The Culinary Historians present food historian Charles Perry, who will speak on ‘Beer and Baseball: The Maier Brewing Dynasty,’ on Saturday, January 8 at 10:30 a.m. at the Los Angeles Public Library downtown. In 1850, Los Angeles was a wine-drinking Old California pueblo, but as Yankees filtered in, they started breweries as early as 1854. By the end of the century, a thirsty, fast-growing city had made Bavarian immigrant Joseph Maier one of its leading citizens. The Maier family promoted public entertainments, above all baseball; Eddie Maier pitched for numerous local teams before taking the helm at Maier Brewing in 1909 and organized his own Pacific League team, the ultimate ancestor of the Hollywood Stars of 1938-58. Along the way, Eddie lived life on the grand scale, organizing car races that set world records and throwing barbecues for 4,000 at a time at his Simi Valley ranch. The Maier Brewery closed in 1974, but the 101 Freeway still makes a jog just east of Alameda Street, where the brewery stood when the freeway was built. A reception with themed refreshments will follow Perry’s talk at 11:30 a.m. The event is free and open to the public. Perry is president of the Culinary Historians. He has written and spoken widely on food history and is the co-author of ‘Medieval Arab Cookery’ and ‘Spuds, Truffles and Wild Gnocchi: The Patina Cookbook,’ and the author of ‘The Haight-Ashbury: A History.’ The Culinary Historians of Southern California is a nonprofit organization that supports the culinary collections at the Los Angeles Public Library. Visit chscsite.org.
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