Last year I decided to concentrate on Bock ads. Bock, of course, may have 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.

Thursday’s ad is for Bockbier, which is from the 1920s and was created for the Vereinigte Brauereien Luzern (or “United Breweries Lucerne”) of Lucerne, Switzerland, which was formed in 1922 by the merger of two local breweries. In 1937, it was renamed the Lucerne Brewery Eichhof, and in 1960 shortened again to Brewery Eichhof. Since 2008, it has been part of Heineken. I don’t know who the artist was that created the poster.