This year I decided to concentrate on Bock ads. Bock, of course, originated in Germany, in the town of Einbeck. Because many 19th century American breweries were founded by German immigrants, they offered a bock at certain times of the year, be it Spring, Easter, Lent, Christmas, or what have you. In a sense they were some of the first seasonal beers. “The style was later adopted in Bavaria by Munich brewers in the 17th century. Due to their Bavarian accent, citizens of Munich pronounced ‘Einbeck’ as ‘ein Bock’ (a billy goat), and thus the beer became known as ‘Bock.’ A goat often appears on bottle labels.” And presumably because they were special releases, many breweries went all out promoting them with beautiful artwork on posters and other advertising.

Monday’s ad is for Bock Beer, and titled “Village Beer Girl.” The chromolithograph was created in 1885. This is another example of a generic ad that was created and then could be licensed or bought by an individual brewery to use to advertise their products, and you can see a specific instance of how that was done below the first poster. The lithographer was H. Schile & Co. of 14-16 Division St. in New York City. Henry Jerome Schile was born in Germany, and emigrated to the U.S. in 1851, settling in Manhattan, which is where he opened his own print company. 

Here is example of a brewery, in this case the Frederick Oppermann Jr. Brewing Co. of New York City, taking the generic poster and adding their name. One addition that was made for this client was including a turtle at the bottom, right next. to the woman’s foot. Presumably that was added because the brewery was also known as the Turtle Bay Brewery.