Gustaf Wolke

in Swedish

Gustaf Wolke

1864-1926

Gustaf Wolke was one of several major wine merchants in Malmö around the turn of the century. After working for Ad. Faxe & Söner at Larochegatan, he established his own company in 1896 at Södra Förstadsgatan 1 - This is where Jensen's Bøfhus is located today. - Here spirits and wine were sold in bulk and by minute. The company also rented factory and warehouse premises across the street. There wine and brandy were stored and Wolke's various punch varieties were produced.

Around the turn of the century, he also moved the store to larger premises across the street in a large and expensive new building. The former store at Södra Förstadsgatan 1 is now home to Jensen Bøfhus.

Wolke had seven men and two women employed to make punch. They distilled, bottled and labelled. The picture shows how wine is bottled here in Gustaf Wolke's wine cellar at Södra Förstadsgatan 4-6.

As a Christmas present, each employee received a liter of Punch and a liter of cognac. There was also a 25% employee discount. In 1900, 20,000 liters of punch were produced, worth 30,000 SEK. In 1904, 30,000 liters were produced. During the Baltic Exhibition, a special Baltic Punch was produced.

About the history of punch

Punch was a very popular drink in Sweden during its heyday in the 19th century and up until World War I. The largest in the industry was J. Cederlund & Söner in Stockholm. They had already started to launch Swedish punch abroad in the 1860s under the name Caloric.

Punch is a word from Sanskrit that means five. That is, five ingredients. The Swedish punch consisted of arrack, lemon, alcohol, water and sugar and was alcoholic. But different countries have different contents, in England punch is for example a wine or a juice drink.

Wolke trademarked his labels

From the Register of Trademarks 1898: number 6577 ”Wolke Punsch” written in the middle of the label. Above it a red triangle with an inscribed W, superimposed on two crossed tridents and a Mercurius staff.

This has its explanation in the origin of the name. There were many Punch brands with names such as Export Punch, Flagg Punch, Faxes Svarta, Elevator Punch, Viktoria Punch, Vega Punch, Monitor and Caloric. Both Monitor and Caloric were inventions of John Ericsson. Monitor was the famous ironclad ship and Caloric was a famous hot air machine that Ericsson developed. It was named after the word for heat in Latin: calor.

During 1917 and 1918, all the wine companies were bought out by the 'Wine and Spirits Central'. All production in Malmö was immediately closed, but the younger staff continued to be employed at Ödåkra and other distilleries at 'Vin & Sprit'.

The mural from 1900 on Stortorget in Malmö advertised Wolke Punsch. (In the picture the 1994 recreated paintings.) Postcard from Malmö, Stortorget in 1900, large-format liquor advertising, then and now. Look at the facade the next time you pass by.

Gravsite at Gamla kyrkogården (IDstory) next to Gustav Adolfs Torg (IDstory).

References

• About BiBB, a media company and an encyclopedia 4.0
• Vin & Sprithistoriska Museet
• Cléo de Mérode
• John Ericsson, prisad uppfinnare. Engelsk sajt om innovatörer.
• Text: Christian Kindblad | Photo: Jonas Andréasson

Published: 2005.06 Updated: 2025.06.30

Kategorier 20 Historical persons 45 Malmö 44

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