Thursday’s ad is for Ballantine, from 1950. It’s a funny little poem about Aladdin — though the illustration might be controversial today — where the bartender is the genie in the lamp.

Aladdin …
— was a lad in old Bagdad
He had a lot of luck
with a lamp he had

He rubbed that lamp—
a man came flyin’
and served him up some Ballantine.

You can steal Aladdin’s tricks
Lamp or no lamp this one clicks

Tuesday’s ad is for Ballantine, from 1961. While Ballantine may be one of the few American breweries in the 1960s making ales, this ad is for their Double LL, which was a “Light Lager.” You have to admit “Double LL” sounds better than light lager, even if it doesn’t quite make sense. Wouldn’t it just be “Double L” since “Double LL” would actually be “LLLL?” Either way, it’s “the ‘crisp’ refresher…”

Friday’s ad is for Ballantine, from 1947. In the background the three Ballantine rings are being used to play horseshoes, while in the foreground a man who’s a dead ringer for Will Rogers in a bow tie is reaching out for a beer. The tagline, “I’ll take Ballantine Ale,” neatly works as both slogan and as a description of what’s going on in the ad.

Wednesday’s ad is for Ballantine, from 1957. Showing a dinner party, or really a soup party, paired with buckets of Ballantine Ale. In a rarity for beer advertising, they’re touting the hops used to brew the beer, a British hop known as “Brewer’s Gold.” According to HopUnion’s hop varieties booklet, Brewer’s Gold was developed in Great Britain as primarily a bittering hop by a Professor Salmon in 1934. Ballantine refers to it as a “rare, choice hop.” And hop about this great tagline at the end? “Enjoy the genuine — it’s the trend, friend!”

Monday’s ad is also for Ballantine Ale, this one from 1948. There’s a nice illustration of a bottle of Ballantine Ale and two beer glasses in the foreground. The background shows a well-dressed couple out to dinner, with the waiter presenting a bottle of beer like wine, which is both weird and awesome at the same time. It may be “an Old American Custom,” but somehow I don’t see them looking for the Borromean rings on that white tablecloth.

Friday’s ad is for Ballantine Ale, from 1947. It’s from their late-40s diorama series, this one showing the most likely apocryphal origin of the Ballantine logo, told in a poem:

Step back a hundred years and more,
     And take your place inside yon door.

That’s Peter Ballantine at the table,
     A brewer from Scotland, skilled and able.

He’s testing his ale — and now you’ll see
     How the 3-ring trade mark came to be.

One healthy drink, “Aye lads,” says he,
     ”This ale o’ mine ha ‘PUR-R-RITY!”

A second drink of his fine old brew,
     ”Ah,” he declares, “It ha’ BODY, too!”

A third drink now, see him slowly savor,
     ”An’ sur-r-rely,” he says,
               ”It ha’ FLAVOR-R-R!”

The spying 3 rings on the table dark,
     ”Lads,” cries Peter,
               ”I ha’ my mar-r-rk.”

That would have been 1840. Ah, to be a fly on the wall.

Monday’s ad is for Ballantine Ale from 1947. It’s part of the series they did in the forties where they used dioramas and odd-looking clay figures in various settings. This one shows a group of 19th century dandies playing croquet in an idyllic park-like setting, most likely some rich estate.

Friday’s ad is another older Ballantine Ale ad, with an illustration by J.W. Wilkinson. He was active beginning in 19-teens, and most prolific in the 30s and 40s so that’s my guess for when the ad originally ran. The man in the white suit looks a little Will Roger-esque, but of course could just be anyone from that time period.

Wednesday’s ad is for Ballantine Ale from, I’m guessing, the later 40s or early 50s. Showing a couple dressed up in their finest haute couture, the woman in a stunning blue cocktail dress and the gentleman in a tuxedo with tails. They’re toasting something pretty important by the looks of it, the confetti at their feet suggesting possibly New Year’s Eve. But it’s not champagne in their glasses, but Ballantine Ale. Because, according to the tagline; “Ballantine Ale begins where other brews leave off … in flavor … in satisfaction!” I also love the throwaway line toward the bottom. “The LIGHT ale that’s strong on flavor.”