Thursday’s ad is from 1968 and is for Budweiser. The ad copy claims that there were 332 beer brands being sold in 1968. Now that’s “brands,” not breweries, because there weren’t nearly that many different breweries in operation then. According to USBA figures, there were 197 U.S. breweries in 1965, but only 154 in 1970, just five years later. So the number in 1968 would have been somewhere in between that period of time when 43 breweries closed. The ad itself shows quite a number of Budweiser’s competitors at the time, claiming — naturally — that only their beer was “beechwood aged.” I recognize many of the labels shown, though a few — like Dawson and Van Dyke — I’ve never heard of before. Still, you’ve got to be pretty confident in your market share to show your competitors’ labels in your own ad.
Remember that the USBA figures for “breweries” is not the same as “brewing companies”- so that each individual brewery by the multi-site national chain brewers of the era (A-B, Schlitz, Falstaff, Carling, etc) are counted in those figures.
Actual number of brewing companies in ’62 was 157 so by ’68 was even lower than your estimate – considering that by ’73 it was down to about 75 companies.
Getting an exact figure is complicated a bit more since some purchased breweries were run as wholly-owned subsidiaries of the new parent company (Heileman and Associated did that with most of their breweries, Falstaff ran Narragansett using it as a “dba” name, etc).
Went searching my files for a better estimate on the number of brewing companies in ’68, and the FTC puts it at 154 breweries run by 125 firms for the previous year in ’67.
That dropped to 149 breweries in ’68, with no number given for “firms” – considering the era, one would assume those were 5 companies that folded, rather than branch breweries closed.
Wow, what a pile of …. beers :), except for the Ballantine IPA, there isn’t a good beer in that whole pile. Thankfully most of these beers are long gone. I do miss the Balantine IPA though, it was the first IPA I ever had and it was delicious.
I don’t see a Ballantine India Pale Ale label in there. If you mean the oval Ballantine label, above the “is the” – that’s a Ballantine XXX Ale label. (The IPA label then was dark green and metallic gold). But I wouldn’t mind having either one – if they were the Newark recipes.
Prior was one of the last all-malt beers in the US before the craft era, not sure when Schmidt’s cheapened it but that’s an older vintage label than the ones I drank.
Behind/between the Schlitz and the Knickerbocker is a Trommer’s White Label – another of the last all-malt US beers- one I never had and I’d have thought was discontinued by ’68 (the brand at that time would have been owned by Piels, then part of Associated).
I guess I’d take a chance on a six of either of those, too…
Seeing the labels in the old BUD ad really conjures up memories.
Glad you mentioned Prior, Jess…theirs were indeed good brews (at least until Schmidts go a hold of them). Prior Double Dark was a particular favorite.
Trommer’s _was_ actually revived for a while because I remember drinking it during my Rutgers days, and specifically around 1973-75. It was brewed at the Rheingold plant in Orange (or is it West Orange?…anyway the plant was visible from I-280). I recall reading somehwhere that the Rheingold plant there actually _was_ the old Trommer brewery. Any verification on that?
But of course, like you, I long for some Newark Ballantine XXX or IPA (even the first Cranston iterations were not bad at all). The IPA _especially_ is something I would choose over anything made today.
You mention not having heard of Dawson’s. Originally brewed in New Bedford, MA, it was a prominent label in New England in the 1930’s-1950’s. In the late 960’s, however, the bewery closed and the Dawson’s labels were then brewed in Willimansett, MA ( I believe that brewery was owned by Piels at the time). When it closed, the Dawson labels (by no means the original formula) became part of the Eastern Brewing Co. of Hammonton, NJ’s stable of loser brands. A sad ending for a once decent brand.
“cybertonian September 23, 2011 at 11:18 am
Wow, what a pile of …. beers :), except for the Ballantine IPA, there isn’t a good beer in that whole pile. Thankfully most of these beers are long gone. I do miss the Balantine IPA though, it was the first IPA I ever had and it was delicious.”
Did you try all the beers in the ad? If not, then how can you comment as they whether they are good or not? Honestly, I’m sick of people who run around and mouth off about so-called lousy beers even if they haven’t had one. I’m especially tired of people bad mouthing something like a lager — and falling all over themselves about craft beers — when plenty of craft products are complete swill.
The growth of Anheuser-Busch in the 60’s and Miller in the 70’s wasn’t necessarily because of the quality of their product. It was their ability to use a national presence and economies of scale to target certain markets and drive smaller operations under by cutting price to the point where the locals couldn’t match.
A lot of interesting products, decent local breweries and good people were ground out existence during this time. Sure, some beers were wiped out because they were crap — but by no means all of them.