Wednesday’s ad is from Pabst, from 1917. Many brewers made other related products besides beer, notably malt extract, to be used primarily in cooking as an ingredient in breads and desserts and even as a tonic. According to Briess, which still offers it today. “What is Malt Extract? Malt can be further processed to produce liquid or dried sweeteners called Malt Extracts.” They were essentially “the original starch- or grain-based sweetener.” Many brewers survived prohibition making malt extract, both for legal uses and for homebrewing, but Pabst was making and advertising decades before. In this ad, with the giant headline “Restless, Sleepless Nights or Sound Refreshing Slumber?,” it again looks more like an ad for medicine than a non-alcoholic beverage. So if you’re having trouble sleeping, “the grave dangers of insomnia should not go unheeded.” Hurry up, “prompt relief is assured.” Is there anything Pabst Malt Extract couldn’t cure?
