The origins of Sunshine Brewing Company can be traced to Peter Barbey & Son Brewing which was established in 1880 at West Elm and Gordon Streets in Reading. Peter Barbey, who started his first brewing company in 1859, died in 1889, leaving the his son John at the helm of their joint venture. In 1933 John Barbey, who had nursed the company through prohibition, came back as Barbey’s Inc. It was this time that he began using the term “Sunshine” to name the various beer products.
John Barbey continued to run the company until his death in 1939. Barbey’s Inc. continued until 1951 when Philadelphia’s Henry F. Ortlieb Brewing Company took ownership of Sunshine Brewing. In 1964 Sunshine was bought a final time by Reading Financial Corp. In 1966 the company implemented a $1 million plant improvement plan, which included constructing a modern 30,000 square foot packaging plant adjacent to the brewery.
Citing increasing competition from national brewers, Sunshine Brewing filed for bankruptcy in 1968 and continued operation until 1970. All of the contents of the buildings were liquidated in auction in 1971. In 1972 Hurricane Agnes devastated this riverfront area, leading to an unprecedented amount of damage. The brewery buildings at 245 West Elm Street, built by the father Peter Barbey in 1869, were demolished in an effort for urban revitalization in 1973. This included the state-of-the-art packaging plant built seven years prior. Townhomes were built on the site of the former brewery.
Sunshine was well marketed around the Berks County area, and is remembered for its jingles.
When we sit around the table
And the gals bring out the beer
Then they recognize it’s Sunshine
You ought to hear them cheer –
Oh we’ll have a sunny day
We’ll have a sunny day
We’ll sit around the table
and have a sunny day.
1957 Sunshine Beer Jingle
Amongst some of the beer Sunshine produced were Sunshine Porter, Sunshine Bavarian Beer, Sunshine Light and Sunshine Cream Ale.
Below is an aerial from 1937 of Barbey’s Inc. showing the streets and outline of the property in red, compared to an aerial today of the same area.
I remember it well
I remember the signs, but not the location. Could someone please post the location? Thank You!
This is an awesome site
I have a can opener with the logo on it. It’s a retractable bottle/can opener. Pretty cool.
Sunshine Brewery I believe it was located along the river off of Schuylkill Ave. What was the address?
As a kid, we use to eat at a bar restaurant called the Willow across or down the street from the brewery back in the early 1960s
My father started the daily brew at 4am every morning.
Completed a buyout of an estate here in Michigan and it had a brewery sign from Sunshine Brewery which is lighted and has a clock – in great shape. Just wondered if anyone would be interested with it in the area of the old brewery.