The 'Stock' Exchange
Kaufmann & Strauss Co.  "Purity"
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Date:  Pre-pro
Size:   13" Inverted Pie &
            12" SS Dish
Scarcity:   Uncommon
Value:  $$$ to $$$$
Condition & Brewer Dependent
Confirmed Brewer used Stock Trays
Non-Beer Related & Non-Tray Uses
General
This design is the companion to “American Maid” in terms of production values using the photo-lithographic process (more fully described in that other write-up), which we believe was still being adopted rather tentatively by the manufacturers.  Like “American Maid” the colors on the main face of the tray seem to have had a tendency to fade over time.  We believe that the rim (there were two styles as discussed in the section below) was created using the traditional offset lithographic process which better retained its color.

This design is the only other K&S design to have a formal title appear on the tray, “Purity."  Unlike “American Maid” its understandable why a design conveying the concept of purity might be attractive to a potential advertising, particularly one engaged in the manufacture of consumable products.  In the first decade of the 20th century reform-minded journalists, writers, and photographers referred to as “muckrakers endeavored to expose corruption and wrongdoing in established institutions, often through sensationalist publications. 
"American Maid"
Central Consumer Brewing Co.
Louisville, KY
"Purity"
John F. Oertel Co.
Louisville, KY
Photo-lithograph
Process
Muckraking magazines—notably McClure's of the publisher S. S. McClure—took on corporate monopolies and political machines, while trying to raise public awareness and anger at urban poverty, unsafe working conditions, prostitution, and child labor.  Most of the muckrakers wrote nonfiction, but fictional exposés often had a major impact, too, such as those by Upton Sinclair.

Sinclair’s novel, The Jungle, portrays the harsh conditions and exploited lives of immigrants in the United States in Chicago and similar industrialized cities.  Sinclair's primary purpose in describing the meat industry and its working conditions was to advance socialism in the United States.  However, most readers were more concerned with several passages exposing health violations and unsanitary practices in the American meat packing industry during the early 20th century.  These passages greatly contributed to a public outcry which led to reforms including the Meat Inspection Act and more broadly, the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, which collectors will recognize as appearing on beer labels and other brewery advertising of the era.  This led Sinclair to lament about the public's misunderstanding of the point of his book in Cosmopolitan Magazine in October 1906 by saying, "I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach."

The influence of the muckrakers began to fade during the more conservative presidency of William Howard Taft. Corporations and political leaders were also more successful in silencing these journalists as advertiser boycotts forced some magazines to go bankrupt.  Through their exposés, the nation was changed by reforms in cities, business, politics, and more.  Monopolies such as Standard Oil were broken up and political machines fell apart; the problems uncovered by muckrakers were resolved and thus the muckrakers of that era were needed no longer.  Still in the brewing industry, concerns about the adulteration of the product lingered and breweries continued to advertise about the purity of their products.
As much as the young woman is meant to convey purity, it is really the white dove she is holding that symbolizes purity.  Historically this purity has been understood in a religious and spiritual sense that your intentions are pure.  This symbolism transcends many cultures, although the likely reference point for K&S artists of the day would have been the Bible where the white dove consistently represents this value.  It is the animal that is mentioned most frequently.

There is a subtle variation in this design; while all other elements remain the same (excepting the rim, as discussed in the following section), there are two different versions of the dove.  The more common version has the dove’s wings semi-folded, and its head turned toward the viewer.  The less common version (found on Peter Hauck & Co of Harrison, NJ among others) has the dove’s wings extended and its head facing the woman.  See Examples in the tray inventories below.

Size, Shape, and Advertising Placement
This design appears in both a 13” concave pie version and a 12” straight-sided dish version, as well as a tip tray size.  There are two rim styles, the first is a plain gray rim with black highlighted white text or black text.  This style of rim only appears on 12” dish versions.  The other rim is a more typical K&S ornate with flowers and curly-cue embellishments with a small “window” on the rim for advertising text; however, for the most part advertising appears on the face of the tray.  This style rim appears on both 13” pie and 12” dish versions, and we believe this is the original, earlier version of the rim.

Price
This second most common K&S stock design (after the Lady & Tiger) rarely does better than high double figures for average condition examples, often tending close to mid-double figures.  Better examples still only seem to achieve low triple figures, with only a few well above average examples from the Kuntz Brewery of Waterloo, ONT achieving mid-triple figures.