Saturday’s ad is entitled Horseshoe Pitching, and the illustration was done in 1947 by John Falter. It’s #7 in a series entitled “Home Life in America,” also known as the Beer Belongs series of ads that the United States Brewers Foundation ran from 1945 to 1956. In this ad, the art is more stylized than in the previous ones. It’s also a product of its time. The menfolk are off in the yard on the side of the house playing horseshoes and drinking beer, while all of the women are on the front porch, undoubtedly gossiping. At least two are just watching the men play. I certainly remember how at family gatherings in the 1960s, when I was little, after a big meal like Thanksgiving, all of the men in my family would retreat to the living room to watch football, while all the women stayed behind to clean up. That would never happen in my house today.
