Jay R. Brooks on Beer
Monday’s ad is for Acme Beer, from maybe the 1940s or 50s. I assume the model is a famous actress, but I confess I don’t recognize her. The somewhat wieldy bit of the ad copy is that “I.Q.” stands for “It Quenches.” How exactly does a beer have a “high it quenches?”
Sunday’s ad is by the United States Industrial Foundation, from around the same time as their “Morale is a Lot of Little Things” campaign during World War 2, though this one may be just after the war. What more could a man want: a brook, a fish and a beer. One of out three ain’t bad, though if the weather’s nice the brook might be okay, too.
Saturday’s ad is for the British beer by Inde Coope, Double Diamond Burton Pale Ale, from probably the 1950s. The ad shows a nice illustration of a tray with a bottle and two glasses, one full, with a second bottle about to be opened. But I confess I’m confused about this bit of the ad copy. “Get outside a Double Diamond and you feel more like yourself again.” Is “get outside” a British idiom for drink a beer?
Friday’s ad is by the Swiss illustrator Herbert Leupin. The tagline, “spendet Freude und Harmonie,” translates to roughly “gives pleasure and harmony.”
Thursday’s ad is for Miller High Life, from the 1950s. Another of Miller’s minimalist ads, this one is set in a backyard barbecue. They’re making kabobs, but I especially love that they converted a wicker cart into a cooler.
Wednesday’s ad is for Narragansett, from some time in the late 1950s or early 1960s, if I had to guess. I base that on other ads which during that time period seem to show a wider range of beer glasses than later ads.
Tuesday’s ad is for Schlitz, from some time in the 1960s, and it’s a nice double meaning showing a bottle of Schlitz on a psychiatrist’s couch having its head examined, but of course the head they’re really referring to is the beer’s head.
Monday’s ad is for Pabst, from some time in the 1940s, based on the suit the men are wearing at a baseball game. Apparently if you drink Pabst, and more importantly, bring some home for your wife, you’ll get out of the doghouse and she’ll forget all about being late because you went to a baseball double header. Too bad real life doesn’t work that way.
Sunday’s ad is by the United Brewers Industrial Foundation, from 194. It was part of their award-winning “Morale is a Lot of Little Things” campaign. This one, “Remember The Time We Taught Mary How To Bat?,” seems a bit insensitive by today’s standards, but was attempting, at least, to remind people why we were fighting World War 2, with the aim of building up morale both at home and in the various theatres of war.
Saturday’s ad is for Gunther, from 1959. The ad appeared in the Baltimore Orioles Yearbook for the 1959 season. Gunther Brewing was also located in Baltimore, Maryland.
