Tuesday’s ad is for Pabst Blue Ribbon, from 1948. In the later 1940s, Pabst embarked on a series of ads with celebrity endorsements, photographing star actors, athletes, musicians and other famous people in their homes, enjoying Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. This one features Mr. and Mrs. Lauritz Melchior. He “was a Danish and later American opera singer. He was the pre-eminent Wagnerian tenor of the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s and has since come to be considered the quintessence of his voice type. Late in his career, Melchior appeared in movie musicals and on radio and television. He also made numerous recordings.”
In the ad, he’s with his wife in their “California home,” having ginormous glasses of beer from a single bottle. Amazingly, the opera singer is also smoking a cigar. Perhaps they’ll be playing bridge soon. Apparently, “[h]e played contract bridge, and holds the world record for the lowest score (13%) secured in a duplicate bridge tournament.”
