Wednesday’s ad is for Carling’s Red Cap Ale, from 1950. The ad is graduation-themed, with a disembodied Ethel Merman wearing a mortarboard hat with a tiny red cap on top. I love the way they characterize the beer as a “light-hearted ale.” For some reason that sounds better than light-bodied.
LMAO – I can’t imagine Ethel Merman drinking any kind of beer/ale – but she may have needed a few shekels to tide her over. Great performer (saw her live in DC in 1968 doing “Annie Get Your Gun” – new version; she starred in the Broadway original), but she had to be into champagne & booze.
Red Cap, as I remember it (early 70’s, when I was living where it was available in a few places), had more kick & was way better than Ballantine Ale (not their IPA, which I never saw then).
She was in “Call Me Madam” at the time, and still the hottest star on Broadway. Certainly she did it for the money, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Ethel enjoyed a cold brewski now and then.
Ethel Beerman!
Everything is coming up roses . . . . .