Holidays

groundhog-day
Over in Gobbler’s Knob, in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, Phil the Groundhog — a.k.a. Brewhog — raised up his head this morning and looked around, and this year saw his shadow everywhere. You know what that means. It’s six more weeks of drinking winter beers this year. Or something about an late spring, I can’t keep it straight. You can see a video of Punxsutawney Phil here. And there’s more information about Groundhog Day at the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club.

groundhog-beer

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Beer In Ads #507: Falstaff’s Got Something

by Jay Brooks on December 27, 2011 · 0 comments

in Art & Beer,Beers


Tuesday’s holiday ad is for Falstaff, from 1950. With a great tagline, “Falstaff’s Got Something!, I also love how they characterize the beer. “It’s Dry, Light but Lively.” And it sure looks that couple has been hitting the bottle as they put up their decorations. A wink and a nod ….

Falstaff-1950-xmas

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Monday’s holiday ad — it’s Boxing Day — is from 1930s Britain and is, I believe, an industry advertisement extolling the virtues of beer. And this one is suggesting that even for festive occasions, beer is best. Happy Boxing Day.

bib-xmas-1930s

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Hoppy Christmas

by Jay Brooks on December 25, 2011 · 4 comments

in Art & Beer,Beers,Breweries,Events,Just For Fun

christmas-beer
From my IP address to yours. Have a very Malty Christmas and a Hoppy Holiday. Peace On Earth, Good Beer to Men (and Women).

brookston-xmas

“Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas.”

             — Calvin Coolidge

holly

‘Twas Christmas broach’d the mightiest ale; ’twas Christmas told the merriest tale; a Christmas gambol oft could cheer the poor man’s heart through half the year.

             — Sir Walter Scott

 
The original image, which I doctored, was the cover of a 1950 issue of Guinness Time, “a quarterly publication by the Guinness company [that] was distributed to all Guinness staff.” I found it at Bygone Bodiam, a very cool website covering old time Bodiam, a hop growing area in England. There are also a number of great nostalgic photographs of the local hops industry back in the day.

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Beer Tree: The Ultimate Christmas Project

by Jay Brooks on December 25, 2011 · 0 comments

in Beers,Just For Fun

christmas
Here’s yet another beer bottle Christmas tree, this one from 2007. It was “built from 1050 stubbies (250ml bottles), equivalent to 462 pints. Tied together with 300 meters of wire and decorated with 200 lights, with a bubble lamp in the centre, the tree stands 2 meters high and 1 meter wide at the base.” Hoppy Christmas.

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guinness-toucan
Our 99th Guinness ad is a black and white print advertisement that ran in Life magazine in December of 1940. Showing a tuckered out store Santa Claus being torn apart by the little kiddies hoping to tell him what they want for Christmas. I’m not sure how that behavior squares with needing to be good, for goodness sale. But the ad suggests, “When you’re Tired enjoy a Guinness.” And I love their description: “Guinness looks, tastes and is different from every other malt beverage. It is dry, racy — hearty and nourishing!”

guinness-life-12-16-1940

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Heineken Christmas Tree In Hawaii

December 24, 2011

This isn’t exactly new, but it’s still pretty cool, despite using green bottles. They may not be great for keeping UV light out of the beer, but they do work great for building Christmas trees. Completed in 2006, 2000 Heineken bottles are controlled by animated lighting equipment built by the homeowner.

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Beer In Ads #505: Holiday Greetings From Narragansett

December 23, 2011

Friday’s holiday ad is for Rhode Island’s Narragansett Beer, which has made a come back in recent years. It originally “appeared in the December 23, 1945 issue of The Boston Herald.” Offering “Holiday Greetings from Narragansett,” and also featured a wonderful painting of an idyllic winter scene. According to Narragansett’s blog, the “painting is titled, [...]

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Carol of the Beers

December 23, 2011

This is pretty cool, despite the Corona bottles. According to the musician who made the video, BoTLpLayA, “[he] play[s] Carol of the Bells on perfectly tuned corona bottles (they make the best sound), by “plucking” them with [his] finger.” Hmm, not sure that makes sense, but who am I to argue with the results. Enjoy!

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Beer In Ads #504: Stag’s Treasured Traditions

December 22, 2011

Thursday’s holiday ad is for Stag Beer, from 1958. Maybe it’s just me, but a treasured stag traditions doesn’t sound too wholesome to me, especially when the ad shows a comely lass standing under the mistletoe holding a beer in her hand. So if I understand this scene correctly, a beautiful woman is offering me [...]

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Twas The Beer Before Christmas: A Brewery Visit From St. Nicholas

December 22, 2011

While not widely known, St. Nicholas, among his many patronages includes brewers. He is a patron saint of brewers. The way we think of St. Nick in America begins with the publication of Twas the Night Before Christmas: A Visit From St, Nicholas by Clement C. Moore in 1823. So with my tongue firmly set [...]

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Beer In Ads #503: Merry Christmas From Falstaff

December 21, 2011

Wednesday’s holiday ad is for Falstaff, from 1914. Nice to see that after Santa came down the chimney, he had something other than milk and cookies waiting for him.

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Beer In Ads #502: Look What They’ve Left For Me!

December 20, 2011

Tuesday’s holiday ad is for the Canadian beer Dow Ale, which until around 1966, was the most popular beer in Quebec. This ad looks to be a little earlier, probably in the 1950s. Given that red is he only color (apart from black, of course) in the ad, it’s curious that they didn’t make Santa’s [...]

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Beer In Ads #501: Miller High Life’s Christmas Barn

December 19, 2011

Monday’s holiday ad is for Miller High Life showing an idyllic country scene complete with newly fallen snow, a barn and silo, with a small chapel in the distance, as a horse and sleigh pulls two couples through the white landscape. Ah, Christmas like it never was.

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Beer In Ads #500: Merry Christmas All Around!

December 16, 2011

Friday’s holiday ad — believe it or not, the 500th ad I’ve posted! — is for Schaefer beer. I don’t think it is, strictly speaking, an ad but a display piece, presumably for a bar or a retail store. I’m not sure of its age, but I’m guessing 1950s. I like the subtle double meaning [...]

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Beer In Ads #499: Caroling Alone With Rheingold

December 15, 2011

Thursday’s holiday ad is another one for Rheingold Extra Dry Lager Beer, from 1952. This time, Miss Rheingold 1952, Anne Hogan, is out singing Christmas carols by herself, which means she has to hold both the lamp and the songbook.

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