Tuesday’s ad is for Stegmaier Brewing Co., from between 1933-1945. The “Home of Gold Medal Beer” was Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. I love these grand illustrations of breweries, testaments to industrialization, this one was a postcard. I’m not sure why there’s a passenger train chugging by, maybe that’s how the brewery executives commute to and from work?
Monday’s ad is for Heineken, from maybe the 1950s or 60s, touted in this ad as the “World’s Finest Lager.” I’m not sure about the Enjoy Again!” headline. Were they targeting people who’d only tried Heineken once? They were obviously targeting Americans, using the windmill and tulips so shamelessly.
Sunday’s ad is for Gulpen Bier, a pilsner, another one from maybe the 1950s or 60s. I believe it’s a Dutch beer, and the tagline appears to translate to “rich in taste, rich in tradition.” I like that their choice of pairing is nuts and salami, not that it wouldn’t taste good, but surely they could have come up with something better.
Saturday’s ad is for Heineken, from maybe the 1950s or 60s. The tagline, “Het Meest Getapt,” according to Google Translate means “mostly tapped,” whatever that means. I imagine it’s an idiom that means something more understandable for this bar scene where the dudes are wearing suits and the women are laughing and looking nervous.
Friday’s ad is for Sleutel Bier, from sometime between 1925 and 1950. It was brewed by De Stadsbrouwerij Dordrecht, which was founded in 1433. Sleutel Bier means “key beer,” which explains the logo.
Thursday’s ad is for Heineken, from maybe the 1950s. I love the style of the ad, nicely minimal, with mostly black and blue, and just a few splashes of color, some yellows, whites and Heineken red. Great silhouettes in a starry night sky.
Wednesday’s ad is for the Suffolk Brewing Co., from sometime after 1875. You could be forgiven for thinking this was a German brewery, given the Munich Lager Beer Brewery banner headline, but in fact it was in Boston, Massachusetts, located at 423-443 Eighth Street. Another curiosity, especially given their calling themselves a “Munich Lager Beer Brewery,” is that the sign on the building identifies them as an “Ale & Porter Brewery.”
Tuesday’s ad is for Heineken, from maybe the late 1940s or 1950s. It’s somewhat surreal, showing a man in a suit holding up a table. On the table is a big bottle of Heineken, a full glass of beer and a plate of snacks. Not sure what they’re trying to say. Is it their idea of drinking oneself under the table? Only to become the table? I’m flummoxed.
Monday’s ad is for Budweiser, from 1982. Today is the anniversary of the first issue of Rolling Stone magazine, so I figured I’d run this ad from the back cover of the music magazine from 1982. It’s a kinda cool ad showing the can breaking through from inside the magazine, and people on the street in the photo surreally looking up at it. They even offered it as a poster you could send in to have sent to you.
Sunday’s ad is for Heineken, from the 1950s or possibly very early 1960s. There Is Happiness In … features a very odd assortment of musicians either stuck inside Heineken bottles or perhaps just wearing them as costumes. You don’t often see a quartet consisting of trumpet, saxophone, tuba and drums, but maybe there are more of them outside the frame. Not sure about the Heineken part, but they certainly look festive and happy.
