Our 95th Guinness ad originally ran during World War 2, and shows a painter camouflaging a gun turret. He’s done such a good job that he can’t find his beer in all the camouflage. The tagline is “My Goodness — where’s My Guinness?”
Beer In Ads #485: Bring On The Falstaff
Friday’s ad is for Falstaff, from 1955. It’s another Thanksgiving ad, and the setting looks exactly like my family’s table. Look how perfect everyone looks. And how about that headline. “Along with Autumn’s Golden Best … Bring on the Falstaff.” But I do love the bottle suspended in the air, pouring down into the already full pilsner glass, presumably mere seconds from it spilling over and making a great mess. Take a close look at the bottle, it’s practically full. Even if it wasn’t, just the amount of beer flowing but not yet in he glass will make it overflow.
Beer In Ads #484: America’s Earliest Thanksgiving … Was For Corn
Thursday’s Thanksgiving Day ad is for Budweiser. I’m not sure when the ad originally ran, but clearly it’s from a time when sensitivities toward Native Americans weren’t particularly keen. That’s based on the ad copy, which after the headline — “America’s Earliest Thanksgiving … Was For Corn” — is the following:
With joyous chants and throbbing tom-toms, the Indians celebrated each bountiful harvest of maize. How the red man would marvel to see the part his native grain plays in the nutrition and individual prosperity of modern America!
Later in the ad, the copy connects corn to “its neighbor, barley,” adding. “For, from America’s costliest barley comes Budweiser to adds its distinctive, delicious taste to the fine flavors that make such a world of difference between merely eating and really dining.” Curiously, no mention of rice, though.
Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!
Beer In Ads #483: To Health & Good Cheer
Wednesday’s ad is from the 1930s, and is for Pabst Blue Ribbon, a Thanksgiving wish from the brewery “To Health & Good Cheer.” Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving, that’s my wish, too.
Beer In Ads #482: Biere de Chartres
Tuesday’s ad is another by Eugene Oge, a French illustrator who did a number of great beer adverts during his lifetime from 1861-1936. He was a major figure in the Belle Epoque and did many outstanding ads for resorts, food, and all sorts of beverages and brands. This is the third of his I’ve featured, and it’s for a presumably French beer brand, Biere de Chartres.
Beerstrology Sign: Sagittarius
While I don’t put any stock in astrology, in 1980 Guinness put out a calendar with each month representing one of the zodiac signs, and I thought it would be fun to share these throughout the year.
Sagittarius, the archer, is from November 22-December 22. To learn more, see:
- Astrology Online
- Universal Psychic Guild
- Wikipedia
- Zodiac Signs
Beer In Ads #481: I Was Curious About TV
Monday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1950. It’s yet another of the “I was curious” series. In this installment, a couple gets dressed up to go to another well-dressed couple’s house to watch that new-fangled tee-vee that everyone was talking about. I love how the man holding the six-pack of beer is using just his fingertips.
Beer In Art #149: Jan Luyken’s The Cooper
This week’s work of art is by the Dutch illustrator and engraver Jan Luyken. His watercolor painting, The Cooper, was originally done as a study for an engraving he was working on for a larger project, a book entitled “Het Menselyk Bedryf,” or “Book Of Trades.”
Both the watercolor and the subsequent engraving, which is below, was completed in 1694.
The final engraving was included in The Book of Trades, and looked like this in one edition.
On critic, writing about Luyken’s Cooper, has the following to say:
Luyken’s rapid treatment of the work is accentuated by the use of quick brush strokes in the watercolour highlights. The cooper, who is outside his workshop, is attaching the barrel staves which he has shaped and positioned in the background, his colleague is coating the inside of a barrel with wax.
You can read Luyken’s biography at Wikipedia or at Scroll Publishing. You can also see the rest of the engravings from The Book of Trades and you can see other works at WikiGallery. Also, his biblical set, Martyrs Mirror, from 1685, can be seen at Bethel College’s website.
Guinness Ad #94: Mine’s A Guinness
Our 94th Guinness ad is a bit of a pun, showing the iconic Toucan underground wearing a miner’s helmet, leaning on a pick axe in one hand. In his other hand is a pint of Guinness with the slogan “mine’s a Guinness.”
Beer In Ads #480: Red For Black Label
Friday’s ad is for Carling Black Label, from 1962. The ad is pretty simple, and I assume I may be missing part of it since there’s no text at all. But the photo is just a red-headed woman wearing all red, with red nail polish, holding a glass of Carling Black Label while looking longingly at the camera. Red for Black Label. Who’s thirsty?
