Beer Cow Industries (BCI) began in the Trace Family garage in the spring of 1967 in Hempstead, Texas, a small farming community approximately 50 miles northwest of Houston.

"In retrospect, it seems rather self-evident," says Chairman of the Board Melchior "Mel" Trace, who along with his brother Falter are co-founders of the company. "At parties and other gatherings, you need a large, suspendable container for beer, with individual serving tubes to keep everybody satisfied."

"The thing that was a little scary," adds older brother Falter, "was how in the hell you'd suspend this heavy booger without the whole shooting match squashing down on somebody which, unfortunately, did happen."

"But, this was 1967," Mel Trace hastens to add, "And we didn't have any concerns whatsoever about product liability or potential litigation because we had faith in the intelligence of our marketplace and knew that, left to their own devices, members of our Beer Cow family could figure out how to utilize the product in a manner consonant with personal safety."

"We were flat-assed wrong about that and were almost sued into oblivion," Falter comments."And, to this day, that horrible tragedy in the parking lot of Lambeau Field haunts me but we came out with the warning labels, plus the BeerHarnass carriage product, and things have been pretty smooth ever since."

Which, given tens of thousands of satisfied customers across the globe, international sales of over $217 million last year, and an initial public offering in 1994, seems a bit of an understatement.