Thursday’s ad is for Baltimore’s National Bohemian. There’s not much info about the ad, though I’m guessing based on the indistinct background that it’s more late-50s to early 60s. I love the cartoony bartender (The Natty Boh mascot Mr. Boh, from the 1950s to the present) with the clean, empty bar showing the slide down to the unseen patron at the end of the bar.
Oh the Natty Boh guy … he brings back memories. There used to be a 50 foot sign of just his winking face on the side of their factory on the fringe of Baltimore. Used to drive by it all the time….
-JW
I remember the old factory very well, because as a kid I use to take Bus 10 from Dundalk to Eastern Avenue everyday. Would go right by the factory and smell the hops and watch the guys load and unload the kegs. Nothing like a Boh and Steamed crabs on a summer night, also getting waves of spices in the air from the old McCormick Spice Factory. What would be interesting is if the new National Boh is as good as the old one. Baltimore water is some of the softest around.
JW, he’s still here:
http://tinypic.com/r/1z1cvh0/6
Believe it or not, Natty Boh is still THE “trendy” beer here in Baltimore. Even though it hasn’t been brewed here in quite some time. You see Natty Boh bumper stickers, t-shirts, hats… there’s even a Natty Boh store here in the Fell’s Point section of Baltimore (where all the good beer bars are!)
And as a craft beer lover (especially local craft beer), that makes me sad. When a beer like Natty Boh outsells quality local beer like Loose Cannon from Heavy Seas (Clipper City Brewing Co.), something’s not right!
Either way, National Bohemiam was the first beer I ever tasted as a youngin’. Thanks Granddad… even though it was the most awful liquid I had ever tasted in my young life!
You forgot or don’t know , that we have a Mr Boh lacrosse team that travels to play tournaments. We’ve brought back the name and visability of the beer. We are well known thru out the USA
Mrbohlacrosse.com