Two years ago I decided to concentrate on Bock ads for awhile. Bock, of course, may have originated in Germany, in the town of Einbeck. Because many 19th century American breweries were founded by German immigrants, they offered a bock at certain times of the year, be it Spring, Easter, Lent, Christmas, or what have you. In a sense they were some of the first seasonal beers. “The style was later adopted in Bavaria by Munich brewers in the 17th century. Due to their Bavarian accent, citizens of Munich pronounced ‘Einbeck’ as ‘ein Bock’ (a billy goat), and thus the beer became known as ‘Bock.’ A goat often appears on bottle labels.” And presumably because they were special releases, many breweries went all out promoting them with beautiful artwork on posters and other advertising.
Sunday’s poster is for for Rieker’s Bock Schnitzel Bank, which was created around 1910-15. This poster was for the F.A. Rieker Brewing Co. of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, which was originally founded in 1867 as Stroebel, Senn & Klink. Around ten years ago I went down a rabbit hole about Schnitzelbanks, a German drinking song that many, many breweries and other entities made posters celebrating. Despite a thorough search back then, new ones keep turning up, which is awesome, as far as I’m concerned.
