Sunday’s ad is still another one from the United Brewers Industrial Foundation, also from 1939. This was well before the “Beer Belongs” series, and just before World War II. In some ways, this is a strange one, asking consumers to care if the brewers’ beer they’re buying is a member of the UBIF. For only the geekiest of beer geeks is that a serious concern. I especially love the sign hanging on the wall behind him. “This Place Observes the Law.” You don’t see signs like that in bars and retailers anymore, sad to say.
Jay – I think, based on what I’ve seen over the last 30+ yrs in bars & brewpubs makes your “sad to say” about the “We observe the law” (Whose? – could be interpreted as the UBIF credo) sign somewhat irrelevant. Further, in the context of 1939, “pay off” would be more realistic than “obey” on the sign (unless “obey” was the code word for “pay off”). Local cops forever have received free alcohol.in excange for the purveyors being left alone; ditto for mini-marts that sold both coffee & alcohol – cops got all their free coffee in those places, or in those that sold donuts & coffee, in which case, the donuts most often were free because of the “shakedown” factor. What’s below is based on personal experience.
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Rarely have I seen a bartender/server not card someone who deserved it. Further, if they’ve any retentive memory, once is enough! 20-something “regulars” deserve the same respect as those who are of obvious legal age. The exacerbating pain in the ass for the bartenders & servers is a paranoid (= CLUELESS!) GM/ or owner who’s into micromanagement & “spy cams”.
The IDIOCY these days is that concessionaires at airport bars & sports/ music venues often are required to card everyone or risk losing their jobs (“spy cams” keep tabs on them). Concommitant idiocy is having to get a wristband/hand stamp to be able to buy alcohol. Insulting BS to any male who’s 35+ – whatever happened to common sense?
Sure, there are places where nobody cards (& the word gets around amongst the under-age), & there still are many purveyors of fake ID’s. However,
undercover cops & their underage “operatives” focus on popular bars/high-traffic small retailers. Hicktown USA can’t afford undercover cops; they get occasional support from the county sheriff/state fuzz who have bigger budgets (but only if someone “blows the whistle”, which is more likely to occur in CA than in the Deep South).
The craft brewing community (including beer bars that specialize in them) NEVER has flunked the “undercover cop” test in my innumerous visits, & they don’t have “spy cams” on their premises.