Saturday’s ad is for “Rheingold Beer,” from 1958. This ad was made for the Rheingold Brewery, which was founded by the Liebmann family in 1883 in New York, New York. At its peak, it sold 35% of all the beer in New York state. In 1963, the family sold the brewery and in was shut down in 1976. In 1940, Philip Liebmann, great-grandson of the founder, Samuel Liebmann, started the “Miss Rheingold” pageant as the centerpiece of its marketing campaign. Beer drinkers voted each year on the young lady who would be featured as Miss Rheingold in advertisements. In the 1940s and 1950s in New York, “the selection of Miss Rheingold was as highly anticipated as the race for the White House.” The winning model was then featured in at least twelve monthly advertisements for the brewery, beginning in 1940 and ending in 1965. Beginning in 1941, the selection of next year’s Miss Rheingold was instituted and became wildly popular in the New York Area. In this ad, from the Fall of 1958, it’s just one-half of a doubletruck ad, and shows the finalists standing in park wearing matching dresses, white gloves and handbags. From left to right, the six finalists for Miss Rheingold 1959 are Robbin Bain, Emily Banks, Penny Peterson, Gretchen Foster, Sondra Goss, and Audrey Garcia.
And here’s a cropped close-up with more muted colors:
