Friday’s ad is another British one, this time for John Smith’s XXX. I’m not sure when it’s from, but the 1950s seems a safe bet. I have a friend named John Smith, and he always likes these ads. The smirking face is a little unsettling, I think. It’s almost like he’s trying to hypnotize us. “You Will Enjoy … You Will Enjoy ….”
Thursday’s ad for beer generally, from the 1950s. It was created for the Brewers Society, presumably a brewing industry trade organization in Great Britain. It appears that the Brewers Society became the British Beer & Pub Association in the 1990s. A quick search reveals that they did a series of ads in the 1950s using a tagline referring to beer as “The Best Long Drink in the World.” Hopefully some of British friends can explain what the hell that means?
Wednesday’s ad for Ballantine Ale, from 1945. Anticipating the post-war boom in home construction, it shows a couple looking over the blueprints for their new home, although the salesman holding them looks a little sleazy to me.
Tuesday’s ad for Pabst Blue Ribbon, from 1954. Part of PBR’s “What’ll You Have” series, this one is tennis-themed, with a white tennis sweater emblazoned with Pabst’s tagline by the courts, back in the days when they still used white balls and … well, wore sweaters. Still not quite sure what made the beer better, though.
Monday’s ad for Budweiser, from 1947. Showing a young boy whose report card was less than stellar trying to soothe the beating he was about to get by bringing his father a tray of Budweiser. I’m not quite sure he really thought this through. Is getting Dad drunk really the way to go here? And what exactly does “Deportment Excellent” mean? I guess I’m getting a failing grade, too.
Friday’s ad for Schlitz, from 1949. It’s from their long-running “I was curious …” series, that featured three-panel stories that always ended with people drinking Schlitz beer. This one features a younger couple visiting the home of an older one, with the older man showing off his model train layout … and, of course, his superior taste in beer.
Thursday’s ad is an Independence Day ad featuring Early American Pioneer Ben Franklin. In this ad, he’s flying a kite — at night, oddly — but I guess that’s so we can see the three-ring Ballantine logo in lightning.
Wednesday’s ad is for Miller Brewing, from 1950. It’s part of Miller’s serioes of ads from that time period using the slogan “Traditionally The Finest: with spartan indoor settings. This one features a nautical and seafood theme, and this curious statement: “women have a curious instinct for recognizing quality.”
Tuesday’s ad is for Blatz, from 1909. The curious tagline, “The Sentiment of the Harvest,” is above a fairy holding up a row of garland. It’s apparently advertising the Valentin Blatz Brewing Co.‘s Private Stock, “the finest beer ever brewed.” And I love that they mention the beer’s “food value.”
Monday’s ad is for the Peter Doelger Brewing Co., from 1916. Peter Doelger was a New York brewery founded in 1859. It returned after prohibition ended, but quickly closed in 1937. The ad is just a couple of years before prohibition and shows how, right up to the end, many breweries were trying to convince people that hard liquor was the problem and, as their tagline says, “BEER is the PURE TEMPERANCE drink.” It didn’t work.
