Wednesday’s ad is still another one from the United Brewers Industrial Foundation, again from 1939. This was well before the “Beer Belongs” series, and just before World War II. The ad shows Uncle Sam (who first appeared today in 1813) peering out on a sunlit landscape, with a road spreading out before him. He’s stop, holding his hat behind his back, deep in thought trying to decide which of three roads to take just up ahead. What are his choices? “It is not blindly that we of today must choose our path. Many men before us have travelled each of the three roads … the dead-end road to excess, the harsh road of intolerance, the straight road ahead which is the way of moderation and sobriety.” I vote for the way of mod sob. But I also love the text from the inset box:

“Beer is one of the oldest and best of beverages; its use is widespread in every land; it is within the reach of every purse … The growth of its use in this country is bound to make for general temperance; for there is nothing more promising to combat the evil of too much alcohol than the opportunity of drinking good beer.”

Sunday’s ad is still another one from the United Brewers Industrial Foundation, also from 1939. This was well before the “Beer Belongs” series, and just before World War II. In some ways, this is a strange one, asking consumers to care if the brewers’ beer they’re buying is a member of the UBIF. For only the geekiest of beer geeks is that a serious concern. I especially love the sign hanging on the wall behind him. “This Place Observes the Law.” You don’t see signs like that in bars and retailers anymore, sad to say.

Friday’s ad is yet another one from the United Brewers Industrial Foundation, again from 1939. This was well before the “Beer Belongs” series, and just before World War II. This one talks about the fact that in the six years since prohibition, brewers used over 15 billion pounds of barley, corn, rice and hops planted on 3 million acres, roughly the same size as New England!

Thursday’s ad is yet another one from the United Brewers Industrial Foundation, also from 1939. This was well before the “Beer Belongs” series, and just before World War II. This one ran in Life magazine, using a precursor to the “America’s Beverage of Moderation” tagline with “Beer … a Beverage of Moderation.” This one’s about job creation, with a list of over a dozen occupations brought back by prohibition’s repeal. Showing a child meeting his father walking home from work, I love this bit of ad copy: “Happy man, happy boy, happy home.” Works for me.

Tuesday’s ad is from the United Brewers Industrial Foundation, from 1939. This was well before the “Beer Belongs” series, and just before World War II. It looks like it most likely was published in a trade magazine of some type rather than a consumer periodical. But I especially love the logo as if it were the sun, coming down from the heavens.

Monday’s ad is from the United States Brewers Association, from the late 1950s. This was well after the “Beer Belongs” series, and even after the unnumbered ones the followed the “Home Life in America” series. It’s also by the United States Brewers Association instead of the United States Brewers Foundation, as earlier ones had been. As a result, I believe it’s most likely after 1956. I love the look on the woman’s face. She’s having a good time with her glass of beer by candlelight. Those glasses look more like wine glasses, though, don’t they?