Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

  • Home
  • About
  • Editorial
  • Birthdays
  • Art & Beer

Socialize

  • Dribbble
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • GitHub
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Powered by Genesis

You are here: Home / Art & Beer / Beer In Ads #347: Our Third President Was Our First Spaghetti Maker

Beer In Ads #347: Our Third President Was Our First Spaghetti Maker

April 13, 2011 By Jay Brooks

ad-billboard
Wednesday’s ad is a 1948 ad for Budweiser featuring our third President, Thomas Jefferson, whose birthday is also today. He was born April 13, 1743. According to the Bud ad, he also introduced spaghetti to America. Let’s say I’m skeptical. Here’s the text:

From Naples he got a mould to form spaghetti and introduced what is one of our most important and popular foods. He did the marketing for the White House and presided genially over its inviting table. Jefferson earnestly believed that good food and drink temperately enjoyed each day with good friends were essential to a worthwhile lifetime.

I love the slogan at the bottom of the ad:

Live life, every golden minute of it.
Enjoy Budweiser, every golden drop of it.

The illustration is also priceless, showing a smiling redheaded Jefferson spinning spaghetti on a spoon, showing his two guests, in full wigs, how it’s done. And I thought it was Chef Boyardee.

Bud-Tom-Jefferson-1948

Interestingly, my initial skepticism turned out to be right. According to a great article by Corby Kummer on the origins of Pasta in The Atlantic:

Thomas Jefferson is credited with introducing dried pasta without egg to America, but, like the Marco Polo legend, this is a romantic fiction. He did take notes on the manufacturing process during a trip to Naples and even commissioned a friend in Italy to buy him a “maccarony machine.” He shipped himself two cases of pasta in 1789. By 1798 a Frenchman had opened what may have been the first American pasta factory, in Philadelphia, and it was a success. Upper-class Americans also bought pasta imported from Sicily, which had snob appeal.

Filed Under: Art & Beer, Beers, Food & Beer Tagged With: Advertising, Budweiser, Food, History



Find Something

Northern California Breweries

Please consider purchasing my latest book, California Breweries North, available from Amazon, or ask for it at your local bookstore.

Recent Comments

  • The Session #147: Downing pints when the world's about to end - Daft Eejit Brewing on The Sessions
  • Amanda Alderete on Beer Birthday: Jack McAuliffe
  • Aspies Forum on Beer In Ads #4932: Eichler’s Bock Beer Since Civil War Days
  • Return of the Session – Beer Search Party on The Sessions
  • John Harris on Beer Birthday: Fal Allen

Recent Posts

  • Beer In Ads #5012: It’s A Sign Of Spring June 30, 2025
  • Beer Birthday: Hildegard Van Ostaden June 30, 2025
  • Historic Beer Birthday: Louis J. Hauck June 30, 2025
  • Beer In Ads #5011: It’s My Kind Of Dry June 29, 2025
  • Historic Beer Birthday: Pablo Díez Fernández June 29, 2025

BBB Archives

Feedback

Head Quarter
This site is hosted and maintained by H25Q.dev. Any questions or comments for the webmaster can be directed here.
Go to mobile version