What do you know and don't know about beer mat...
Beer mat is older more than one hundred years. It all started in 19th century. Tankards for "well-off" people contained silver or tin lids, to prevent leaves, insects, etc. from falling into the beer when drinking outside. Less well-off people had to drink their beer from tankards without lid. In order to protect their beer, they placed felt mats - used at the time for absorbing beer running down the tankard sides - on top of the glass.
This felt mat was involved by casting paper pulp into moulds which were left to set overnight. Mostly they were colored in dark red or dark green. At night, the felt mats were hung up to dry, ready to be reused the following day. Obviously, the felt was soon no longer hygienic and adversely influenced the taste of the beer.
The first cardboard mat was produced in 1880. Robert Sputh from Dresden patented his process of manufacturing so-called fibre cast mats in 1893. Until 1903 beer mats are produced in a huge quantity. Old-timers certainly remember porcelain coasters where drunk beer pints were marked on their boarders. Nowadays are also seen porcelain coasters but in microbreweries.
Beer mats aren't made only of paper. We recognize glass, wooden, cork, plastic and metal coasters. Beer mats taking place in private collections. They are often taking like souvenirs of holidays and are even possible to send like postcards.
The beer mat has become an indispensable, important marketing instrument and advertising tool. So you can see not only advertising coasters from breweries, but many companies use this marketing instrument such as political parties, destilleries, tobacco producents and many others.
So-called "pub artists" are also changing the original design of beer mats.
At many times they look great.
Not a few beer mats grip you when you can play some games. E.g. crosswords, puzzle, brain teasers etc.
Even exists a contest of the beer mat of the year. It is organized by the club in the Tabor city. For the year 2002 was elected the beer mat of the Herold Brewery based in Breznice city:
Do you know where you can see the biggest beer mat? If don't, visit the Muzeum of the records and curiosity
in Pelhrimov. There is exhibited a beer mat of diameter 800 mm and thickness 3 mm which was made
by the Papusprint company in Krtely for the Austrian Brewery Zwettl.
The Danish Carlsberg Brewery in Fredericia have not fell back. They troted out the giant beer mat in September 15, 2002
of diameter 15 m and thickness 6 cm!
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