In 1844, the Phillip Best Brewing Company was founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, by Jacob Best. During the 1850s, Jacob Best’s son took control of the company, and Jacob Best’s Granddaughter married Captain Frederick Pabst. Pabst joined the family business, becoming a partner in 1863, and by 1872, Phillip Best Brewing Company was the second-largest brewery in the United States. In 1889, the company changed its name to its current name, Pabst Brewing Company. This yard-long calendar was produced for the calendar year of 1903, as an advertisement for Pabst Extract “The Best Tonic”; the “Best” in the name is a reference to the brewery’s original founders, the Best family. Pabst Extract was a tonic sold in drugstores, claimed to have many medicinal properties, such as improving strength and blood health, and making one more beautiful. Pabst Brewing Company decided to produce a medicinal product to broaden the market of people who could purchase Pabst products, specifically to encourage women to buy Pabst products, as women were not welcome in saloons or other facilities where alcoholic beverages would have typically been sold. This calendar was designed to mimic the art style of old Japan and was advertised as a great addition to one’s art collection. It was sold for three two-cent stamps, the modern equivalent of approximately $2.40, which were to be mailed to the Pabst Extract Department, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Pabst Brewing Company produced many calendars throughout the early twentieth century, often depicting women, children, or other cultures, in hopes that people would display them in their homes.