Friday’s ad is for Blatz Beer, from 1951. The ad is part of Blatz’s “I lived in Milwaukee, I ought to know” series from the Fifties that featured prominent celebrities, sports figures and famous folks from Milwaukee claiming to know “Blatz is Milwaukee’s Finest Beer” because they lived there, or near there, at some point in their lives. This one features Uta Hagen, an actress born in Germany but raised in nearby Madison, Wisconsin.
Thursday’s ad may not be a real ad, I’m not entirely sure. It’s for a Brasserie Belden, which I can’t find any information about at all. And the nature of the ad, more like a political attack ad, makes it seem more like a spoof than a real ad that someone might have actually ran. It has the look of an older ad, with the paper staining, at least after World War II, although it’s easy enough to fake that using PhotoShop. I don’t recall where I found this one and the fact that I can’t find any additional information about it on the interwebs further leads me to suspect its veracity, although it’s too funny not to share all the same. “Be a man. Drink Belden.”
Wednesday’s ad is for Biere Paillette, from Brasserie Paillette in Le Havre, Seine-Maritime, France. This one shows a seagull swooping in for a sip of beer floating on the sea. Beautiful.
Tuesday’s ad is by the beer industry, from the later 1950s when things were friendlier. This pro-beer industry ad is from after the “Beer Belongs” series ended its run in 1956. Showing a group of campers by the side of a lake, I love the tagline (it’s such a creature of its time). “Beer has its own friendly way of saying … Come and get it.” Also, note the inset box explaining how to clean beer glassware. Everything old is new again.
Monday’s ad is for Acme Beer, from maybe the 1940s or 50s. I assume the model is a famous actress, but I confess I don’t recognize her. The somewhat wieldy bit of the ad copy is that “I.Q.” stands for “It Quenches.” How exactly does a beer have a “high it quenches?”
Sunday’s ad is by the United States Industrial Foundation, from around the same time as their “Morale is a Lot of Little Things” campaign during World War 2, though this one may be just after the war. What more could a man want: a brook, a fish and a beer. One of out three ain’t bad, though if the weather’s nice the brook might be okay, too.
Saturday’s ad is for the British beer by Inde Coope, Double Diamond Burton Pale Ale, from probably the 1950s. The ad shows a nice illustration of a tray with a bottle and two glasses, one full, with a second bottle about to be opened. But I confess I’m confused about this bit of the ad copy. “Get outside a Double Diamond and you feel more like yourself again.” Is “get outside” a British idiom for drink a beer?
Friday’s ad is by the Swiss illustrator Herbert Leupin. The tagline, “spendet Freude und Harmonie,” translates to roughly “gives pleasure and harmony.”
Thursday’s ad is for Miller High Life, from the 1950s. Another of Miller’s minimalist ads, this one is set in a backyard barbecue. They’re making kabobs, but I especially love that they converted a wicker cart into a cooler.
Wednesday’s ad is for Narragansett, from some time in the late 1950s or early 1960s, if I had to guess. I base that on other ads which during that time period seem to show a wider range of beer glasses than later ads.
