Wednesday’s ad is for Budweiser, another Halloween ad from the 1950s or early 60s. This one’s part of A-B’s “where there’s life … there’s Bud” series. Showing the makings of a Halloween party, with loads of cheese on plates, and a can of Bud being poured into a glass. The expression of the woman watching the beer is pretty funny, along with the tagline. “Say cheese. Or anything else good to eat.”
Tuesday’s ad is for Blatz, a Halloween ad from 1947. Showing a smirking jack-o-lantern eyeing a full pilsner glass and bottle of Blatz beer next to it. Notice the plate of food below the main ad, with the glass of beer next to it? What exactly do you think that food on the plate might be? It’s lovely presentation, but what the hell is it?
Monday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1961. Showing a beach scene, with a woman in a red bathing suit peeking from underneath an umbrella, full beer mug in hand, with a hot dog and chips(?) on a plate resting on a picnic basket behind her. That sure looks like the makings of a terrific day at the beach.
Friday’s ad is for Hamm’s, from 1970. What great conceit. “Among the hardships of the 1856 frontier was the taste of the beer. Then came Hamm’s.” But my favorite bits is at the end, where they claim that Hamm’s flavor, such as it is, “runs as deep as ever. And nothing’s come along that can beat it.” It’s a good thing that ad was in 1970, because that statement surely would not stand up to scrutiny today.
Thursday’s ad is for Budweiser. Showing a pair of old men sharing bottles of Budweiser, it’s such a simple ad, that it may have been from the early part of last century, if not even older. At least one other source claims it’s from the 1940s, but there’s no evidence for that, so I’m still not so sure. Still, it’s nice illustration and undoubtedly made a good poster for a bar.
Wednesday’s ad, as the first game of the World Series begins, is from 1955 for Knickerbocker Beer. Calling itself “Your World Series Favorite,” it must have tough for the New York City beer to choose sides, as the world series that year was between the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers. The Dodgers won the series in seven games. Go Giants!
Tuesday’s ad is for Schmidt’s, but this time it is the one you probably know. The ad is from 1963, a very colorful, but still pre-hippie sixties. “Time for fun” … “Time for Schmidt’s” … “The Full-Taste Beer.” What is “full-taste beer,” you ask? Helpfully, the ad provides an answer. “Schmidt’s takes light beer, mellow beer, hearty beer — then blends them together.” So now you know.
I’m a fan of the website Woot!, which offers special deals, one each day. They’ve since added additional daily deals, such as tech woot!, sport woot!, home woot!, and even kids woot!. Most days, it’s not something I’m interested in or need, but every now and then it’s totally worth it and I buy the daily deal. They also have shirt woot!, where they sell daily t-shirts, too. Generally, those are pretty interesting, a few funny ones, some clever. Today’s is a beer shirt. I personally wouldn’t wear it, but I thought it was interesting. And it’s nice to see beer shown in a positive light, even if just on a silly t-shirt. The shirt is called Two is Better and shows two full mugs of beer high-fiving with a rainbow connecting them. They’re the twin pots of gold, so to speak. Hard to argue with that.
Monday’s ad is for Schmidt’s, but not the one you’re probably familiar with. This is Schmidt’s City Club from Austin, and not the Austin you’re familiar with, Austin, Minnesota. Yeah, that one. This one’s “always uniform,” “from barley field … to malt house … to Schmidt’s brewery.”
Friday’s ad is a cool one for Asahi, from when I don’t know, but it shows an open bottle of the Japanese beer, with hundreds, possible thousands, of crowns laid out before it. Because each crown shows the Japanese rising sun symbol, it’s an impressive sight.
