Thursday’s holiday ad is for Cain’s Special Ale, from 1908. In this ad, Santa is pulling a beer wagon and holding a beer in his hand.
Beer In Ads #2133: Cain’s Special Ales
Patent No. 2917906A: Portable Cooler, Gasser, And Dispenser For Keg Beer
Today in 1959, US Patent 2917906 A was issued, an invention of George Craig Woolley, for his “Portable Cooler, Gasser, and Dispenser for Keg Beer.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes these claims:
This invention relates to a readily portable device for supporting and completely servicing a keg or small barrel of beer or other beverage which requires for proper draught and taste characteristics, cooling, gassing and controlled dispensing. My present invention is particularly designed and conceived for home rather than commercial use where it is desired to dispense a draught beverage such as beer to a group of people, from a keg.
At the present time the distributors of various malt beverages supply to their customers, cooling and gassing apparatus for small gatherings, usually employing a helical coil to be placed in a box of ice and an air pump or carbon dioxide cylinder of heavy construction. The apparatus is hooked up at the home and in many instances, the keg heats up (since only the discharge through the coil is cooled), the saturation level of the gas is consequently decreased in the beer and more gas is released, resulting in foam when the beverage is dispensed. The coil, if not thoroughly cleaned and sterilized after each use, is unsanitary and gives the next user an off taste beer; Cleaning time of such-coil requires from a half to a full hour and is often disregarded by the dissumption of the entire contents of the keg.
A further object is the provision of a device of the class described wherein a simple, compact wheeled chassis serves the multiple functions of a keg-support, a refrigerating chamber, a mounting for controlled gassing and dispensing mechanism and in addition, a valuable source of advertising for the distributor or manufacturer of the beverage.
Another object is to provide a compact, rugged device of the class described of simple and inexpensive construction affording a high degree of sanitation and provision for sterilizing of the few dispensing parts.
Anchor Christmas Ale 2013
It’s day thirty-nine of my Rudolph’s run to Christmas featuring all 42 labels from Anchor’s Christmas Ale — a.k.a. Our Special Ale — all different beers (well, mostly different) and all different labels, each one designed by local artist Jim Stitt, up to and including this year’s label.
2013 was the thirty-ninth year that Anchor made their Christmas Ale, and from 1987 through the present day, each year Anchor’s Our Special Ale has included spices, a different combination of them every time. Generally the base beer has been a spiced brown ale, although it has been varied from time to time, as well. This thirty-ninth label was was a “California White Fir,” or “Abies concolor var. Lowiana.”
Patent No. 747729A: Automatic Filling Machine
Today in 1902, US Patent 747729 A was issued, an invention of William Koedding, for his “Automatic Filling Machine.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes these claims:
My invention relates to machines for filling bottles and other receptacles with liquid, and has for its principal objects to produce a filling-machine which will operate automatically when the bottle is pressed against it in proper position to be filled, to equalize the pressure in the bottle with the pressure in the supply-pipe before the supply-pipe is opened to permit the liquid to How into the bottle, to provide for automatically stopping the flow of the liquid when the bottle is filled, and to prevent any stale liquid getting into the bottle.
Beer In Ads #2132: Good Cheer From The Land Of Sky Blue Waters
Wednesday’s holiday ad is for Hamm’s, from 1956. The newspaper ad shows a idyllic winter forest scene with the Hamm’s bear in a Santa hat delivering a wrapped case of beer. Or maybe just drink that giant glass of beer on the ginormous silver tray which just happened to be there in the snow.
The Yulesteiner Brewery
Today is Yule, observed each year on the Winter Solstice, and originally part of Germanic pagan beliefs, but later brought into the Christmas observances, like many aspects of our modern holiday. Another modern tradition is the model train around the tree or Christmas train, especially among families with a train enthusiast. I have one in mine — my son Porter — so I tend to notice these things.
There’s another modern tradition, perhaps less common, but no less elaborate, known as the Christmas Village, or something like that, a subgroup within the miniature village and dollhouse crowd. One of the local train shops we frequent is known as Dollhouses, Trains & More, and has abundant inventory of these villages. They’re sold one piece at a time, so you can go as simple or as elaborate as you want, as it is with most hobbies. Also, like many collectibles, new parts of the village are introduced every year, while others are “retired,” making the desirable ones go up in value. Maybe this is anecdotal, but these seem to pair up in some families, with one member of the family collecting trains and the other the villages. It brings balance, I guess.
So anyway, I noticed one the other day which was pretty funny, the Yulesteiner Brewery, from the Lemax Company, one of the big companies in model villages. It’s a brewery that’s part of their Caddington Collection, a Christmas village described like this. “The charming Caddington Village Collection captures the elegance of the Victorian Era, with its detailed architecture and colorful daily life.”
According to the Product Details,” Beer bottles revolve around beer vat” and “Beer kegs and ‘beer gnomes’ rotate on upper level of brewer.” It’s 10.63 x 12.01 x 7.24 inches and was released in 2010. It’s made of porcelain and is product type “Sights & Sounds.” Here’s a short video of it in motion.
But that’s not the only one it turns out. There have been at least a few other beer-themed buildings over the years. A quick search turned up these.
Lemax Company
The Olde Firehouse Pizze & Brewery
The Bavarian Berwery
Curiously, the beers offered by this brewery include an IPA, Amber and a Stout, beers one typically would not find in a brewery in Bavaria.
Grinning Goblin Brewery
This one, obviously, is actually for a Halloween Village, which apparently is also a thing.
The Big Ben Pub
While not a brewery, it seemed close enough to include.
Helga’s Beer & Sausage Shop
Village Wine & Beer Garden
Stein Haus Pub
Delany & Sons Brewery
Department 56
In addition to Lemax, another leader in the field of miniatures is Department 56. They have a few of their own.
Jackson Bros. Brewing Company
The Wolfsteiner Brewery
Chiswick Brewery
Part of Department 56’s Dickens Village collection.
The Budweiser Brew House
The Bradford Exchange
Speaking of Anheuser-Busch, the Bradford Exchange has an entire Budweiser Illuminated Holiday Village Collection
Budweiser Train Station
Budweiser Roundhouse Stable
Budweiser Clydesdales
The Entire Budweiser Village
Anchor Christmas Ale 2012
It’s day thirty-eight of my holiday hotfoot to Christmas featuring all 42 labels from Anchor’s Christmas Ale — a.k.a. Our Special Ale — all different beers (well, mostly different) and all different labels, each one designed by local artist Jim Stitt, up to and including this year’s label.
2012 was the thirty-eighth year that Anchor made their Christmas Ale, and from 1987 through the present day, each year Anchor’s Our Special Ale has included spices, a different combination of them every time. Generally the base beer has been a spiced brown ale, although it has been varied from time to time, as well. This thirty-eighth label was was a “Norfolk Island Pine,” or “Araucaria heterophylla.”
Patent No. 3628468A: Plastic Pallet With Reinforcing Members
Today in 1971, US Patent 3628468 A was issued, an invention of John A. Angelbeck Jr., assigned to Pack Rite Packaging & Crating, for his “Plastic Pallet with Reinforcing Members.” Here’s the Abstract:
A pallet used for the storage and transporting of containers such as beer kegs and the like. The pallet is formed as a unitary plastic member in a rotational molding operation and includes a pair of spaced outer skins which are internally connected by a plurality of properly spaced webs for internal strength. The skins also have a plurality of strategically located apertures which extend through each of the skins and are formed by webs which extend between the skins. A pair of reinforcing members formed of wood, metal or the like extend longitudinally through the pallet and engage the interiorly presented surfaces of a portion of the skins. The pallet has a plurality of downwardly extending shoulders for engagement with containers on its underface and is also provided with supporting areas on its upwardly presented surface for removably supporting a plurality of like containers.
Patent No. 354787A: Siphon For Beer
Today in 1886, US Patent 354787 A was issued, an invention of Frederick Heyman, for his “Siphon For Beer.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes these claims:
My invention has relation to siphons for containing beer and similar beverages; and it consists in the improved construction and combination of parts of a siphon having a reservoir at its top for containing compressed air or gas for the purpose of forcing the fluid out of the siphon, as hereinafter more fully described and claimed.
When beer and similar beverages are to be contained in siphons, and to be drawn oh the siphons in small quantities, it is desirable to have air or gas compressed above the fluid for the purpose of forcing it out through the drawing-tube, and it is at the same time desirable to have the said compressed air or gas contained in such a manner that it will not mix with the fluid and thus affect the properties of the beverage; and for the purpose of having the compressed air or gas contained in such a manner that it may readily be brought to bear upon the fluid in the bottle of the siphon, and at the same time not be in constant contact with the fluid, I construct an air chamber or reservoir above the bottle in which the air or gas may be contained and from which it may be let into the bottle when the pressure is required, as I shall now proceed to describe.
Beer In Ads #2131: For A Tree-Trimming Treat
Tuesday’s holiday ad is for Carling’s Red Cap Ale, from 1957. It’s a frenetic scene, as an unseen person’s hand opens — or snaps a cap open — of beer as he watches the army of cartoons he’s invited over to trim his cartoon Christmas tree. The dog’s loose and grandpa’s smoking his pipe by the tree. What could go wrong? Have a beer.
That was version of the ad in French, below is the same ad, though not nearly as good a scan, in English.
