Wednesday’s ad is entitled Amateur Fortune Teller, and the illustration was done in 1952 by Douglass Crockwell. It’s #66 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 woman put on a scarf, sat down at a table and began reading palms. Luckily, the beer probably helps with their gullibility.
Archives for June 8, 2016
Craft Beer Taste-Test Time Trials
My son Porter has a subscription to Mad Magazine that we started for him a few years ago, when he began picking it up at the grocery store and really liked it. I remember devouring every issue when I was his age, too. The new issue (#540 August) came the other day, and features an illustration of Donald Trump on the cover with his head popped open and Mad Magazine’s mascot Alfred E. Neuman jumping out on a spring, like a jack-in-the-box. Which seems appropriate, frankly, but that’s another story.
Inside the issue, he brought my attention to a two-page piece on “New Olympic Events that AMERICANS Are Sure to Win.” These included “Synchronized-Selfies” and “Marathon TV Binge-Watching.” But the one he made a point to show me was the “Craft Beer Taste-Test Time Trials.”
You know you’ve got a perception problem when Mad Magazine is making fun of you. It’s a shame that enjoying good beer has been so perverted both from within and also from outside, in the form of the big brewers taking pot shots at a lot of core aficionados’ behavior.
Patent No. 7730912B2: Bottle Filler
Today in 2010, US Patent 7730912 B2 was issued, an invention of John Richard Blichmann, for his “Bottle Filler.” Here’s the Abstract:
An improved bottle filler assembly for filling bottles from kegged carbonated or non carbonated beverages without carbonation loss or oxidation that is intuitive to use, sanitize, and keep free of bacteria. In the preferred embodiment, a long hose gradually reduces the pressure of the beverage on the way to the filler. Two tubes are placed inside each other forming an annulus where CO2 can be forced to the bottom of the bottle via a CO2 valve thereby purging the bottle of air (O2). A valve seat placed on the bottom of the tubes allows the beverage to flow into the bottle from the bottom by depressing a trigger.
Patent No. 2083281A: Beer Tap Fitting
Today in 1937, US Patent 2083281 A was issued, an invention of Fred M. Spayd, for his “Beer Tap Fitting.” There’s no Abstract, though it’s described this way in the application:
This invention relates to liquid dispensing apparatus and more particularly to beer dispensers and cleaning apparatus therefor.
One object of the invention is the provision of a beer keg or the like having a thing through which the draft tube can be inserted and having a bayonet connection with the keg bung, the fitting having a self-closing valve adapted to be opened and to be held open by the draft tube, but normally closed when the draft tube is withdrawn so that the pressure within the keg may be maintained.
Another object of the invention is the provision of a self-closing valve fitting adapted to be readily attached to and disconnected from a barrel bung, and having attaching means at its opposite ends which are complementary to one another so that the fitting is adapted for use with standard connections.