Tuesday’s ad is entitled Texas Hospitality, and the illustration was done in 1951 by Douglass Crockwell. It’s #59 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, they’re playing on the stereotype that everyone in Texas lives on a cattle ranch. But their hospitality appears no different than anywhere else: a place to sit or lean and a beer to drink. That’s all any guest should expect.
Archives for May 2016
The Downside To Working Long Hours
A few months ago, Anheuser-Busch InBev head honcho Carlos Brito was quoted as saying that “every employee should behave like an owner-entrepreneur, committed to building the company.” That bullshit mantra favored by corporate leaders, known as “DWYL” (do what you love), is just another way to exploit workers, in the same way “monarchs used to tell about being ordained by God help us get through the day not by easing our pain, but by increasing our capacity for suffering.” As I noted at the time, I hate that way of thinking, and it completely pisses me off that they think anyone should fall for it. AlterNet had an interesting pice at the time that refuted that way of thinking, called Don’t Feel Like a Failure for Not Loving Your Corporate Job Enough.
Curiously, though not exactly a surprise, a recent meta-study published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) entitled “Long working hours and alcohol use: systematic review and meta-analysis of published studies and unpublished individual participant data,” found that the more you work, the more at risk you are to drink too much. Anybody shocked to hear that? The study looked at 63 different studies, and in the aggregate reached the same conclusion. Too much work will drive you to drink. Here’s the abstract:
Objective To quantify the association between long working hours and alcohol use.
Design Systematic review and meta-analysis of published studies and unpublished individual participant data.
Data sources A systematic search of PubMed and Embase databases in April 2014 for published studies, supplemented with manual searches. Unpublished individual participant data were obtained from 27 additional studies.
Review methods The search strategy was designed to retrieve cross sectional and prospective studies of the association between long working hours and alcohol use. Summary estimates were obtained with random effects meta-analysis. Sources of heterogeneity were examined with meta-regression.
Results Cross sectional analysis was based on 61 studies representing 333 693 participants from 14 countries. Prospective analysis was based on 20 studies representing 100 602 participants from nine countries. The pooled maximum adjusted odds ratio for the association between long working hours and alcohol use was 1.11 (95% confidence interval 1.05 to 1.18) in the cross sectional analysis of published and unpublished data. Odds ratio of new onset risky alcohol use was 1.12 (1.04 to 1.20) in the analysis of prospective published and unpublished data. In the 18 studies with individual participant data it was possible to assess the European Union Working Time Directive, which recommends an upper limit of 48 hours a week. Odds ratios of new onset risky alcohol use for those working 49-54 hours and ≥55 hours a week were 1.13 (1.02 to 1.26; adjusted difference in incidence 0.8 percentage points) and 1.12 (1.01 to 1.25; adjusted difference in incidence 0.7 percentage points), respectively, compared with working standard 35-40 hours (incidence of new onset risky alcohol use 6.2%). There was no difference in these associations between men and women or by age or socioeconomic groups, geographical regions, sample type (population based v occupational cohort), prevalence of risky alcohol use in the cohort, or sample attrition rate.
Conclusions Individuals whose working hours exceed standard recommendations are more likely to increase their alcohol use to levels that pose a health risk.
Unusually, the entire study is available online if you want to read the entire study, their methodology, the data sets and their analysis. But you probably don’t need to in order to come to the same conclusion. Being worked too hard by companies trying to squeeze every ounce of labor out of their salaried and even hourly employees is not good for them. People need to balance their work life with the rest of their lives. It may be a cliche that nobody every says on their death bed that they wished they’d spent more time at work, but that doesn’t make it any less true. As the class divide continues to widen, people are feeling increasing pressure to work longer hours just to keep their jobs, and employers are exploiting, encouraging and even requiring such behavior. In my own experience, my last corporate job required 60-hour work weeks, and I had to work from home a few hours every single Sunday, vacation, sick day, holiday or not. One of my biggest regrets was after having taken a week off to fly back to Pennsylvania to be with by father on his deathbed, he begged me to stay a few more days. The pressure to return to work was so great that I felt that I could not, and reluctantly I flew back to California. He died in his sleep while my plane was still in the air flying home to San Francisco. Our society is unhealthy when we’re expected to put our companies — which in reality care almost nothing for our loyalty and hard work, and would fire each and every one of us in an instant if it helped the share price or the bottom line — ahead of our personal lives. The more that becomes normalized, the worse off we’ll be as a nation. Working too long and/or too hard is not good for people.
Beer In Ads #1927: Seattle — “Planning The New Rig”
Monday’s ad is entitled Seattle — “Planning The New Rig,” and the illustration was done in 1951 by Douglass Crockwell. It’s #58 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, similar to the one titled “St. Louis,” a home overlooking the water with boats in the distance is entertaining guests. The man of the house is showing off his plans for his own boast that he hopes one day to be sailing in Puget Sound. Behind him, his wife is holding his captain’s jacket — I think — or perhaps it’s one of the guests. Either way, she seems to be looking at it in astonishment. The man in the captain’s hat is smiling, grinning really, but the women seem to view the jacket with more of a “what the hell are you thinking” vibe.
Patent No. 20130133340A1: Keg Apparatus For Self Cooling And Self Dispensing Liquids
Today in 2013, US Patent 20130133340 A1 was issued, an invention of Mark Sillince and David Cull, assigned to the Joseph Company International, Inc., for their “Keg Apparatus for Self Cooling and Self Dispensing Liquids.” Here’s the Abstract:
A self-cooling and self dispensing beverage container in the form of a keg which includes a heat exchange unit having a plurality of segments of compressed carbon disposed therein. A valve is secured to a tube attached to the REU housing for carbon dioxide to adsorbed and then desorbed by the carbon for cooling the beverage. A dispense gas canister is disposed within the container to automatically release carbon dioxide to maintain a pressure head within the container sufficient to assure dispensing of the beverage.
Patent No. 258664A: Process Of Making Brewers Yeast
Today in 1882, US Patent 258664 A was issued, an invention of Friedrich Meyer, for his “Process of Making Brewers Yeast.” There’s no Abstract, though it’s described this way in the application:
This invention has relation to a process for compounding brewers yeast; and it consists in forming from hops, malt, and water under certain degrees of heat a first yeast, which is afterward used in certain proportions in another step or series of steps, wherein malt, water, and hops are again employed and subjected to heat at varying temperatures to form a second yeast, which is again employed with malt, water, and hops, subjected to heat as before and tested by a saccharometer, to form a third or stock yeast, which will last from four to six months, and from which, together with malt, hops, and water, a present use yeast, which will last about one month, may be formed by compounding therewith malt, hops, and water at certain temperatures, all of which will be hereinafter fully pointed out in the body of the specification and claim.
In carrying out this process I take the proportions of about one-half ounce of hops to one-half gallon of boiling water, throw the hops into the yeast-can, and add the boiling water, and stir this mixture until the heat recedes to 190 Fahrenheit. I then add three quarts of cracked barley-malt and mash it well, after which 1 add one quart of boiling water and stir the mixture until the heat recedes to 160 Fahrenheit, when I cover the can and let the contents stand for five minutes. I then increase the heat by adding as little boiling water as possible until 176 Fahrenheit has been reached, when I again cover the can and let it stand for one hour, then cool the contents of the can by stirring them until the heat has receded to 90 Fahrenheit. I then put the liquid thus formed into a stone jar and place the jar into warm water at a temperature of about 80 or 90 Fahrenheit, and keep the heat of the Water up to that point by using boiling water until the liquid has ceased to ferment, which will be from thirty-six to forty-eight hours. As this yeast will last only from six to eight hours, the preparations for the formation of the second yeast should be completed at this time.
To make the second yeast, I take one gallon (dry measure) of cracked barley-malt and put it in the yeast can, and pour one-half gallon of boiling water thereon, and mash well together. This should be permitted to stand ten minutes, and then raised to a temperature of 176 Fahrenheit by adding boiling water to the amount of about three gallons. It should be then covered and permitted to stand for about one hour, after which it should be strained through a brass sieve into a clean tin can and placed 011 the stove, where it should boil for one hour and be skimmed during the operation of boiling. If one hours boiling should prove to be insufficient, it may be boiled a little longer. It, should register, when properly boiled, about 20 saccharometer, and the test should be made at 90 Fahrenheit. About two ounces of hops should then be added by stirring them in until the hops are thoroughly wetted, and the cover should be again replaced and the contents of the can boiled from three to five minutes longer. Remove the can from the stove and let it stand fifteen minutes, and then strain the contents of the can through a brass sieve into a stone jar, and cool it to about 94 Fahrenheit by setting the stone jar into cold water in the winter season. In summer it should be reduced to 90 Fahrenheit, as the natural temperature at this season will cause the temperature of the liquid to rise in a short time. Then add to the liquid thus produced one pint of the first yeast to each gallon of the liquid. Then wrap the jar in cloth, and set it away in a place where the temperature may be maintained at from to Fahrenheit until it is done fermenting, which’ will be about thirty-six hours. Then be ready to proceed to the formation of the third yeast, as this, which is termed the second yeast, will not keep longer than from ten to twelve hours.
To form the third yeast, I place four gallons of boiling water in the yeast-can and permit the heat to recede to 180 or 176 Fahrenheit. I then add about sixteen pounds of cracked barley-malt and mash well. The can is then rinsed down with about one-half gallon of boiling water and stirred until the temperature is about 150, and then left to stand about ten minutes. Boiling water should then be added and the contents of the can stirred until the heat reaches 176 Fahrenheit, after which it should be covered and left to stand for one hour, and should then be strained through a brass sieve. Then take this liquid and place it in a clean tin can and set it on the stove and boil it from three to five hours, skimming it during the operation of boiling, until it be comes of a consistency of 38 saccharometer under a test at 90 Fahrenheit. Then put in one-half pound of hops and stir until the hops are thoroughly wetted, and then boil from three to five minutes longer. Remove the can from the stove, stir the contents, cover the can, and let it stand covered for about fifteen minutes, during which time it should be stirred occasionally, and then strained through a brass sieve into a clean yeast-can, and reduce its temperature to 91 Fahrenheit by placing the yeast-can into cold water. Then add one quart of the second yeast above described and stir well. The temperature during this stirring should be maintained at about 00 Fahrenheit. Then wrap the can in cloth and place it in a place where the temperature may be maintained at between and Fahrenheit until fermentation ceases, which will be about forty-eight hours. This yeast, called the third yeast, will then be lit for use. This third or stock yeast will keep from four to six months, and should always be thoroughly shaken before using. This stock yeast is intended for shipment for use in making a fourth or pre-cut use yeast, which, when made as herein after described, will keep about one month.
To make the fourth or present-use yeast, I take fifteen quarts of boiling water and place it in the tin yeast-can and let it reach a temperature of 170 Fahrenheit, and then place in it about sixteen pounds of cracked barley malt, mash well, and rinse down with about one quart of boiling water and stir until the temperature is about 150 Fahrenheit, then cover the can and let it stand about ten minutes. I then add boiling water until the temperature reaches 176 Fahrenheit, which requires about sixteen quarts of boiling water. I then let it stand on the stone and boiled for about three hours to thicken it, care being taken to skim the contents during the operation of boiling. The proper consistency should be about 30 saccharometer under a test at 90 Fahrenheit. When at this consistency about six ounces of hops should be thoroughly stirred in, and the contents should be boiled from three to five minutes longer. The can should then be removed from the stove and left to stand for about fifteen minutes, during which time it should be stirred occasionally. It should then be strained through a brass sieve into a yeast-can, which should be placed in cool water, stirred, and reduced to a temperature of 90 Fahrenheit. One quart of the third or stock yeast should then be added by stirring it in under a temperature of 90 Fahrenheit, and the can wrapped up and placed in a position where a temperature of from 60 to 70 Fahrenheit can be maintained until fermentation ceases, which will be about forty-eight hours, after which it will be fit for use.
The superiority of this stock yeast over the yeast now employed lies in this, that it may be kept in stock for a period of six months, and from it a present-use yeast may be made that will last for a period of about one month, while the yeasts now employed will keep but a few hours at the furthest.
Patent No. 498657A: Beer Tap
Today in 1893, US Patent 498657 A was issued, an invention of Harvey P. Jacoby, for his “Beer Tap.” There’s no Abstract, though it’s described this way in the application:
This invention relates to taps or fittings which are inserted in the heads of beer kegs to receive the faucets through which the beer is drawn. A beer tap usually comprises a tubular shank, which is driven into the head of the keg, and a socket in the outer portion of the shank for the reception of the ordinary faucet. The tap is provided with some means for preventing the escape of the beer before the faucet is inserted, the common means being a cork or plug driven into the tap and adapted to be forced inwardly into the barrel, to permit the beer to flow into the faucet when the latter is inserted. In some instances the tap has been provided with a valve at the inner end of the faucet socket, said valve being arranged to yield to the faucet when the latter is inserted, the valve being held closed until the insertion of the faucet.
Beer In Ads #1926: Treasures From The Auction
Sunday’s ad is entitled Treasures From the Auction, and the illustration was done in 1951 by John Gannam. It’s #57 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 couple shows up at one of their parents’ homes laden down with crap they apparently just acquired at an auction. And while there hands are full, that’s not the half of it. On the street behind them, another person is unloading even more, and larger, crap from a station wagon. Mom and Dad will be thrilled.
Patent No. EP19840307773: Valved Closure For Kegs Or Casks
Today in 1985, US Patent EP 19840307773 was issued, an invention of Roger John Hyde, for his “Valved Closure for Kegs or Casks.” Here’s the Abstract:
A valved closure for a pressure vessel, such as a cask or keg (18). having a neck (22), for rigid attachment as a mounting ring to the mouth (24) of a tap hole (2) in the vessel and a valve-containing tubular body (10) inserted co-axially in the neck: has a rigid ring (30) engaging the tubular body and the keg neck, the ring being of malleable metal and having an inner periphery (33) shaped to engage the tubular body and a relatively thin outer peripheral skirt (32) shaped to be deformed, by a power tool, into fitting engagement about the neck rim (34), to provide securing means for preventing unauthorised axial removal of the valved closure, the so formed securing collar being accessible by a tool to cut the collar off the neck to release the valved closure: the securing collar may be split into two or more parts (29 and 31) to enable it to be fitted about a large diameter flange (15) at the top of the tubular body.
Beer In Ads #1925: Welcoming The New Neighbors
Saturday’s ad is entitled Welcoming the New Neighbors, and the illustration was done in 1951 by Douglass Crockwell. It’s #56 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 couple is moving to a new home, and thoughtfully the neighbors have stopped by to welcome them, and possibly are the one that brought the sandwiches and the beer. If so, that sounds like a pretty good neighborhood.
Patent No. 3812996A: Bottle Carrying Case
Today in 1974, US Patent 3812996 A was issued, an invention of Arthur Bunnell, assigned to Carling O’Keefe Ltd., for his “Bottle Carrying Case.” Here’s the Abstract:
Plastic carrying cases for bottles, especially beer bottles, are provided of a structure, in which, when the cases are stacked with bottles therein the tops of the bottles in one case engage the underside of the next upper case so that the load of the stack is supported through the bottles.