Wednesday’s ad is for Budweiser, from 1962. In this ad, part of series entitled “This calls for …,” in this case a “Lazy Afternoon.” A couple lounging on the grass, with cans of beer, and this question. “How can you have so much fun doing nothing?” And the answer, of course, is beer.
Archives for November 2016
Gävlebocken
How did I not know about this before? Although it’s not about beer, it is about goats, which is close enough for me. Apparently for the last fifty years Sweden has had their own version of a burning man (sort of), although for them it’s a Gävlebocken, or “Gävle goat.” It’s essentially “a traditional Christmas display erected annually at Slottstorget in central Gävle, Sweden. It is a giant version of a traditional Swedish Yule Goat figure made of straw. It is erected each year at the beginning of Advent over a period of two days by local community groups.”
Here’s the basic history, from Wikipedia:
The Gävle Goat is erected every year on the first day of Advent, which according to Western Christian tradition is in late November or early December, depending on the calendar year. In 1966, an advertising consultant, Stig Gavlén, came up with the idea of making a giant version of the traditional Swedish Yule Goat and placing it in the square. The design of the first goat was assigned to the then chief of the Gävle fire department, Gavlén’s brother Jörgen Gavlén. The construction of the goat was carried out by the fire department, and they erected the goat each year from 1966 to 1970 and from 1986 to 2002. The first goat was financed by Harry Ström. On 1 December 1966, a 13-metre (43 ft) tall, 7-metre (23 ft) long, 3-tonne goat was erected in the square. On New Year’s Eve, the goat was burnt down, and the perpetrator was found and convicted of vandalism. The goat was insured, and Ström got all of his money back.
And vandalism of the goat has also become part and parcel of the legend each year. Even the Wikipedia page includes a chart of how long the goat lasted each year. Some years, like 2014, it lasted throughout the holiday season and into January. But even then, there were three attempts by arsonists. It’s actually only made it all the way to January intact a dozen times, and one of those years with some damage. This year, it only made it one day, and was burned down on November 27.
This was this year’s Gävle goat.
A tourist website for the town of Gävle, VisitGävle, with facts about “the world’s largest straw goat.”
The peculiar story about the Gävle Goat started in 1966. A man named Stig Gavlén came up with the idea to design a giant version of the traditional Swedish Christmas straw goat. The objective was to attract customers to the shops and restaurants in the southern part of the city. On the first Sunday of Advent 1966, the huge goat was placed at the Castle Square. Since then, the Gävle Goat has been a Christmas symbol placed in the same spot every year. Today it’s world famous. The goat is the world’s largest straw goat and made it to the Guinness Book of Records for the first time in 1985.
Worth knowing about the Gavle Goat
- The Gävle Goat is 13 metres (42.6 feet) high, seven metres long and weighs 3.6 tonnes.
- It takes a whole truck full of straw from the local village of Mackmyra to create the goat.
- 1600 meters of rope is used.
- 12,000 knots are tied.
- 56 five metre straw mats form the straw coat.
- 1200 metres of Swedish pine create the wooden skeleton.
- 1000 man-hours of work are needed to build the Gävle Goat.
- The Gävle Goat is inaugurated on the first Sunday of Advent every year, in conjunction with the “skyltsöndagen”.
- The Gävle Goat has friends in more than 120 countries around the world that follow it in social media.
- In 2015, 420 000 people visited the Gävle Goat, dressed in a flower coat, when it was on tour in the Chinese twin town of Zhuhai.
- The Gavle Goat has been hit by a cruising car and been subjected to fire and sabotage over the years.
- Staged hacker attacks and kidnappings have also been planned.
You can also read more about it at Atlas Obscura and the BBC
Visit Gävle adds. “You can follow the Gävle Goat from the first Sunday of Advent until after New Year or until the sad day that it meets its notorious fate.” For that purpose, they’ve set up a webcam where anyone can keep an eye on the goat, although this year it’s already too late. On the plus side, that’s how they were able to capture it burning on film.
Anchor Christmas Ale 1991
It’s day seventeen of my sprint to Christmas featuring all 42 labels from Anchor’s Christmas Ale — a.k.a. Our Special Ale — all different beers (well, mostly different) and all different labels, each one designed by local artist Jim Stitt, up to and including this year’s label.
1991 was the seventeenth year that Anchor made their Christmas Ale, and this year marked the fifth year that Anchor’s Our Special Ale included spices. Like the previous four year’s, a spiced brown ale was created for the year’s Christmas Ale. This seventeenth label was a “Paper Birch,” or “Betula papyrifera.”
Patent No. D48217S: Design For A Drinking Glass
Today in 1915, US Patent D48217 S was issued, an invention of Frederick E. Anderson, for his “Design for a Drinking Glass.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes these claims:
I have invented a certain new, original, and ornamental Design for a Drinking-Glass, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the drawings forming a part thereof, wherein the side wall of the drinking glass is substantially straight from its lower end upwardly to a point near its top edge, at which point a pronounced outward curvature is developed in the form of a concavo convex bulge. This rounded or bulged formation is comparatively shallow vertically and terminates in the top edge, which edge is substantially in the plane of the straight side wall portion. It is thus characteristic of the design that the side of the glass presents a substantially straight line from its bottom to its top edge, save the outward bulge-which is adjacent to the top.
Beer In Ads #2110: This Calls For … The Picnic
Tuesday’s ad is for Budweiser, from 1963. In this ad, part of series entitled “This calls for …,” in this case “the Picnic.” Three couples are out in the woods, by a stream, having a picnic. Although there is a table there, so it’s more likely they’re at a park. Don’t they look happy? I especially love their outfits.
Patent No. WO2007113292A3: Mashing Process
Today in 2007, US Patent WO 2007113292 A3 was issued, an invention of Niels Elvig, for his “Mashing Process.” Here’s the Abstract:
The present invention provides processes for production of wort and beer from a granular starch adjunct grist mashed-in at a temperature below the gelatinization temperature of said starch.
Anchor Christmas Ale 1990
It’s day sixteen of my spring to Christmas featuring all 42 labels from Anchor’s Christmas Ale — a.k.a. Our Special Ale — all different beers (well, mostly different) and all different labels, each one designed by local artist Jim Stitt, up to and including this year’s label.
1990 was the sixteenth year that Anchor made their Christmas Ale, and this year marked the fourth year that Anchor’s Our Special Ale included spices. Like the previous three year’s, a spiced brown ale was created for the year’s Christmas Ale. This sixteenth label was inspired by the work of French artist Paul Cézanne.
Beer In Ads #2109: This Calls For … At The Lake
Monday’s ad is for Budweiser, from 1962. In this ad, part of series entitled “This calls for …,” in this case “at the Lake.” A long man sits on a bench by a body of water, with a cigarette and beer in his hand. There’s a fishing pole by his side, but he doesn’t seem too interested in doing any actual fishing.
Patent No. 637826A: Combined Corkscrew And Valve For Beer Pumps
Today in 1899, US Patent 637826 A was issued, an invention of Frank Preston, for his “Combined Corkscrew and Valve for Beer Pumps.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes these claims:
The invention relates to a combined corkscrew and valve for beer-pumps.
The object of the present invention is to improve the construction of beer-pumps and to provide a simple, inexpensive, and efficient device designed more especially for use at picnics and for private use and adapted to serve as a corkscrew and capable of enabling the proper pressure to be maintained on a keg or other receptacle of beer or other liquid to maintain the same in a fresh condition until it is entirely consumed.
A further object of the invention is to provide a device of this character adapted to be readily carried in the pocket and capable of being quickly applied to a receptacle.
Anchor Christmas Ale 1989
It’s day fifteen of my trip down memory lane to Christmas featuring all 42 labels from Anchor’s Christmas Ale — a.k.a. Our Special Ale — all different beers (well, mostly different) and all different labels, each one designed by local artist Jim Stitt, up to and including this year’s label.
1989 was the fifteenth year that Anchor made their Christmas Ale, and this year marked the third year that Anchor’s Our Special Ale included spices. Like the previous two year’s, a spiced brown ale was created for the year’s Christmas Ale. This fifteenth label was a “Sycamore Maple” or “Acer pseudoplatanus.”