I’m taking a one-day break from posting Bock ads because today is the day Spaten released what today we simply call Helles in Munich and the rest of Germany. They had test-marketed it in Hamburg beginning March 21, 1894, but waited until the following summer for a full roll out, which began on June 20, 1895.

Saturday’s ad is for an “Spaten Helles Lagerbier,” or more fully “Helles Lagerbier nach Art des Pilsener Biers” (pale lager beer in the style of Pilsener beer) which was published on or around June 20, 1895. This ad ran in the “Das Bayerische Vaterland” (The Bavarian Fatherland), which was a daily newspaper published in Munich from 1869 to 1934. I believe it’s one of the earliest ads, if not the earliest ad, for Helles beer.