 85 Th is was likely in reaction to a developing temperance movement in Dawson, similarly to elsewhere in Canada at this time, largely supported by women. By advertising both alcoholic and non-alcoholic products to diff erent audiences in Dawson City, O'Brien attempted to garner a solid customer base in a former gold rush town where the future growth of the town and population was uncertain.  News coverage and ads for the Klondike Brewery in the Yukon Sun and the Dawson Daily News make clear O'Brien's attempt to create customer loyalty by appealing to place-based identity and local culture though reinforcing the established idea of the Yukon pioneer while also emphasizing the modernization and permanency of Dawson. Connected to these ideas were ads that emphasized the health benefi ts of drinking Klondike beer. During a period when ill-health became increasingly monitored in Dawson, O'Brien emphasized that his beer was a healthy, local alternative to imported goods. After 1913 especially, Klondike Brewery ads emphasized the health benefi ts of drinking their beer. An ad that ran on December 9, 1913, in the Dawson Daily News (Figure 7) encouraged its readers to "Hear the Doctor," arguing a certain amount of alcohol was necessary for digestion and to ensure a healthy stomach. A 1914 ad stated Klondike Brewery products were "free from injurious chemicals, are health producing, and no family should be without it," where another simply stated, "For Good Health Drink O'Brien Brewing and Malting Co.'s Beer." 86 It is possible that this "healthful" ad campaign was a response to the developing temperance movement in Dawson that saw liquor as a social ill, as Burley and Will suggest. 87 It is more likely, however, that this campaign was a response to local health and sanitation conditions in Dawson City. 88 Th ough the population in Dawson expanded between 1896 and 1899, sanitation services did not arrive with increased numbers of people and Dawson was left with poor sanitation that created health hazards for everyone living in the area. Th e Yukon River was used as a garbage disposal due to the lack of disposal facilities in Dawson. Sewage was also dumped into both the Klondike and Yukon rivers, which resulted in health hazards and the contamination of the water supply. Instances of typhoid, dysentery, and diarrhea ran rampant in Dawson in the early 1900s. After tuberculosis outbreaks between 1907 and 1910, settlers seemed increasingly preoccupied with hygiene and sanitation. Anglican ministers began giving lectures in churches and Indigenous communities about health, hygiene, and sanitation and, after this time, there was more local media coverage about health. 89 It was not until the 1930s that Dawson had a proper (and regularly functioning) drainage system. Dr. Alfred Th ompson, a respected doctor in town and known friend of Th omas O'Brien, was part owner of O'Brien Brewing and Malting Co., and it is possible that his association with the Brewery gave more weight to these types of ads. O'Brien advertised widely between 1904 and 1915 for his "Yukon made" lager, a style of beer that had gained popularity in North America in the nineteenth century. Historian Jeff rey Pilcher argues that aside from price, what made lager rise in global popularity was that it seemed to express ideals of modernity. It had a clean, hygienic taste that stood in contrast to heavier, strongly fl avoured beers, which often had bacterial contamination. 90 Bacterial contamination was certainly a concern in Dawson during the lifespan of the Klondike Brewery. As discussed above, the only local ingredient used in Klondike beer was water. Th e water used by the brewery came from the same water supply-the local rivers-that previously had helped spread typhoid, diarrhea, and dysentery. Contaminated water was also an eff ect of mining activity. For example, arsenic was natural to the environment of Dawson but was disturbed with mining, exposing arsenic-containing rocks to surface water and eventually into the water supply. Historian Liza Piper argues that placer mining employed relatively few chemicals with the exception of mercury, which resulted in mercury-contaminated water descending into the tailing piles, and into the ground and surrounding waters of the Klondike River and creeks. 91 A critical improvement to hygiene and sanitation in Dawson was the construction of drainage and sewer systems with provision for a clean water supply. Th ere was a newly formed Board of Health in 1899 and by 1900, before the opening of the brewery, adequate sewer and water supply systems operated. 92 However, because local health conditions during the gold rush could often be traced back to polluted water supplies, it is possible that people may have been hesitant to drink beer produced with local water at fi rst. O'Brien's ads emphasizing how modern the brewery was, and the healthy quality of the beer and the water it used, was perhaps an eff ort to quell any concern that the water was still unhealthy. **** Th e Klondike Brewery ceased operation in 1919 when the Yukon Territorial Government passed prohibition legislation. But even before prohibition, the brewery suff ered a downturn in sales, as well as decreased production beginning in 1914. Much of this decline in activity in the last fi ve years of the brewery's lifespan was a result of the First World War. According to historian Michael Gates, nearly a quarter of the Yukon's population, or over 900 men, enlisted in the war leading to a tremendous population fl uctuation during the war years. 93 Th is lower population of men in the Yukon likely had consequences for the Klondike Brewery. Furthermore, the war helped bolster the eff orts of prohibition groups that had been at work all across Canada in the early twentieth century. In the Yukon, women's groups and patriotic societies in particular vocally campaigned for prohibition throughout the war years, arguing that money spent on alcohol consumption and production would be better spent on the war eff ort. While prohibition was a popular cause in the Yukon, a plebiscite on the issue in August of 1916 resulted in a win for the "Wets" by only three votes. 94 Finally, the war led to economic decline in the Yukon as well. During war years, the gold standard decreased in value, and the war-related rise in production costs was not sustainable for large mining corporations to produce at the same capacity they had prior to war. Additionally, other minerals used in wartime production, such as copper and silver, were in greater demand than gold-and gold was the staple of the Yukon's economy. 95 Th is economic decline was particularly dramatic considering the rapid industrialization of gold mining in the territory less than a decade earlier. 96 By 1914, a reduced population, the push for prohibition, and economic decline together undoubtedly impacted beer sales in the Klondike.
Th ough the brewery operated only fi fteen years, the O'Brien Brewing and Malting Company was one of the longest-lasting and more successful post-gold-rush businesses in the Yukon. Once the Klondike Brewery closed, the Yukon remained without a brewery until 1997 when Yukon Brewing opened in Whitehorse. Alcohol and saloons have been included, at least in some capacity, in nearly every historical study of the Klondike gold rush. Drinking was clearly an informative aspect in the unique culture and local identity of miners, but the importance of alcohol and venues for its consumption did not fade out after the rush. Th ough the population of Dawson declined rapidly following the gold rush, a population remained and restructured their sense of community, culture, and identity to adapt to these new circumstances.
Th omas O'Brien's marketing of Klondike Brewery beer to the postgold-rush settler population drew on the interconnected web of place, history, and identity. He emphasized the "Yukon-ness" of his products by advertising them as locally based, appealing to historic images and a unique local culture, and interacting with the possibilities of Dawson's future. His approach to gaining customers suggests that the strategy of neo-localism is not a recent concept developed by craft brewers in the 1980s, but an older tradition that attempted to connect people to the products they consumed.
Little evidence exists that allows us to analyze the reception of these ads, and that of the brewery itself, among the Dawson population, though some sources allow us to draw some likely conclusions. Th e amount of coverage the Dawson Daily News-not owned by O'Brien-aff orded to the brewery throughout its construction and lifespan suggests that there was some level of excitement for this new addition to local industry, and hope for continued development in Dawson. 97 What we are more certain of is that both the ads and O'Brien's brewery provide a glimpse into the way that he perceived post-gold-rush culture and identity, and the future he believed Dawson could have. He perceived Dawson as a permanent community, with settled families, building a modern (and healthy) future for itself. Th is cultural identity related to both past and present.
Whether it was advertising the Klondike Brewery through an emphasis on supporting local business, the modernity of the brewery itself, an appeal to a broad audience, or through the health benefi ts of a cold beer, Th omas O'Brien attempted to make his business a success through connecting it to the vision he had for Dawson's future. Th e life of Th omas O'Brien and the Klondike Brewery was intimately tied to the life of Dawson City. O'Brien was a sourdough and pioneer, yet he was also a modernizing force in Dawson City when Dawson was defi ning itself after the gold rush. Th e Klondike Brewery hearkened to the glory days of the gold rush in Dawson, but also represented a hope for permanency and growth. Th e Klondike Brewery, as a cultural institution for a period of time in Dawson City, is a window through which we can view Dawson City after the gold rush. While we will never know the taste of the beer that would "make Milwaukee Jealous," we can get a glimpse of Dawson through the lens of O'Brien's brewery.