Last 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.

Wednesday’s ad for “Bock” depicts a goat surrounded by hops and barley, with a glass of beer and the text: “Buck Beer.” This was created as a sample for breweries to show them that there business name could be added to the top of the poster to create a personalized poster for them to use in marketing their beer. You can see faintly above the goat’s horns the following text: : This chromolithograph was created in 1880, though I don’t know who the lithographer was that created it.