Wednesday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1938. It’s a very text heavy ad, with a long story about how making a show on Broadway a hit is like goof beer. Yeah, I don’t get it either.
Wednesday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1938. It’s a very text heavy ad, with a long story about how making a show on Broadway a hit is like goof beer. Yeah, I don’t get it either.
“…is like a goof beer…”
Unintentional or not, I like it.
And dig that crazy screw-top can.
Lonndoggie – that wasn’t a screw top can – it was a crown cap; your “goof beer” line is spot on!
I managed to read all the fine print in the ad (unusual for here, given that unless you save image & blow it up w/other software, you’e seriously straining your eyes/using magnifying glass to read it) – its incongruity struck me, a big fan of live stage performances of all kinds..
In 1938, the line between musicals & plays was well-defined. Plays were dialogue-based; there might have been occasional background effects or one of the characters playing an instrumrent onstage. Curtain rose after house lights dimmed. Modern plays often incorporate a lot of onstage &/or background music – I’ve seen many @ Berkeley Rep & ACT (SF)
Musicals are music-driven; the dialogue includes song tip-offs for the savvy (cues for the perrformers). Pit orch plays overture as house lights dim, & the curtain rises at the end of it.
Whoever wrote & edited that ad copy didn’t quite get it – most of what’s said is more apropos to a musical than to a play. Given that musicals were the normal Broadway fare in NY in 1938, they needed to omit text that alluded to straight plays.
Old fart nitpicker weighing in again ….