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.

Tuesday’s ad is for Kamm’s Bock Beer and was published March 25, 1937. The brewery was the Kamm & Schellinger Co. of Mishawaka, Indiana, which was originally founded around 1853 by John Wagner and then purcgased by Adolph Kamm and Clemens Dick in 1870, though it became the K&S Brewery in 1887 when Kamm bought out Dick and it was incorporated by Adolph Kamm and his brother-in-law Nicholas Schellinger and it remained in business like that until 1951, when it was closed by the Kamm family. This ad ran in the South Bend Tribune, of South Bend, Indiana, and includes the headline: “Kamm’s Bock is back —.”