Friday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1902. In the first decade of the 20th century, Schlitz Brewing, then one of the largest breweries in the U.S. after the industry had shrunk from over 4,000 to around 1,500 in just 25 or so years, did a series of primarily text ads, with various themes. In this ad, one of the earliest in the series, Schlitz is already talking about their purity, and what it means. In a nutshell, they’re saying they spend more on their process to insure it’s pure but sell it for the same price. What nice people to take a cut in their profits. “Not a beverage known to man is more healthful than beer, if it’s pure.”
