Carling black label Beer | c. 1970
This Canadian Beer company, initially founded in 1818, gradually expanded its market throughout Canada and into the United Kingdom where it found significant success. Following the repeal of Prohibition in the 1930s, the Carling company looked to expand its market into the United States, with its first American brewery opening in Cleveland in 1934.
Their Red Cap Ale and Black Label brands were moderately popular and were produced in the U.S. In 1954, the company sought to expand its brewing operations into New England. Twenty-one communities around the Boston area were surveyed before Carling eventually settled on expanding their operations here in Natick. Construction on a plant soon began, and they opened their new brewery, the biggest in the state then, in 1956.
The town greeted the Carling Brewery enthusiastically when it opened and hailed it as “America’s most modern brewery.” The plant employed 250 people and could produce 1.2 million barrels of Red Cap Ale and Black Label Beer. Carling’s famous advertising slogan was “Hey Mabel, Black Label.” If you look closely at the bottle cap, you can see the words “Union Made.” To further integrate themselves into the Natick community, the company offered free tours of the brewery during the summer months.
The Carling Company closed the plant in 1975. However, there is still a way to tour the Carling Brewery in Natick, thanks to a promotional video put out in 1956 that was uploaded to YouTube. If you want to tour the Carling Brewing Company, you can watch the film, “Touring Carling Brewery Natick, Mass.” CLICK HERE.