Which One Is It?
CS2, CS28 or ?

CS2, Budweiser A & Eagle

In this article I will attempt to unravel the questions regarding the St. Louis Corporate Stein produced in 1976. It has been produced multiple times and carries many names and numbers: BG17, CS2, CSL2, CS28 and the A & Eagle stein.

It’s difficult to research or find valid information about this stein. Before attempting to establish numbers, let me describe the three major differences found in the stein. The first difference is a narrow (approximately 7/8") handle and a wide (about 1 5/32") handle. A second difference is whether the word “St. Louis” is incised into the upper lip of the stein. The last major difference is whether it is lidded or unlidded.

Some small variations in diameter and height exist in all the steins. This can be explained by the use of multiple molds and material shrinkage factors. Some advanced collectors also check the time on the clock tower. There appears to be three different time variations: no time, 4 o’clock, and 11 or 12 o’clock.

There is some speculation that the 7 5/8" steins without a time on the clock tower may have been released under a BG (Busch Gardens) number, but we have not been able to confirm this theory. However, in an early catalog from the Houston Brewery Gift Shop, an unlidded, narrow handled stein, non “St. Louis” is pictured and described as CS2. In a different catalog from the same brewery, a lidded, narrow handled with “St. Louis” is identified as CSL2. The common link here is the narrow handle, which makes me believe that all narrow handled steins (with or without “St. Louis”) are the CS2 and CSL2. That logic would make the wide-handled stein CS28. The unlidded wide handle stein was probably produced at the same time, but no CS number exists for it.

It should be noted that The Official Guide to Anheuser-Busch Steins identifies CS2 as an unlidded stein, and CSL2 and CS28 as being the same stein body. Accompanying photographs do not show the side of the CS2 stein, but the CSL2/CS28 photo clearly shows “St. Louis” at the top of the stein. The book presents both these steins as being lidded.

Thick-handled stein. “St. Louis” at top.

Narrow-handled stein. No “St. Louis” at top.

Lidded version with thick handle. “St. Louis” at top.

Lidded version with narrow handle. No “St. Louis”.

Anheuser-Busch Promotional Products Division confirms that CS28 is identical to CSL2. In their 1982 catalog, a wide-handled, lidded stein with St. Louis, Missouri, was pictured as a CS28. I bought one at that time for $24. In the stein book issued by the Collector’s Connection, their photographs of CS2 and CSL2 show the “St. Louis” at the top of the design, and their photograph of the CSL28 has no “St. Louis” on top. Both narrow and thick handle designs are attributed to CS2.

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*Reprinted by permission from American Breweriana Journal, November-December 1995, published by the American Breweriana Association.