Thursday’s ad is a 1960 ad for Budweiser. It’s yet another in the “Where there’s life … there’s Bud” series. In the ad, apparently the sound of beer being poured into a glass is enough to turn her head fast enough that her hair flips around and the expression on her face screams “surprise!”
Wednesday’s ad is a 1956 ad for Budweiser. It’s another in the “Where there’s life … there’s Bud” series that was common in the late 1950s. The ad shows a can of Budweiser Lager Beer, freshly poured. Is it just me, or this ad just one big double entendre? Between the look on the guy’s face, who just poured the beer, and the woman bending down, who looks as if she’s about to kiss the head … something’s going on there. Or am I reading too much into that?
Tuesday’s ad is a 1959 ad for Budweiser. Using the “Where there’s life … there’s Bud” slogan that was common in the late 1950s, the ad shows a Harpist paying little attention to her harp with all eyes on the beer.
Monday’s ad is a 1948 ad for Budweiser. Using the “There’s nothing like it … absolutely nothing” slogan that was common in the later 1940s, the ad features a pair of waitresses some pretty odd uniforms. They look like something out of Sinbad the Sailor.
This week’s work of art is by a Dutch Artist, Jacob Jardeans, who was better known in his own time than he is today. Unlike his contemporaries, Rubens and Van Dyck, Jardaens never left Antwerp or found the success that they did. But in his hometown, he was one of the most popular artists. He painted a lot of allegories and mythological pictures, such as The Satyr and the Peasants, seen below, which was created around 1640.
The portrait includes a peasant and his family, along with a satyr and a servant is bring beer. The satyr’s face is odd, almost seems to mocking his hosts. But it’s the peasant’s face, bursting with food, that has the really strange expression. He looks like he was caught mid-bite in a snapshot.
Curiously, Jardaens also painted a very similar scene, the main difference being the canvas is a bit wider to accommodate more area, and two more children, though the satyr has been replaced by another man (another peasant?) who’s draining his own mug of beer. The second painting is known as “Eating Man” but I don’t know if it was painted before or after the other one.
You can read Jardaens biography at Wikipedia or at the Jacob Jardaens official website. And you can see more of his work at Olga’s Gallery, at the official website gallery and the Web Gallery. And there are links to even more paintings at ArtCyclopedia.
Our 71st Guinness ad is also from the “Guinness For Strength” series, with the yield of vegetables a direct result of the bottle of Guinness peeking out of the basket the gardener is carrying on his head. Now that’s a green thumb.
And here’s a variation of the ad, presumably from just after World War 2, since the word “victory” is crossed-out and “plenty” written in just above it.
Friday’s ad is also from 1950, and is a billboard for Hamm’s. I love their insistence that the beer is “So Light … So Smooth … So Mellow” and is “The Gold Standard of All Fine Beer.”
Thursday’s ad is from 1950, and is for Meister Brau beer. The slogan for this billboard is “You can’t serve a finer glass of beer.”
Wednesday’s ad is from 1951, and this one is for San Francisco’s Acme Gold Label Beer. The Gold Label Beer is described on the billboard as being “the new lighter, drier beer.”
Today, two years ago, Odell Brewing in Fort Collins, Colorado released a new seasonal beer, an Extra Pale Ale they called “St. Lupulin.”
From the press release:
A mystical legend in the Odell brewhouse, St. Lupulin (loop-you-lin) was the archetypal hophead. He devoted endless summers to endless rows of hops, tending to the flowers and the beloved resin within — lupulin. Extraordinary oils in this yellow resin provide this dry-hopped extra pale ale with an undeniably pleasing floral aroma. “St. Lupulin is our way of honoring the hop plant,” said brewer Jake O’Mara. “The beer has incredible hop character, but it’s balanced and very drinkable.”
I mention all this because I absolutely love the label artwork they came up with and just the idea of having a St. Lupulin. He looks to me like the Johnny Appleseed of hops. So since June 1st is the release date, I’m declaring that June 1 also be the feast day for St. Lupulin, patron saint of American hops. No reason we can’t have yet another beer saint, even a fictional one. We should come with our own myth for him, a tall tale. Happy St. Lupulin’s Day everyone. Enjoy a hoppy beer to celebrate.