Jay R. Brooks on Beer
Tuesday’s ad is for Blatz Beer, from 1951. The ad is part of Blatz’s “I lived in Milwaukee, I ought to know” series from the later Forties and Fifties that featured prominent celebrities, sports figures and famous folks from Milwaukee claiming to know “Blatz is Milwaukee’s Finest Beer” because they lived there, or near there, at some point in their lives. This one features actress Pamela Britton, who was born and raised in Milwaukee.
Monday’s ad is for Blatz Beer, from 1948. The ad is part of Blatz’s “I lived in Milwaukee, I ought to know” series from the later Forties and Fifties that featured prominent celebrities, sports figures and famous folks from Milwaukee claiming to know “Blatz is Milwaukee’s Finest Beer” because they lived there, or near there, at some point in their lives. This one features Max Gene Nohl, who was a famous deep sea diver from Milwaukee.
Sunday’s ad is for Blatz Beer, from 1949. The ad is part of Blatz’s “I lived in Milwaukee, I ought to know” series from the later Forties and Fifties that featured prominent celebrities, sports figures and famous folks from Milwaukee claiming to know “Blatz is Milwaukee’s Finest Beer” because they lived there, or near there, at some point in their lives. This one features dress designer La Verne Sunde, who was apparently well-known locally in her day as a fashion designed in Milwaukee.
Saturday’s ad is for Blatz Beer, from 1949. The ad is part of Blatz’s “I lived in Milwaukee, I ought to know” series from the later Forties and Fifties that featured prominent celebrities, sports figures and famous folks from Milwaukee claiming to know “Blatz is Milwaukee’s Finest Beer” because they lived there, or near there, at some point in their lives. This one features Pat Harder, who that year was a star Fullback for the Chicago Cardinals football team, which today plays in Arizona. He played in Chicago from 1946-1950, before being traded to the Detroit Lions, where he played his remaining years, retiring after the 1953 season. Harder was born and raised in Milwaukee.
Friday’s ad is for Blatz Beer, from 1951. The ad is part of Blatz’s “I lived in Milwaukee, I ought to know” series from the Fifties that featured prominent celebrities, sports figures and famous folks from Milwaukee claiming to know “Blatz is Milwaukee’s Finest Beer” because they lived there, or near there, at some point in their lives. This one features Uta Hagen, an actress born in Germany but raised in nearby Madison, Wisconsin.
Thursday’s ad may not be a real ad, I’m not entirely sure. It’s for a Brasserie Belden, which I can’t find any information about at all. And the nature of the ad, more like a political attack ad, makes it seem more like a spoof than a real ad that someone might have actually ran. It has the look of an older ad, with the paper staining, at least after World War II, although it’s easy enough to fake that using PhotoShop. I don’t recall where I found this one and the fact that I can’t find any additional information about it on the interwebs further leads me to suspect its veracity, although it’s too funny not to share all the same. “Be a man. Drink Belden.”
Wednesday’s ad is for Biere Paillette, from Brasserie Paillette in Le Havre, Seine-Maritime, France. This one shows a seagull swooping in for a sip of beer floating on the sea. Beautiful.
Tuesday’s ad is by the beer industry, from the later 1950s when things were friendlier. This pro-beer industry ad is from after the “Beer Belongs” series ended its run in 1956. Showing a group of campers by the side of a lake, I love the tagline (it’s such a creature of its time). “Beer has its own friendly way of saying … Come and get it.” Also, note the inset box explaining how to clean beer glassware. Everything old is new again.
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.
