Wednesday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1944. The rugged man, sitting at a glass table with blueprints on it, and with surveying equipment in the background, stares longingly at a poster on the wall. The poster is itself an older ad for Schlitz, during their “Just the Kiss of the Hops” campaign days. How meta.
Tuesday’s ad is for Erlanger, from 1980. Erlanger was part of the Joseph Schlitz stable of brands when this ad ran, but was acquired by Stroh’s two years later. Stroh’s promptly killed the brand shortly thereafter. It’s certainly an interesting looking bottle and glass. Fancy.
Monday’s ad is another one for Schlitz, this time from 1977. In the ad, a stadium beer salesman wearing all white is pouring two bottles of Schlitz into paper cups — remember paper cups?
Yesterday Ken Weaver tweeted out he was watching Buddy’s Beer Garden. An inveterate animation lover, I wanted to see it, too. Buddy’s Beer Garden is part of the Looney Tunes series from Warner Brothers, and features Buddy, in the second of the 23 cartoons he starred in.
Buddy’s Beer Garden’s is a fun cartoon celebrating the end of Prohibition in 1933. The humor is typical of animation of the time, with lots of sight gags and animated transitions (a common technique in the 1930s). In this one, “Buddy dons a variety of costumes and hawks his ‘beer that brings good cheer.'”
“Watch what you’re doin’ ya mug! “Don’t call me a mug, you mug!”
I’m sure this would drive the prohibitionists today into a mad rage. “But what about the kiddies,” they’d cry (as they always do). But this was made in 1933, when cartoons, believe it or not, were made for adults, and were shown, along with a newsreel, before feature films at a movie theatre. That’s why there’s so much adult humor. It’s also why the hold up so well today, because they don’t pander or talk down to the audience. They’re not trying to be educational, kid-friendly or have a moral. Even when I was a kid, when they were heavily edited for television, they were still better than most cartoons made for TV.
See for yourself, here’s the cartoon, Buddy’s Beer Garden, below:
Buddy Buddie's Beer Garden 1933 Looney… by andythebeagle
Sunday’s ad is another one for Schlitz, this time from 1968. In the ad, a man is looking over his shoulder as a woman (waitress, girlfriend, sister, wife?) tops off his glass of beer before it goes empty. Because “When you’re out of Schlitz, you’re out of beer.” And nobody wants that to happen.
Saturday’s ad is for Schlitz, this time from 1959. It originally ran in Ebony magazine, showing a handsome looking couple behind what’s either an incredibly beautiful sunset or a fake backdrop, I can’t quite tell which.
Friday’s ad is another one for Schlitz, this time from 1951. Want to get your man off the couch watching the baseball game? Ply him off the Lazyboy by waving a bottle of beer at him. “When there’s Schlitz in the picture, even a domestic chore becomes an attractive proposition.” So at least there’s nothing sexist about this ad.
Last year, the San Francisco Brewers Guild put together a fun event at the Old Mint with Flipside and the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society called Hops & History, in which I was the moderator of a panel discussion about opening and running a brewery in the city of San Francisco, and also helped with a breweriana display of brewery artifacts from San Francisco and California. I thought it was a great event, and it looks like I wasn’t the only one. Apparently, it was “one of the most popular events hosted by FlipSide for the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society last year.” That’s according to an Op-Ed on the Digital Journal, Hops History event displays that San Francisco is a beer town.
As a result of last year’s success, they’ve decided to another beer event at the Mint this year. The Hops & History 2 event takes place next Thursday, July 24, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at The Old Mint, located at 88 Fifth Street at Mission in San Francisco. Tickets to the event are $30.
Here’s more information about the event, from the San Francisco Brewers Guild website:
Its time to order another round. This 2nd annual event will feature Bay Area craft beer tasting, historical talks, a panel discussion, home brewing demos, local food vendors, and an expanded exhibit of rarely seen historical West Coast brewing memorabilia. Held in the historic 1874 San Francisco Mint, Hops and History Round 2 continues last year’s sold-out celebration of the unique history of brewing in the Bay Area while looking forward to the future of craft brewing in the City by the Bay and beyond.
Don’t get left out in the cold! Get your tickets early to join us to taste the past and enjoy the present of Bay Area craft brewing.
Tastings from all breweries included
Program Info
Apparently tickets are selling briskly, so order your tickets quickly if you’re hoping to join us for another great evening of brewing history. There’s also more info at Flipside’s Facebook page. See you there.
Thursday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1957. Given we’re in the middle of the all-star break, I figured a “7th Inning Schlitzerstretch” might be in order. It’s subtitled “How Cheering Raises A Schlitzthirst.” I confess I love the Schlitzerland ad campaign, especially the illustrations. “Be a Schlitzer.” Wouldn’t you like to be a Schlitzer, too?
Wednesday’s ad is for Knickerbocker Beer, from 1952. It’s hard to believe that even in 1952 you could advertise a beer with guy that looked like such a dandy. Not to mention the beer was “Extra light … frosty-dry … less ‘filling,’ too!” What exactly is “frosty-dry?”
