Wednesday’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 Mrs. Winston Guest, whose full name was Lucy Douglas “C. Z.” Guest. She “was an American stage actress, author, columnist, horsewoman, fashion designer, and socialite who achieved a degree of fame as a fashion icon. She was frequently seen wearing elegant designs by famous designers like Mainbocher. Her unfussy, clean-cut style was seen as typically American, and she was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1959.” Her husband was Winston Frederick Churchill Guest, an “Anglo-American polo champion and a member of the Guest family of Britain.” They had married the year before this ad ran, so I’m not sure why he’s not in the ad, too. Perhaps he was busy playing polo?
In the ad, she’s at her “winter hone” in Palm Beach, Florida, on a patio by the pool, having a beer at a table with an unnamed guest.
