Hermann J. Gaus (1867-194?) began manufacturing beer apparatus at 643 Bushwick Ave. in 1894. This ad for Ale and Beer Pumps appeared in Lain & Healy’s Brooklyn City Directory for 1900. In 1902 Gaus moved to his new address at 12 Jefferson St. (also in the Bushwick area of Brooklyn). Bushwick at that time was the beer capital of New York, with dozens of flourishing breweries. Gaus died some time in the 1940’s. His widow, Ernestine Gaus, continued to live at 12 Jefferson St. until late in the 1950’s. – Walter Grutchfield