Monday’s ad is for Pabst from, it appears, sometime in the 1950s. It’s a double truck ad with a free wheeling high-spirited woman on one side of the fence and her conservative beau on the other. In his cowboy hat and tweed jacket, he’s looking askance at her unfettered emotions, barely moving as he holds on to his bottle of beer.
Our 77th Guinness ad features a free kick in a soccer … er, football match that the goalie is unable to stop because it was kicked hard enough to propel both the ball and the goalie into the net for a score. The source of that force can be found sticking out of his back pocket: a bottle of Guinness.
Friday’s ad is for Hamm’s, from 1965, and that is one seriously large bubble perched on top of the open bottle. And although in front of the person is just a white wall or sheet, behind him — at least in reflection — is quite the outdoor setting.
Thursday’s ad is for Burgie, from 1974, and makes a big deal about its California origins. “The California life. You can live it anywhere, because most of all it’s a feeling. Burgie beer was made for that special feeling. Light. Golden. With the true Western taste. If you live our life, you’re going to love our beer.” The can shows an old-time San Francisco scene and that’s where the can says it was brewed, too. So he kicker is that after lavishing all that attention on California, the tagline veers eastward. “Burgie: Original California Beer. Now in Chicago.”
Wednesday’s ad is for Miller high Life, from 1948, and shows a fancy party and a swanky restaurant with a spiffy view looking out and down on whatever city it’s supposed to be. And at the center of it all, the server is bringing a pilsner glass of Miller High Life.
Tuesday’s ad is for Budweiser, from 1936, when they challenged beer drinkers to drink Budweiser for five straight days, and then try a different beer, in their words “a sweet beer,” believing no one would want to drink anything else but Budweiser. Hmm.
Monday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1952. It shows a domestic scene where a couple is trying to decide what color to paint a room. But the husband seems far more interested in the color of his beer than any of the swatches on the wall. He’s taking “Time out for Schlitz.” And how about those red socks he’s wearing? I’m not sure he’s the best person to ask for color advice anyway.
This week’s work of art is by an Austrian artist, Michael Pacher, who painted this portrait of Mary of Burgundy in 1490.
Mary of Burgundy “ruled the Burgundian territories in Low Countries and was suo jure Duchess of Burgundy from 1477-1482. As the only child of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, and his wife Isabella of Bourbon, she was the heiress to the vast Burgundian domains in France and the Low Countries upon her father’s death. Her mother died in 1465, but Mary was on very good terms with her stepmother Margaret of York, whom Charles married in 1468.”
But today, for the beer lover at least, what Mary’s most famous for is that the Flanders red ale, Duchesse de Bourgogne, from the Brouwerij Verhaeghe, is named for her though the label is a different painting of Mary.
Their importer, Specialty Beer, describes the beer like this:
DUCHESSE DE BOURGOGNE from Brouwerij Verhaeghe is the traditional Flemish red ale. This refreshing ale is matured in oak casks; smooth with a rich texture and interplay of passion fruit, and chocolate, and a long, dry and acidic finish. After the first and secondary fermentation, the beer goes for maturation into the oak barrels for 18 months. The final product is a blend of younger 8 months old beer with 18 months old beer. The average age of the Duchesse de Bourgogne before being bottled is 12 months.
You can read Pacher’s biography at Wikipedia and there are more links about him at ArtCyclopedia. You can also see more of Pacher’s paintings at Artilim, Jitiky and the Web Gallery of Art.
Our 76th Guinness ad features the iconic toucan reminding you not to forget the Guinness, with each bird being showing mouthing each word.
Friday’s ad is for an old Japanese beer, Kembang, from Soerabaja, Fukushima & Co. Though I can’t be sure, it has the look of western ads from the late 1800s, though the script is art nouveau, which is a little later in the early 20th century. Apparently Soerabaja (Surabaya) is the name of a small town in East Java, Indonesia
