Friday’s ad is for Budweiser, from 1947. Showing a tasty looking spread of meats and cheeses, the only thing missing is some more flavorful beers to pair with them. Still, it’s interesting to see a beer company before 1950 suggesting cheese to eat with beer.
Thursday’s holiday ad is for Schaefer, from 1946. It’s a colorful ad with a bright red background covering half the page with the foreground containing beer, nuts and a pipe.
Wednesday’s Christmas ad is for Schmidt’s, from the 1940s. Schmidt’s created a great slogan for the holidays. “The Beer That Brings Cheer Throughout All the Year.” Hard to argue with that. Hoppy Christmas.
Tuesday’s Christmas Eve ad is for Schlitz, from 1952. It’s a beautiful illustration of an attractive woman carrying a tray with two beers on it caught beneath some mistletoe just as a dashing young man leans in, presumably to exact the kiss demanded of being under the mistletoe. Hoppy Holidays. You can see the artwork alone on my Beer in Art Tumblr.
Monday’s holiday ad is for Schlitz, from 1966. I guess it’s a humorous ad, but not to George. While wrapping George’s gift of a six-pack of Schlitz — George is not this guy’s best friend, presumably — he decides to drink one of the cans of beer, thinking to himself. “I wonder if George will mind getting a 5-Pak.” Yes, I think he will. But I think what George will mind most of all is getting such a shitty present to begin with. Sheesh.
Sunday’s holiday ad is for Budweiser, from 1959. Part of Bud’s “Where There’s Life … There’s Bud” series, the ad shows a woman who’s busy wrapping presents, while an unseen hand is pouring her a beer. See the delight on her face? I also love the ad copy for this one. “Just a warm wish to you and yours for a happy, perfectly wonderful Holiday Season.” Even back in the late 1950s the war against Xmas was raging. “Holiday Season?” Bah.
Saturday’s ad is for Boswell’s Ales & Porter, from early last century. A Canadian beer brand, beginning in 1909, it became part of National Breweries Limited, although it apparently Boswell’s originally opened in 1668, making it North America’s 2nd oldest brewery and Canada’s first (According to a 1910 newspaper ad).
Friday’s ad is for Navy’s Christmas Ale, from the 1930s. It was a brand of the Brouwerij La Marine, from Brussels, Belgium. According to one collecting website. “The La Marine brewery was formed when it took over the Marly Brewery which itself was a merging of the Struyen, Dineur and Dumortier breweries with the l’Alliance brewery. It was subsequently taken over by Wielemans-Ceuppens and stopped brewing in 1980.”
Here’s a cool video of artist Ben Steele creating four different paintings of a Samuel Adams bottle and glass in the style of four different cultures or artists representing what they call “the 4 most influential beer cultures.” Steele imagines how artists from Egypt, Belgium, Germany and America would depict Samuel Adams Boston Lager by creating four works or art in those styles. The Belgian work was done in the style of Vincent Van Gogh (although he was Dutch) and the American version was reminiscent of Roy Lichtenstein. The Egyptian one is as if it were carved in stone, though it’s not clear to me what he was going for with the German. It looks to me like a photo-realist painting. It will be fin to see these individually as posters or larger, at least. There’s even a contest to caption the cartoon text bubble in the last painting. What do you think it should say?
Thursday’s ad is for O’Keefe’s Ale, from 1953. Showing either a tiny wreath or a giant crown, it’s actually a cool-looking Christmas wreath, but what I really love is the ad copy: “When good friends get together they say O.K. for O’Keefe’s.” Followed by “No finer ale was ever brewed.” Pretty bold coda.