The Bass red triangle is among the most famous trademarks in the world. As you might expect it appears on very many of the artefacts in the Collection, as well as appearing in the architecture of Bass House.
It was registered on 1 January 1876 under a new piece of legislation, the Trade Marks Registration Act (1875). Under this act no-one was allowed to take legal action to prevent infringement of a mark unless it was registered. The story is that an unnamed Bass employee camped out overnight outside the Trade Mark Office on Fleet Street in London on New Year’s Eve in order to be able to register the first ever trademark. Is that a true story? We don’t know but it has gone down in industry legend.
So what did they actually register in that first trademark? Burton upon Trent Historian Ian Webster explains. “Trade Mark Number One was a beer label for Bass & Co’s Pale Ale and the Red Triangle formed part of that first Trademark. Bass also registered numbers two and three on the same day.”
“In 1877 the Manager of Bass’ London Stores a Mr F. J. Thompson commented that the Red Triangle had been used as a mark on casks for forty years”
Ian also sheds some light on the question of when Bass started to use the Red Triangle. He says “There is evidence to show that it had been around since the late 1830s. In 1877 the Manager of Bass’ London Stores a Mr F. J. Thompson commented that the Red Triangle had been used as a mark on casks for forty years, dating this to 1837, note this is on casks not bottles. Following the opening of Bass Middle Brewery in 1853 casks brewed here had a White Triangle to distinguish them from those brewed at the original High Street premises and when the New Brewery opened in 1863 these had a Blue Triangle.”
As we approach the 150th anniversary of the first trademark we will continue to protect and preserve items and archives displaying red triangles.
With thanks to Ian Webster of thebeertonian.com blog
