Wednesday’s holiday ad is for Guinness, from 1962. This is one of the last illustrations John Gilroy did for Guinness, and it was featured on the company magazine for Christmas 1962. The slightly angled one below is the largest image of it I could find, although the smaller one below it gives you a better look at it. I like how determined Santa is to get that glass of beer, willing to jump through a harp held my a lion.
Today in 1975, US Patent 3927680 A was issued, an invention of Hermann Daum and Johann Stefan, for their “Machine For Picking Hops.” Here’s the Abstract:
This invention relates to a hop picking machine and more particularly to a hop picking machine which includes a device for performing a secondary picking operation.
Tuesday’s holiday ad is for both Narragansett Lager Beer and Ballantine, from 1979. Although the ads was created by the Narragansett Brewing Co., they did include a can of Ballantine in the ad, too, and mentioned it in the ad copy that accompanied that it:
Open up the holiday season with a
‘Gansett lager beer or a Ballantine Ale.
Or both if you’re expecting friends.
And speaking of friends, it’s loyal friends like you who have made Narragansett Lager Beer and Ballantine Ale traditional New England favorites.
And that’s a tradition we’ve been carrying on longer than any other New England brewery, thanks to you.
So, as the old year comes to a close, be sure to open the New Year with our best Narragansett Lager Beer and Ballantine Ale.
Today in 1942, US Patent 2305641 A was issued, an invention of John F. Silhavy, for his “Method of and Apparatus For Making Beer.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:
I have invented new methods of and apparatus for heating `and boiling wort in the brew or hop kettle which will be described in connection with My invention is easily adaptable to and can be easily installed in existing kettles. When steam at 25 pounds gage pressure is used as a heating medium in the coil or jacket of a brew kettle, the temperature of the steam is about 265 F. According to my invention I employ heating means and mediums for the brew kettle which range in temperature from about 600 F to about 2000 F so that high’ heating temperatures far beyond those attainable by steam at ordinary pressures are obtained and by this new heating I obtain new and distinct advantages. In my heating systems I use high temperature heating mediums or means which are at a temperature greatly in excess of steam as now used and the wort is contacted with extremely hot surfaces or extremely hot gases. I have shown several ways in which these high and increased temperatures may be obtained but I- am not to be restricted thereto as any heating medium or means which produces high temperature is burned below the surface of the liquid mixture in the brew kettle. In Fig. 2 I have shown a simple form of a burner 3 which can be used but other submerged burners providing submerged combustion with high temperatures can be used. The burner has a tubular portion 32 with a threaded end 33, a combustion chamber 34 and outlet ports 35 for the combustion gases adjacent the combustion chamber. Gaseous fuels are preferably used and such fuels may be mixed with air in stoichiometric proportions in an industrial carburetor or the like and then forced under pressure through the tubular portion 32 and through the burner, being burned in the combustion chamber. By using excess gas a reducing flame is produced and by using excess air an oxidizing flame is obtained. Preferably purified gases such as hydrogen, C2H2 methane, or the like are used. The mixture of fuel and air is burned beneath the surface of the liquid mixture in the brew kettle. The burner may be positioned at any suitable height in the brew kettle but the burner should be placed sufficiently deep in the liquid being heated whereby the combustion gases will give up their heat to the liquid as they bubble through the liquid Wort, and so that the gases of combustion in escaping will not carry off valuable heat. The ideal position of the burner is to have the temperature of the outgoing combustion gases and the wort about the same.
Today in 1914, US Patent 1121930 A was issued, an invention of Lewis V. Mather, assigned to Enameled Steel Package Corp., for his “Metal Keg or Cask.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:
This invention relates to kegs or casks and has for its object a cask in which the hoops and the head rings are applied to the shell in an improved manner.
This invention consists essentially in the utilization of spring tongues on the shell or staves of the cask which spring out and lock with the hoops and the. head rings when the latter have been slipped into place.
Monday’s holiday ad is for Budweiser, from 1952. What could be “something more than beer….?” Apparently it’s “A tradition in hospitality.” The wagon with Santa is great though. Instead of eight tiny reindeer, it’s eight not-so-tiny Clydesdales and the sleigh is pulling beer in bottles and kegs, though I suppose those are toy of a sort.
Today in 1976, US Patent 3998761 A was issued, an invention of Herbert H. Gary, William Bess, and Frederick Hubner, assigned to the Bristol-Myers Company, for their “Shampoo Compositions Containing Beer Solids.” Here’s the Abstract, along with some additional claims:
Shampoo compositions containing beer solids.
What is claimed is:
1. A shampoo composition suitable for conditioning hair comprising at least one detergent and a waste liquid beer sludge concentrate distributed in an aqueous medium, the beer solids contained in said composition comprising from about 4% to 20% by weight based on the total weight of the shampoo composition and wherein said detergent comprises about 10 to 20% based on the total weight of the composition.
2. A shampoo composition according to claim 1 wherein the beer solids contained in said composition range from about 6% to 9% by weight based on the total weight of the shampoo composition.
I’m not sure if this is the shampoo that resulted from this patent, but this was sold in the 1970s.
Today in 1971, US Patent 3628701 A was issued, an invention of Thomas L. Kissel, for his “Tapping Apparatus for Beverage Kegs.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:
The principal object of the present invention is to provide tapping equipment which will not cause any escape of liquid during tapping of the keg.
Another and equally important object is to provide tapping equipment which will be less cumbersome, easier to operate and easier to fabricate than similar equipment used heretofore.
These objects are attained by providing a centrally apertured plug which is pushed into the taphole to partially push the stopper into the keg. The plug has two external O-ring seals which provide a seal between the taphole and the plug. An internal O-ring seal is located in the central aperture and provides a seal between the inside surface of the aperture and I the tap rod as it is inserted into the plug and is pushed downwardly against the stopper. The clearance between the tap rod and the aperture is fairly small, and as the stopper is removed the upward flow of the beverage and released gases is restricted to the narrow passage between the tap rod and aperture sidewall. For this reason, the O-ring seal is sufficient to prevent any beverage spray or leakage, which was encountered with prior commercial taps. The passage is, however, ample to permit a flow of gas under pressure from an entry port below the internal sealing means to the keg to, thus, permit the beverage to be maintained under sufficient pressure for operation of the tap.
Sunday’s ad is for Guinness, from 1952. I like the idea that Santa gets a bottle of Guinness at Christmas Eve instead of the more traditional milk for his cookies, although the addition of an evil (or at least mischievous) kinkajou seems a strange way to go. I’m not sure that Santa Claus versus the Kinkajou makes a great deal of sense, but I guess it’s a least a different approach.
Today in 1938, US Patent 2140816 A was issued, an invention of Dean C. Seitz, for his “Beer Dispenser.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:
This invention relates to beverage dispensing systems and more particularly to a method and means for dispensing a brewed beverage such as beer. ale and the like.
