Friday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1940. In this ad, entitled “What Not To Do At A Picnic,” there are several humorous cartoons illustrating bad ideas that will ruin a picnic. Given that there are eleven cartoons, it’s sort of like a second comics page. But, of course, there’s an addendum suggesting the “Right thing to do.” Their suggestion? “Take along plenty of Schlitz!”
Today in 1879, US Patent 220773 A was issued, an invention of William H. Stewart, for his “Improvement in Bungs and Stoppers for Casks.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes these claims:
My invention relates to bungs and stoppers for faucet holes in lager-beer and ale casks and kegs; and it consists in the exterior form of the bung or stopper, whereby it is adapted to be more easily driven into the cask or withdrawn therefrom when desired.
Heretofore such stoppers made of wood or cork are objectionable, for the reason that the gases readily penetrate the pores of such materials and leave the beer or ale unfit for use in consequence of becoming flat or stale. The wood and cork will become saturated with the liquid, and after being once used will become sour and injuriously affect the beer.
In the use of the elastic bung or stopper I find that great difficulty exists in extracting it in the form in which it has heretofore been made from the aperture in the cask or vessel, on account of the adhesive properties of the rubber, and this especially is the case when using it for lager-beer or ale casks, where the aperture is wood or iron bound. If the bung or stopper is made very hard, or even hard enough to drive easily in the aperture, there is no certainty that the aperture will be perfectly sealed, as the harder the composition the less the elasticity,and the less the certainty of its filling any irregularities that may exist in the aperture. On the contrary, if the composition be made softer to gain more elasticity, then the difficulty of driving in the bung or stopper occurs, as the composition sticks and adheres to the sides of the aperture, and after as shown in Fig. 5, being once driven in is very difficult to extract.
The special object of my invention is to overcome these several difficulties by making a bung or stopper which can be readily driven in or extracted, and which will also perfectly seal the aperture in the cask.
Thursday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1940. In this ad, entitled “Any Minute Now … It may happen to you!,” although the subtitle (which appears above the larger title) may go to the heart of the ad, and it reads “What Are Your Chances …” of at least four things occurring. This ad has an actual author’s byline, Herbert M. Alexander, along with a short resume, and then a two-page article about chance, statistic, superstition and luck, before naturally finishing up with how Schlitz fits into this line of reasoning, as a perfect accompaniment to such great occasions.
Between 1951 and 1953, P. Ballantine and Sons Brewing Company, or simply Ballentine Beer, created a series of ads with at least thirteen different writers. They asked each one “How would you put a glass of Ballantine Ale into words?” Each author wrote a page that included reference to their beer, and in most cases not subtly. One of them was Ellery Queen, who’s best known for writing a series of mystery stories.
Ellery Queen is not actually one person, but two: Frederic Dannay and Manfred Bennington Lee. They “were American cousins from Brooklyn, New York who wrote, edited, and anthologized detective fiction under the pseudonym of Ellery Queen. The writers’ main fictional character, whom they also named Ellery Queen, is a mystery writer and amateur detective who helps his father, Richard Queen, a New York City police inspector, solve baffling murders.” Today is the birthday of Frederic Dannay (October 20, 1905–September 3, 1982), and his co-writer, Manfred Bennington Lee, was born the same year (January 11, 1905–April 3, 1971).
Their piece for Ballantine was done as if it was one of their cases, but it was less a mystery and more a simple contrast of two unrelated events that both took place the same year. It seems a bit forced, actually, and comes across like pure propaganda, even more so than the other ads in this series.
CASE OF THE CURIOUS COINCIDENCE
1840: Edgar A. Poe was preparing to give the world its first detective story, “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” an all-time classic marked by three great qualities: Purity of conception, full-bodied plot, and a style and technique of matchless flavor.
1840: Peter Ballantine created his unique ale and sampled his first brew. Setting down his glass, he exclaimed, “Purity!” A second sip made him exclaim, “Body!” a third, “Flavor!”
Edgar Allen Poe’s Tale, Peter Ballantine’s Ale — American classics with the same three great qualities. Even the Ballantine Ale trade-mark carries out the coincidence of “threes.” For the triple overlapping rings made when Peter Ballantine set down his moist glass on the table top created his 3-ring trade-mark. To this day it sets the standard for Purity, Body and Flavor to connoisseurs of ale everywhere.
Today in 2009, US Patent 7604147 B2 was issued, an invention of Ian Anderson, assigned to Anheuser-Busch InBev S.A., for his “Keg with an Inner Bag.” Here’s the Abstract:
An interlocking collar (72) secures a bag neck (46) in a keg aperture (42) of an alcohol beverage keg container (22). The interlocking collar is mounted in press fit surrounding relation with a peripheral wall portion of the bag neck. The collar has an outer peripheral wall portion sized larger than that of a keg aperture. The collar (72) has a recessed groove (76) in the collar outer peripheral wall portion for receiving in press fitting and sealing relation a keg flange (40) that defines the keg aperture. The collar outer peripheral wall portion has a resilient edge portion (78) adjacent the recessed groove that deflects to permit the interlocking collar to pass through the keg aperture and receive the keg flange in the recessed groove. The interlocking collar has a plurality of locking passageways (80) placed around the interlocking collar and axially extending through the interlocking collar between the neck and recessed groove. A latch member (82) has a plurality of locking fingers (84) that extend axially through the locking passageways to prevent deflection of the resilient edge portion of the interlocking collar after the collar is placed in the keg aperture.
Wednesday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1939. In this ad, entitled “If Famous Crowns Could Talk,” the history lesson is about the crowns worn by royalty around the world. The advertorial includes nine crown stories, before predictably finishing by talking about the bottle cap, or crown, from a bottle of Schlitz beer.
Today in 1971, US Patent 3613954 A was issued, an invention of Peter D. Bayne, assigned to Schlitz Brewing Co., for his “Dispensing Apparatus.” Here’s the Abstract:
The invention relates to a dispensing unit for dispensing a beverage containing dissolved carbon dioxide and which utilizes a liquified fluorocarbon gas as a pressurizing medium. The unit includes a closed container containing a beverage having dissolved carbon dioxide. The liquified fluorocarbon gas is contained i a separate reservoir which communicates directly with the headspace of the container above the liquid level. As the beverage is drawn from the container, the volume of the headspace of the container increases, thereby decreasing the pressure in the headspace and resulting in the vaporization of additional quantities of the liquified fluorocarbon gas which act to maintain the desired counterbalancing pressure within the headspace to keep the carbon dioxide in solution in the beverage.
Today in 1937, US Patent 2096088 A was issued, an invention of Lioyd G. Copeman, for his “Method and Apparatus For Conditioning and Dispensing Beer.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes these claims:
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for conditioning and dispensing beer, and has to do particularly with beer conditioning and dispensing apparatus of the portable type.
One of the main objects of the present invention resides in the use of solidified CO2 as a cooling and conditioning medium. A further feature of the invention has to do with the immersion of beer conditioning and dispensing means directly in the beer itself, but in such a manner that the beer is not cooled below normal palatable temperature; in the preferred form the beer is even pre-cooled before being placed in the container whereby the main function of the-immersed means is to condition the beer and to some extent maintain the same in its cooled condition.
Other features have to do with wall structure for separating the solid CO2 from the liquid and having a predetermined insulating effect whereby heat transfer will be so retarded as to keep the beer above its minimum palatable temperature.
Other features include the general structure of the portable container and also details of regulable conducting means for varying temperature of the liquid, as-will be more clearly set forth in the specification and claims.
Tuesday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1939. In this ad, entitled “Who Said It First?,” nine well-known expressions (though to be fair, a few of them I hadn’t heard before) are given their origin stories, explaining where they came from, and then the ad ends with just one more, number ten. That last one is “The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous,” yet curiously, the story doesn’t involve the Schlitz marketing department or ad agency.
Today in 1904, US Patent 772888 A was issued, an invention of Joseph Kaiser, for his “Cork Extractor.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes these claims:
My invention relates to improvements in devices for extracting corks from bottles. Its which object is to provide a simple inexpensive compact means accompanying every bottle for removing the cork entire.
It consists of the parts and the construction and combination of parts hereinafter more fully described, having reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a front elevation of metal strip. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of metal strip, showing projections for engaging cork. Fig. 3 is a modification of the device. Fig. 4 is a partial section showing method of extracting cork. Fig. 5 shows the device used as a cork protector and Wired down, as for shipment.
In carrying out my invention I employ two flexible metal strips, each comprising a shank portion A and a head 2. The shank is provided with a series of spurs 3 on one side or other suitable means for engaging the periphery of the cork. These spurs are preferably formed by indenting the opposite sides of the shank with a prick-punch. The head 2 is preferably round and of a size not to exceed the exposed end of the cork and is perforated,
