Located at 369 Pine St. in downtown San Francisco, this was also the office of Walter George Filer, one of the founders and first Chairman of the Board of Directors. Brewing commenced in early March of 1934, hitting the market on July 6th.

The company's president, Baron Paul von Gontard, was the grandson of Adolphus Busch. Baron was likely given the title of president in order to add prestige and help promote the new enterprise. He hired a German-trained brewmaster from Schlitz and began building a large brewing facility in San Francisco. However, the socialite was soon replaced by their brewmaster, Kerber in late '35. In 1936, the company's secretary/treasurer, Eugene S. Selvage, became president of the company after Kerber passed away.

After WWII, "Lucky Lager" became the best selling beer in California, so the company decided to build a plant in southern California. They found a space in Azusa, and by May of '49 the new plant commenced brewing.

San Francisco, CA (1933-1978)
Vancouver, WA (1939-1985)
Azusa, CA (1949-1966)
Salt Lake City, UT (1957-1967)

The second brewery to join the Lucky Lager group was the Star Brewery Co. of Vancouver, WA. It had operated prior to Prohibition, and was one of the first Washington start-ups after Repeal in 1933.

in 1982 Labatt Breweries of Canada moved off the Island and proceeded to tear down the brewery. Labatt now brews Lucky out of Edmonton, Alberta in the same brewery where they produce Budweiser for all of Western Canada. In 1995, Labatt was purchased by Belgian brewer Interbrew. Interbrew was then subsequently purchased by brewing giant Ambev in 2004 and the company became Inbev. On July 13, 2008, Inbev merged with Anheuser-Busch and Lucky officially became owned by Budweiser.

General Brewing Name Changes
General Brewing Corp.    San Francisco, CA    1934 - 1948
Lucky Lager Brewing Co.    San Francisco, CA    1948 - 1963
General Brewing Corp.    San Francisco, CA    1963 - 1969
Lucky Breweries, Inc.    San Francisco, CA    1969 - 1972
General Brewing Co.    San Francisco, CA    1972 - 1975
General Brewing Co. (Falstaff)    San Francisco, CA    1975 - 1978

Lucky Lager was once famous for its 11oz stubby bottles featuring a rebus under the cap. In the 1993 film Kalifornia, Lucky Lager was the favorite drink of Pitt’s character, Early Grayce. Jack’s character also drank the oil can style in the 1970 movie, Five Easy Pieces.

During the early fifties, a brand slogan was "It's Lucky When You Live in California." It was seen on many billboards in Northern California.

Lucky Draft Beer tv commercial 1968
“Lucky Draft is just possibly the world’s greatest beer.” Personally, I’m not sure this was ever true, even before the craft beer revolution. I avoid drinking this beer, but you can’t deny the history and marketing behind the brand.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RR7h40sJmp4&feature=related

I recently visited the historic park, Bodie, in northern California. Open, empty, dusty bottles of the iconic beer were still adorning the bar. Bodie was named after Waterman S. Body, who discovered gold there in 1859. Two years later, the town of 10,000 was second to none for wickedness, badmen and harsh weather. In town, the post office also served as a rooming house, a warehouse and a brewery. Talk about multitasking, read your mail, make some beer, and crash in the rooming house if you drink too much Lucky Lager.  

Now, they have a Facebook page.  If this beer has this kind of staying power, I can’t wait to see how the craft breweries like Stone, Alaskan and Firestone transform and grow over the next century.