Saturday’s ad is entitled Meeting Her Parents, and the illustration was done in 1949 by Douglass Crockwell. It’s #28 in a series entitled “Home Life in America,” also known as the Beer Belongs series of ads that the United States Brewers Foundation ran from 1945 to 1956. In this ad, a young man is apparently meeting his girlfriend’s parents for the first time. He’s thoughtfully helping her move a table so her mother can set down a tray of beers on it. Once they’re married that will stop, of course, as dear old Dad just sits there while everyone else serves him. There’s only three beer bottles on that tray. I wonder who’s getting stiffed? Also, look closely at the magazine in Dad’s lap. It’s open to a page showing the same ad we’re looking at. How meta.
Archives for April 2016
Beer In Ads #1896: Television Party
Friday’s ad is entitled Television Party, and the illustration was done in 1949 by Douglass Crockwell. It’s #27 in a series entitled “Home Life in America,” also known as the Beer Belongs series of ads that the United States Brewers Foundation ran from 1945 to 1956. In this ad, a group of people watch a basketball game on one of those newfangled tee-vees. The ad ran in March of 1949, early in the NBA’s fourth season. The champions that season were the Minneapolis Lakers, who beat the Syracuse Nationals in the finals. Unless, of course, they’re watching March Madness. That year, the NCAA champion was Kentucky, who beat Oklahoma A&M 46-36 on March 26, 1949.
Patent No. 426965A: Beer-Filtering Apparatus
Today in 1890, US Patent 426965 A was issued, an invention of Phillip Seibel, for his “Beer-Filtering Apparatus.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:
This filtering apparatus is intended especially for beer or other liquids liable to foam, and has means for the removal of the foam into a settling-chamber, from which the liquid is withdrawn as it subsides. The apparatus is composed of two or more similar filters connected with the same system of circulating pipes.
Beer In Ads #1895: An Evening Of Bowling
Thursday’s ad is entitled An Evening of Bowling, and the illustration was done in 1949 by Douglass Crockwell. It’s #26 in a series entitled “Home Life in America,” also known as the Beer Belongs series of ads that the United States Brewers Foundation ran from 1945 to 1956. In this ad, at least three couples, maybe more, are enjoying some beers during an evening of bowling. Surprisingly, beer and bowling do go together well, and it was a hugely popular game in the late forties. But even so, they seem to be throwing back quite a few.
Patent No. 2883999A: Tapping Device
Today in 1959, US Patent 2883999 A was issued, an invention of Sandor Frankfurt, assigned to the Champion Safe Tap Company, for his “Tapping Device.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:
This invention relates to the tapping of kegs of beer or like beverage and more particularly to a novel form of draft tube, tap rod or conduit means.
Broadly the invention comprehends the provision of a tap rod, or liquid conduit means, for use in the siphoning of beer or the like from containers, such as beer keg, having valve means incorporated therein for inhibiting the retrograde flow of beer from the rod or conduit to the keg, said valve means being movable axially to open or closed position by the flow of beer in the rod.
Patent No. 2281457A: Aeration Of Fermenting Wort In The Manufacture Of Yeast
Today in 1942, US Patent 2281457 A was issued, an invention of Sven Olof Rosenqvist, for his “Aeration of Fermenting Wort in the Manufacture of Yeast.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:
In the manufacture of pressed yeast it is known to blow air into the worts to increase the yeast yields; As a rule the fermentations are now performed with the use of the running-in method, the level of the wort in the vat being considerably lower at the commencement than at the termination of the fermentation. As a rule, it is desired during the start and at the termination of the process to supply less air to the wort than during the main portion of the fermentation. During the main portion of the fermentation it may also be of interest sometimes to be able to supply air quantities of different magnitudes.
Generally, one or more compressors of the same or of different types would operate on a ‘common pressure conduit branched off to the various vats’. By employing large compressor units, the air of which would be distributed to a plurality of vats, a rather low installation cost would be obtained for the compressor system. At the same time, however, the disadvantage would be incurred that the pressure on the air piping always would have to be maintained at a value corresponding to the highest back pressure prevailing in any vat.
Air taken out from the pipe system for a vat with a lower back pressure thus would have to be reduced by a valve from the higher to the lower pressure, which obviously would involve losses of energy.
With large compressor units, the losses in idle running would also be considerable at a low load.
Any control of the air quantity for the various fermentation vats could only take place manually with the arrangements described and with loss of energy. A control of the air quantity to a fermentation vat from the common conduit would entail disturbances in the air supply to the remaining vats and in order to limit such disturbances the pressure above atmospheric in the main conduit would have to be maintained at. an unnecessary high value. The arrangements as hitherto used consequently could not, owing to the fact that the control would be less accurate or too expensive, ensure the proper air supply to each of the fermentation processes proceeding in the various fermentation vats at an energy cost as low as possible. By reason of the fact that the supply of the quantities of air undertaken at the fermentations could not be properly adapted with respect to the process otherwise carried out in connection with these fermentations, the lowest cost for the aeration work, the best yield of the raw materials and the best quality of the finished product consequently could not be obtained.
The present invention refers to an arrangement for the supply of air to fermenting wort in the manufacture of pressed yeast, in the use ‘of which the above described disadvantages are avoided.
The arrangement according to the invention is principally distinguished by a compressor apparatus adapted to be controlled with respect to the delivery of air, the pressure conduit of which apparatus is connected to the plant of fermentation vats, and by an arrangement with a continuously driven member adapted to control the intensity of aeration in accordance with a previously determined aeration scheme, and which may actuate the air delivery of the compressor apparatus by influencing the compressor apparatus itself, its suction or pressure conduit or its driving machinery, or two or more of these arrangements, and which is so arranged as to adjust the compressor apparatus automatically and in accordance with an aeration scheme determined beforehand, to deliver air in a quantity and at a pressure required by the scheme at any moment. Preferably, a measuring device is provided to indicate the amount of air passing on its way to the fermentation vat, said measuring device being adapted to give impulses to the controlling doling device. According to an embodiment of the invention, the controlling doling device is adapted directly or indirectly to actuate a device, in ,order, in the case of double acting compressors, to convey a portion of the air to that part of the compressor which operates at a pressure below atmospheric. According to a further embodiment, a measuring device for the air in the inlet or outlet of the compressor “is arranged to transmit impulses for the control of the number of revolutions of the driving engine of the compressor.
Also. a measuring device for the air may be arranged to effect throttling in the inlet or outlet of the compressor so as to control the quantity of air in this way. If a compressor be used. a turbo-compressor adapted to be controlled with respect to the number of revolutions thereof is preferably made use of.
America’s First Cookbook
Today in 1796, American Cookery was published. It was the first cookbook published in America and written by an American, Amelia Simmons. Not much is known about her. She’s referred to as an “American Orphan” on the title page, which isn’t terribly helpful. The first edition was published in Hartford, Connecticut, so some speculate that Simmons may have been from the area. And it appears the very first edition may have been self-published. Feeding America explores many of the questions about Simmons, but has few answers.
It was printed and reprinted for 35 years, with several people stealing her work and putting their own name to it, with some adding additional material. If you read through her biography, it appears that was happening from the very beginning and over the course of its thirteen additions. It’s 220 years old today.
It’s divided into six sections. First, there’s a Preface, followed by “Directions for Catering, or the procuring the best Viands, Fish, &c.” The chapters that follow include “2. Roots and Vegetables — Beans — Fruits,” “3. Receipts — [Meats] — [Pies],” “4. Puddings — Custards — Tarts,” “5. Cake,” and “6. Preserves — [Boiling], with a short “Errata” at the end. It’s in the public domain and you can get a copy for your eReader at Project Gutenberg.
Near the very end of the book, in Chapter “6. Preserves,” there’s a short recipe for Spruce Beer.
And here it is reprinted in more modern English:
For brewing Spruce Beer.
Take four ounces of hops, let them boil half an hour in one gallon of water, strain the hop water then add sixteen gallons of warm water, two gallons of molasses, eight ounces of essence of spruce, dissolved in one quart of water, put it in a clean cask, then shake it well together, add half a pint of emptins, then let it stand and work one week, if very warm weather less time will do, when it is drawn off to bottle, add one spoonful of molasses to every bottle.
Also, the very first recipe under Chapter “5. Cake” calls for a quart of “new ale yeast.”
Plumb Cake.
Mix one pound currants, one drachm nutmeg, mace and cinnamon each, a little salt, one pound of citron, orange peal candied, and almonds bleach’d, 6 pound of flour, (well dry’d) beat 21 eggs, and add with 1 quart new ale yeast, half pint of wine, 3 half pints of cream and raisins, q: s:
Patent No. 726427A: Beer Filter
Today in 1903, US Patent 726427 A was issued, an invention of William Haussermann, for his “Beer Filter.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:
This invention relates to improvements in filters, and particularly beer-filters.
The object of the invention is to provide a beer-filter which is simple of construction, comparatively inexpensive of production, efficient in operation, and adapted to be readily and conveniently cleansed of the retained impurities.
Patent No. 1802638A: Pressed Metal Keg
Today in 1931, US Patent 1802638 A was issued, an invention of Erik J. Eriksson, for his “Pressed Metal Keg.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:
My invention relates to pressed metal kegs, and more particularly to the type of keg composed of a plurality of pressed metal staves assembled with metal end pieces and hoops in the manner of the customary wooden keg.
Beer In Ads #1894: Gathered Around The Piano
Wednesday’s ad is entitled Gathered Around the Piano, and the illustration was done in 1949 by Douglass Crockwell. It’s #25 in a series entitled “Home Life in America,” also known as the Beer Belongs series of ads that the United States Brewers Foundation ran from 1945 to 1956. In this ad, a trio of couples is having a sing-a-long around a piano, the karaoke of its day. They’re all drinking beer, which makes sense. I know I need a few before I’m willing to sing in front of other people.