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 actor John Payne, who was most known for his rolls in noir pictures, though I remember him best as the lawyer who got Santa Claus off in Miracle on 34th Street. He was born in Roanoke, Virginia, but according to the ad copy during at least at some point in his life he’s “been to Milwaukee,” which seems tenuous at best.
