Sunday’s ad is for Blatz Beer, from 1953. 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 Bert Lahr, who was best known for his role as the Cowardly Lion in the Wizard of Oz. He was born in New York City, but according to the ad copy during “25 years of trouping, I’ve come to know Milwaukee almost as well as my own hometown of Manhattan.”
Jay – methinx your brain spellchecker betrayed you on “roll” vs “role”. Bert isn’t likely to have had a ROLL in the hay w/Judy, as statutory rape charges would have been possible – but he could have had a roll with one of the witches during filming breaks during his ROLE as the Cowarly Lion 🙂