Thursday’s ad is yet another Rheingold Beer ad, this one from 1949, featuring Miss Rheingold for that year, Pat McElroy. In this ad, she’s fishing on the beach, rod and reel in hand. Not surprisingly, the food pairing suggestion for their beer at the bottom of the ad is fish. Imagine that.
Wednesday’s ad is also a Rheingold Beer ad, this one from 1951, featuring Miss Rheingold for that year, Elsie Gammon. In this ad, she’s dressed for polo, with her mallet over her shoulder as she holds the reigns to her horse. It doesn’t seem like associating it with polo is the best way to make Rheingold a beer of the people.
Tuesday’s ad is another Rheingold Beer ad, this one from 1952, featuring Miss Rheingold for that year, Anne Hogan. In this ad, she’s all decked out in a cowgirl outfit, posing out in the mountains, while her horse presumably rests from the long trail ride. The saddle and blanket are by her side, as is a can of beer.
Monday’s ad begins another week of Rheingold Beer ads, another one from 1953, featuring Miss Rheingold for that year, Mary Austin. In this ad, she’s hunting ducks from a rowboat, and her faithful dog has retrieved her latest kill. Whenever you look at beer ads from the 1960s and before, scenes depicting hunting are far more common than nowadays. Does anyone know if hunting is less common now or is it simply that’s it’s not a politically correct activity anymore.
Friday’s ad is also for Rheingold Beer, this one from 1953, featuring Miss Rheingold for that year, Mary Austin. In this ad, she’s standing in front of an old-fashioned flower cart (I never see these anymore, has anyone else?). She’s also got on white gloves and is holding a black object for contrast, but what the hell is that? Is it an oddly-shaped pocketbook? A weird vase or pot for flowers? What?
Thursday’s ad is for Rheingold Beer, from 1954, featuring Miss Rheingold for that year, Adrienne Garrett, holding a small white yappy-looking dog (I confess I hate the idea of little purse dogs) though to be fair this one looks too big for Paris Hilton. In her other hand she holds two hat boxes. I remember when I was young women often travelled with enormous hatboxes and my mom and grandmothers having entire closets filled with them. What a strange time.
Wednesday’s ad is another Budweiser ad, this one from 1957, part of the “Where there’s life” series. It’s a tight shot, with a warmly-dressed model shown in close-up amid autumn leaves as her beau pours out a can of Budweiser into her glass, as she look up longingly. Not sure what to make of this one, but something just doesn’t feel right.
Tuesday’s ad features a quote and drawing of Anheuser-Busch founder Adolphus Busch, who was born today in 1839. It’s kind of a funny quote, and I can only assume it was made up in 1976 by A-B’s advertising department for a centennial ad. “It’s good, this new beer of mine. Really good. Some day it will be world renowned … I think I’ll call it Budweiser.” Even if he ever thought or said (to whom?) something so ridiculous in 1876, who wrote it down?
Monday’s ad is from 1959, for Rheingold Beer, featuring Miss Rheingold for that year, Robbin Bain, at an Antique car show during harvest time, or just before Halloween. Those are some old cars. I remember going to a lot of antique car shows when I was a kid (my stepfather was a mechanic and obsessed with cars) and there always really, really old Model T’s and the like, cars from the late 19th century through the fifties. But the last car show I saw was almost all newer cars, with the 1950s maybe the oldest cars, which wasn’t nearly as impressive somehow.
Friday’s ad is from 1956, for Rheingold Beer, featuring Miss Rheingold for that year, Hillie Merritt, on a ride, presumably, at Coney Island (since Rheingold was a New York brewery). If you look at the fine print, apparently that yellow dress was made especially for Rheingold.
