For Mother Road, our roots are here. We want to talk about those roots and how deep they run.
So, what started as a playful conversation about all the connections to Route 66, Marquess, an NAU alum, learned that NAU received a grant to survey diverse Route 66 populations. “That means everyone – all the varied, distinct and distinguished who live along the Mother Road,” said Marquess.
The grant would afford Special Collections the ability to hire two paid interns to examine the collection, document oral histories and archive the many boxes associated with America’s Mother Road. “The Fred Harvey Collection is more than 100 boxes alone!” said Evans.
“This was an opportunity to celebrate their archiving,” said Marquess. “And the flavor – it’s winter. A good, dark beer seems to match.”
Thus was born Archive Ale, a Russian Imperial Stout, smooth with notes of coffee, chocolate, tobacco and dark fruit, and strong at 9.1% ABV, or alcohol by volume (most beers are 5% to 7%).
“It’s a take-no-prisoners kind of beer – you better not be planning on doing anything after drinking it,” said Evans. “And it’s marvelous.”
Also marvelous, according to Evans, is the label. “Michael called us [in the past] to see if the brewery could use an image for a beer label. We thought, ‘Why not?’ We had no way to figure out how to charge someone to put a historic image on a beer label.”
After sorting through a great number of old photographs, the Archive Ale label was created with an iconic image by documentary photographer Bob Fronske circa 1955, as the kind of classic postcard photo popped in the mail with a two-cent stamp.
“Telling the story of Route 66 on a beer can label emphasizes the importance of the effort to survey and find out more about the many different people of Route 66,” says Miller, the storyteller. “It’s a non-traditional way to bring attention and support to Special Archives and it allows us to tell more stories.”
“That image tells you so much about downtown — all of the signage and neon,” said Evans. “It’s our town, the business end, where tourists would have visited. It shows the modernization, yet you get to see the sides of the building circa 1900. Anyone could look at that and say, ‘I get where they are. That’s Flagstaff.’”
As Miller explains, Mother Road Brewing Co. is a values-based brand. “The story may start with a can that has a label on it, but then you figure out the brand supports Cline Library Special Collections and Archives. And the discussion progresses to the work that they are doing and the reason behind it. For Mother Road, our roots are here. We want to talk about those roots and how deep they run.”
Because Archive Ale came out during the pandemic, Miller says the company was resourceful and found ways to make great beer and make it available despite an aluminum-can shortage. “We were taking old cans already printed and re-wrapping them to give them a second life.”
Archive Ale has sold out and the library has received thousands of dollars from a portion of the brew’s sales. “That allowed us to hire another project archivist to revamp the notoriously messy Route 66 collection,” said Evans. “Because of Michael’s generosity, we are able to make the collection even more available.”
Marquess is considering continuing the Archive Ale project, which, as Miller says, is what Marquess does. For example, a portion of the sales from Mother Road’s Conserve and Protect Golden Ale – more than $30,000 – has been donated to the Arizona Game and Fish Department for conservation projects.
“Michael is just a fun guy who makes great beer and is committed to his community,” said Evans. FBN
By Bonnie Stevens, FBN
