Mettler (Raymond) Bear Creek Winery Collection, 1934-1974

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Summary

Title:
Mettler (Raymond) Bear Creek Winery Collection,
Dates:
1934-1974
Creators:
Raymond Mettler
Language:
English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Mettler (Raymond) Bear Creek Winery Collection, Ms33, San Joaquin County Historical Society and Museum.

Background

Scope and content:

The Mettler Bear Creek Winery Collection consists of payroll, tax and other financial records of the Winery dating from its earliest years (1934-1957). The collection also contains thank you notes to Raymond Mettler from three Republican politicians: Richard Nixon (1960); Gerald Ford (1967); and, Nancy Reagan (1970).

Biographical / historical:

Raymond Mettler was the son of a Russian German farmer, Henry Mettler, who settled in Lodi (Calif.) in 1905. He was a charter member of the Lodi Future Farmers of America and was a member of the state champion tree judging team (1930). A past President of the Victor Farm Bureau, member of the Board of Directors of the Lodi Grape and Wine Festival, Raymond Mettler was plant superintendent at the Bear Creek Vineyard Association. The Association began bulk wine production shortly after the repeal of Prohibition (1933) and, in an effort to improvement marketing, later joined the Del Rio Winery Association of Lodi and the Muscat Cooperative Winery Association of Fresno in a cooperative known as California Wine Sales (1937). The tremendous success of the newly formed sales agency during the 1940s led to the idea of bottling a variety of products from all member wineries under a single bottling label. This was accomplished in 1944 when the Guild brand was created and the cooperative name was changed to Wine Growers Guild. The company subsequently established a central bottling plant at Lodi (1947). By the 1960s Guild Wineries & Distilleries was the third largest wine producer in the United States, with eight wineries and nearly 500 grower/owners.

Physical description:
0.5 linear ft.

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Processed by Don Walker; machine-readable finding aid created by Don Walker
Date Prepared:
© 2000
Date Encoded:
Machine-readable finding aid derived from MS Word. Date of source: 1999.

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research by appointment only.

Terms of access:

The library can only claim physical ownership of the collection. Users are responsible for satisfying any claimants of literary property.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Mettler (Raymond) Bear Creek Winery Collection, Ms33, San Joaquin County Historical Society and Museum.

Location of this collection:
11793 North Micke Grove Road
Lodi, CA 95241, US
Contact:
(209) 331-2055
info@sanjoaquinhistory.org
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