Sunday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1946. “Just the Kiss of the Hops” was a popular slogan used by Schlitz for several decades. It’s meant to express that their beer had no bitterness, but they definitely had some fun with it over the years. In this ad, a woman is having a candlelit party, probably stressing about last minute details. At least her maid has a tray of Schlitz beer bottles, so that’s taken care of. Check.
Saturday’s ad is for Schlitz, from the 1950s. “Just the Kiss of the Hops” was a popular slogan used by Schlitz for several decades. It’s meant to express that their beer had no bitterness, but they definitely had some fun with it over the years. In this ad, a trio of couples are on a camping trip. They’ve got a roaring fire going and are starting to cool, “A real Adventure in Good Living.” Luckily, they’ve got a bucket of beer, too.
Friday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1944. “Just the Kiss of the Hops” was a popular slogan used by Schlitz for several decades. It’s meant to express that their beer had no bitterness, but they definitely had some fun with it over the years. In this ad, a presumably Italian chef declares “Ah-h — just ze kiss of ze hops.”
Thursday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1945. “Just the Kiss of the Hops” was a popular slogan used by Schlitz for several decades. It’s meant to express that their beer had no bitterness, but they definitely had some fun with it over the years. In this ad, a woman in her kitchen is calling out the window to tell her husband that dinner is ready. Behind her, the table is set and there’s a bottle of Schlitz and a beer glass set on the table in anticipation. Because “Today more than ever when men are working especially hard, a bottle of Schlitz brings welcome relaxation at the end of the day.”
Wednesday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1947. “Just the Kiss of the Hops” was a popular slogan used by Schlitz for several decades. It’s meant to express that their beer had no bitterness, but they definitely had some fun with it over the years. In this ad, they show a poster of another Schlitz ad from the year before hanging on the wall, while an architect — or maybe draftsman? — stares at it longingly. I sure hope he doesn’t start kissing it, it’d probably be better if he out and got himself a beer.
Tuesday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1946. “Just the Kiss of the Hops” was a popular slogan used by Schlitz for several decades. It’s meant to express that their beer had no bitterness, but they definitely had some fun with it over the years. In this ad, they show the process for getting hop flavor into beer. Apparently, it’s all done in a land of giants, who pick ginormous hop cones from the bines and shove them into large bottles outside under a hot sun, preferably right in the field by the farm.
Monday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1942. “Just the Kiss of the Hops” was a popular slogan used by Schlitz for several decades. It’s meant to express that their beer had no bitterness, but they definitely had some fun with it over the years. In this ad, another headless woman is puckering up to kiss a few cones of hops, although it looks just as likely that she’s about to blow on them for good luck. Similar to yesterday’s ad, except that this woman has black hair.
And here’s the same imagery used for a different ad around the same time period:
Sunday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1942. “Just the Kiss of the Hops” was a popular slogan used by Schlitz for several decades. It’s meant to express that their beer had no bitterness, but they definitely had some fun with it over the years. In this ad, the disembodied head of a woman is puckering up to kiss a few cones of hops, although it looks just as likely that she’s about to blow on them for good luck.
Saturday’s ad is for Bass Ale, from 1939. Bass Ale was one of the beers that helped push me away from the regional lagers I grew up drinking in Eastern Pennsylvania, and toward more flavorful beers. Jazz clubs in New York City in the late 1970s frequently carried Bass, and I really liked how different it tasted, compared to what I was used to. In this ad, again for the U.S. market, they’re showing the closing of the stock market in both the U.S. and England, but both are finishing their day with a bottle of Bass Ale.
Today is the 66th birthday of Alan Atha, former co-founder and brewmaster of Baeltane Brewing in the town I most recently lived in, Novato, California. I first met Alan when he was a nanobrewery in planning, and he’s taken the experimental spirit of homebrewing and transitioned beautifully to commercial brewing, while retaining the playful nature that makes so many of his beers interesting, and delicious, with names like The Frog That Ate the World Double IPA and Rumplestiltskin. Unfortunately, Baeltane closed last, and I’m not sure what Alan’s next move will be, beer-wise, but hoping we’ll learn something soon. Join me in wishing Alan a very happy birthday.
Alan, in a great photo by Mario Rubio.
Serving bread and beer. [Photo by Riggy.]
Joe Tucker, me and Alan at the Craft Beerd book release party in Petaluma.
[Note: first two photos purloined from Facebook]