Thursday’s ad is a 1956 ad for Rheingold Beer, featuring Miss Rheingold for that year, Millie Merritt. In the ad, Miss Merritt is wearing an exotic red dress sitting in the old barn with her squeeze box accordion, waiting for the performance, as the sign behind her promises, to take place “tonig.”
Wednesday’s ad is a 1948 ad for Rheingold Beer, featuring Miss Rheingold for that year, Pat Quinlan. In the ad, Miss Quinlan is carrying two baskets with three puppies and kittens in each. With the garden in the background, it almost looks like she’s just come back from picking them.
Tuesday’s ad is a 1958 ad for Rheingold Beer, featuring Miss Rheingold for that year, Madelyn Darrow. In the ad, Miss Darrow is apparently trying to figure out how many hats she can fit into a three-wheeled precursor to the smart car.
Monday’s ad is a 1951 ad for Rheingold Beer, featuring Miss Rheingold for that year, Elise Gammon. In the ad, Miss Gammon is arriving — or leaving? — a cocktail party and is either taking her mink off or putting on — it could be either, maybe that was the point?
Our 78th Guinness is the scan of an original mock-up using the tagline “Lovely day for a Guinness.” Most likely it was meant for the time period during World War II given the military men and the Toucans flying in formation.
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.
Leo, the lion, is from July 23-August 23. To learn more, see:
Friday’s ad is the 420th beer ad I’ve posted so in honor of that number, today’s ad is for a beer festival, the 420 Fest put on by SweetWater of Atlanta, Georgia. It was done by artist R. Marx for the 2008 festival. Happy 420!
Thursday’s ad is another one for Schlitz, this time much later, from 1968. Using their popular “When you’re out of Schlitz, you’re out of beer” slogan. The image, though, is a less-than-flattering angle.
Wednesday’s ad is from 1941 for Schlitz, and is certainly a product of its time. Showing a housewife pouring glasses of Schlitz as her work-weary husband waves through the window as he walks home from work. The ad copy is great. “Coming home from a day’s hard work, it’s a truly happy husband who finds Schlitz at the evening meal!”
Tuesday’s ad is an old woodcut piece of art used to promote Ballantine Ale. Whether it was used in an advertisement or for some other promotional purpose is unclear. It’s visually telling the presumably mythical story of how the Ballantine three-ring logo was born, when its founder, Peter Ballantine, had set down his glass a few times, accidentally creating a perfect geometric shape known as Borromean rings. As the first woodcut suggests “Under his glass Peter Ballantine found a trade-mark now famous.” The Borromean rings became Ballantine’s logo, which did make the brand very recognizable.
In the second woodcut, the incredibly buff Peter Ballantine is pointing to the rings, presumably showing them to someone else, unless he’s in the habit of pointing and talking to himself, of course. And just look at the grip he keeps on his beer. No one is taking that glass away from him.
Still, pretty awesome art.