Two years ago I decided to concentrate on Bock ads for awhile. 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.

Tuesday’s poster is for Bock Orbec, which was created around 1899. This poster was made for, embarrassingly, a soft drink, which I didn’t realize until I started looking into the particulars of the poster. “Boisson Gazeuse à la Mode” translates as “Trendy Carbonated Drink.” Although one source refers to it as “a popular carbonated beverage and beer distributed by Maison Rigolet in Marseille.” Still, it was too cool of a poster so I decided to stay with it. Sorry, not sorry. The poster was created by Romanian poster artist, painter, and illustrator Jean de Paléologue, who often signed his name as PAL (or Pal), and the lithograph was printed by Imp. P. Vercasson, in Paris, France.