Friday’s ad is for Acme Beer, from 1947. The ad was illustrated by famous pin-up artist Alberto Vargas, one of several he did for Acme Breweries.
Beer In Ads #1393: Anyway, You Didn’t Burn The Schlitz
Wednesday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1952. The ad is certainly a bit sexist to modern eyes, showing what is a presumably new bride having burned dinner, while her husband tries to reassure her by pointing out that at least there was nothing wrong with the Schlitz. I wonder why they’re sitting on a plate?
Beer In Ads #1392: Budweiser Welcomes America Back
Tuesday’s ad is for Budweiser, from 1933. The ad is celebrating the end of prohibition, which is what they’re referring to when they say America is back, saying both “liberty” and “Budweiser” have returned. But I love the tagline toward the bottom where they refer to Budweiser as “Something More Than Beer.” More how, I wonder?
Beer In Ads #1391: Spring Ills
Monday’s ad is yet another one for Pabst, again from 1897. The ad shows the Boston Tea Party, with cartons of tea leaves being dumped into the harbor. Another patriotic moment, another reminder how healthful Pabst Malt Extract can be, especially how it can cure so many spring ills. There’s even a list of what it can cure: enervation, fatigue, thin blood, anaemia, exhaustion, lack of vitality, weakness, nervousness, sleeplessness and slow recovery from a winter’s sickness.
Beer In Ads #1390: The First Inauguration
Sunday’s ad is still another one for Pabst, also from 1897. The ad shows what is purported to be the “First Inauguration” — it looks like George Washington — yet I’m always amazed that we tend to simply ignore the ten presidents of Congress who preceded Washington under the Articles of Confederation, not to mention the fourteen people who served as president of the continental congress before that. In our collective image of American history, we seemingly just leap from 1776 to Washington’s inauguration thirteen years later, on April 30, 1789, as if that previous decade didn’t even exist. Climbing down off my soapbox, with Pabst Malt Extract, apparently, you won’t have to worry about dyspepsia or indigestion.
Beer In Ads #1389: Take Up The Slack!
Saturday’s ad is another one for Pabst, also from 1897. The ad shows Commodore Perry, the other one — the Hero of Lake Erie — standing in a small rowboat at the end of the battle, and I can only assume he said something like “take up the slack.” I’m not quite sure what “Perry’s Victory” has to do with Pabst Malt Extract, but it’s another in a series of patriotic ads using incidents throughout American history to sell Pabst.
Beer In Ads #1388: The Light Of Liberty
Friday’s ad is another one for Pabst, again from 1897. The ad shows the Old North Church, in Boston, Massachusetts, the one that had as many as two lamps hanging from its steeple, “one if by land, and two if by sea” depending on where the British were coming from, according to the story of Paul Revere. Apparently Pabst Malt Extract, “the best tonic,” will put anyone to sleep, even with those annoying lights streaming through the curtain windows.
Beer In Ads #1387: Perfection In Brewing Is Reached In America
Thursday’s ad is another one for Pabst, again from 1897. The ad shows the Mayflower — Happy Thanksgiving — and is using that, I think, to suggest that since Europeans arrived in America, that now, 400+ years later, brewing perfection has been achieved through Pabst Malt Extract. Let’s just say I’m skeptical.
Beer In Ads #1386: Had Been Sick
Beer In Ads #1385: The ‘A And Eagle’ Has Learned To Fly
Tuesday’s ad is for Budweiser, also from 1943. Another World War 2 ad, it’s again a very patriotic ad showing the Anheuser-Busch eagle soaring with wartime airplanes, or more specifically gliders, which were apparently helped along by A-B’s refrigeration division making parts for them to help with the war effort.