Tuesday’s ad is another one for the English beer Double Diamond Burton Pale Ale, also from 1954. Part of a series called “Inn-Sign Rhymes,” this one shows the iconic Double Diamond dude toasting a sign for “The George & Dragon” pub. Below the illustration is the rhyme of the series and the tagline “A Double Diamond works wonders.”
Monday’s ad is for the English beer Double Diamond Burton Pale Ale, from 1954. Part of a series called “Inn-Sign Rhymes,” this one shows the iconic Double Diamond dude toasting a sign for “The Robin Hood” pub. Below the illustration is the rhyme of the series and the tagline “A Double Diamond works wonders.”
Sunday’s ad is for Heineken, from 1976. Showing a cliched view of a windmill with a bottle and glass of Heineken in the foreground, the headline is “If You Can’t Come To Holland Have A Heineken.” This ad is from when I was a junior in high school, and I remember being with my stepfather and visiting a business associate of his. The guy we were visiting asked my stepdad if he wanted a beer, asking if he’d prefer a regular beer or “the good stuff,” which turned out to be Heineken. Oh, how times have changed.
Saturday’s ad is for Schaefer, from 1959. Schaefer did a number of ads with the round theme, often showing the top of a beer can, emphasizing the round shape of them. This one shows a round plate full of snacks, including some not-terribly-appetizing potato chips (they’ve got brown edges indicating they were burned or the oil used was old).
Friday’s ad is for Ballantine Ale, from 1959. Showing a winter scene, with a giant glass of Ballantine Light Lager Beer showing some exquisite lace. And I guess it must be pretty cold, too.
Thursday’s ad is for Ballantine Ale, from 1946. Part of a series of historical ads Ballantine did in the forties. This one shows an early iron horse stopping by the tavern as the barkeep brings a few tankards of beer to the thirsty travelers.
Wednesday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1965. The Teddy in the title “What Was Schlitz Doing With Teddy In Africa?” is Theodore Roosevelt, our 26th president. According to the ad, shortly after he left office, he went on a hunting expedition to Arica, and took along with him quite a lot of bottles of Schlitz.
Tuesday’s ad is for Budweiser, from 1945, the final year of World War 2. Showing a returning ship coming into New York harbor as it’s bringing the troops “Home … and all that it Means.”
Monday’s ad is by famed artist and illustrator Norman Rockwell, who was born today, February 3, in 1894. Rockwell was most famous for his magazine covers for the Saturday Evening Post and Boys’ Life, the official Boy Scouts’ publication. But he also did some commercial illustration, including this painting of a “Man with Sandwich and Glass of Beer,” for an unspecified beer ad, which was created between 1947 and 1950. I don’t think it was ever used, as I’ve been unable to turn up the illustration in any actual advertisement.
Sunday’s ad — kind of a Super Bowl ad — is for Colt 45, from 1968, when in Super Bowl II my Green Bay Packers defeated the Oakland Raiders 33-14. It’s a funny idea, and if the beer they poured into the crystal bowl had been a better-tasting beer it might truly have been a super bowl.
