Tuesday’s ad is for Rheingold Beer, from 1947, and features Miss Rheingold from that year, Michaele Fallon. In this ad, she’s just squeezed off a few rounds of target practice, dressed in a green suit and matching beret that would have made Robin Hood proud. And her shooting wasn’t half bad, either, putting all of her shots in the black center portion of the target.
I’m thrilled to announce that Melissa Myers’ new beer bar in Oakland, The Good Hop, will have its grand opening this Saturday, July 12, with the doors opening at the mercifully not-to-early time of 3:00 PM. The Good Hop is located at 2421 Telegraph Avenue in West Oakland, near the intersection of 24th Street, just around the corner from the New Parkway Theater. I won’t even try to be impartial here, Melissa Myers is a longtime friend of mine, and I’m excited for her to finally realize a dream of opening her own place. She’s been a brewer for many years, from Denver to Philadelphia and in the Bay Area brewed at Magnolia, Pyramid and the old Ross Brewery (which is now Iron Springs) but now turns her attention to choosing and serving great beer. Eventually, The Good Hop may serve Melissa’s own beer (fingers crossed), but for now they’ll be featuring a nicely curated tap list of 16 taps, with 2 dedicated sour beer lines, plus 450+ bottled beers. At the grand opening, they plan to have a number of rare and hard-to-find beers available, as well as some special surprises.
Here’s more information, from the press release:
The Good Hop Bottle Shop and Tasting Room (TGH) is pleased to announce it is opening its doors to the public on July 12, 2014. The 1,900-square-foot shop, at 2421 Telegraph Avenue Suite 102, is a specialty beer bottle shop and tasting room offering 450+ bottled and canned beers that can be purchased for take-away or can be opened and consumed on site in the spacious and comfortable bar. Their ever-rotating 16 taps will serve up California and West Coast craft beers with 2 designated sour beer lines at all times.
TGH will have an enormous beer selection in bottles, cans, and on tap that would please any aficionado; though, Melissa Myers, The Good Hop’s owner and proprietor, wants to draw in the less familiar to beer client as well. “I love beer and I love making people fall in love with beer. Part of my mission in opening this shop is to serve the customer who walks in and says ‘Well, I don’t know that much about beer, so I’m not sure what I should order…’ That’s where it gets fun for us. I love asking them questions and, based on their answers, figuring what they’ll fall in love with!”
TGH will host a number of events for both beginners and experts alike. The shop will host beer style tastings, vertical brewery tastings, meet-the-brewer nights, cheese-and-beer pairing events, chocolate-and-beer pairing events, and a number of other activities that feature beer as the centerpiece. The TGH website, www.thegoodhop.com, will have a calendar of events posted. Its twitter feed will have daily listings of what 16 beers are on tap for the day. TGH’s Facebook page contains additional information.
Myers is excited about the neighborhood: “We chose this spot because it’s right in the heart of what’s happening in Oakland right now,” says Myers. “We love the KONO [Koreatown-Northgate] neighborhood and we’re thrilled to be part of Art Murmur, First Fridays, and the vibrancy of this area. So much is happening here right now, and we’re really excited to be in the middle of it.”
The regular hours of the Good Hop will be from 3-10 PM Wednesday through Monday of each week, closed only on Tuesdays. Bar snacks are currently available while the local menu is being finalized, and then they’ll be serving heartier fare along with the snacks. They’ll be working with “Off the Grid and other pop-up food vendors to offer a variety of beer-friendly food. Food trucks are also being lined up to serve up beer-friendly bites.”
Tuesday’s ad is for Schaefer Beer, from 1961, and features actor Basil Rathbone, perhaps most famous for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes in numerous films. Apparently, according to Rathbone, Schaefer was “the Finest beer I ever tasted!”
Monday’s ad is another one for Rheingold Beer, this one from 1961, and features Miss Rheingold from that year, Janet Mick. In this ad, she’s taking a break from bowling, and enjoying a Club sandwich with her mug of Rheingold beer. I love this tagline, used in a few of these ads, “Friendly, fresh’ning, happily dry — that’s fine cold Rheingold.”
Sunday’s ad is another one for Rheingold Beer, this one from 1962, and features Miss Rheingold from that year, Kathy Kersh. In this ad, she’s steering a small cart of Rheingold’s Golden Bock beer, which is being pulled by a small ram. The ad seems to suggest it’s the second year they made this seasonal beer, which is interesting. I don’t think of the sixties as a time for seasonal beers, but who knows? Maybe more breweries did actually dabble in seasonal beers.
Saturday’s ad is another one for Rheingold Beer, this one from 1954, and features Miss Rheingold from that year, Adrienne Garrett. In this ad, she’s gardening in her matching apron (or is that a skirt?) and gloves.
Friday’s Independence Day ad is for Ballantine Ale, from 1955. That’s a happy-looking man watching the 4th of July fireworks, as he sips his beer. That’s ale, brother! Happy Independence Day!
Thursday’s ad is for Rheingold Beer, from 1961, when beer, and other things, were still “friendly.” In this case, not just friendly, but also “fresh’ning” and “happily dry,” too. Interesting to see pizza and beer, I remember pizza still be fairly exotic at least until the 1970s.
Happy “Independence Eve” everybody. If you’ve never heard of “Independence Eve,” that’s because Newcastle Brown Ale made it up. But it’s so brilliant, I’m going to start observing it, and maybe even will start a tradition of drinking a British ale every July 3. Perhaps even a Newcastle Brown Ale just to say thanks for this hilarious series of ads.
There’s maybe fifteen ads on YouTube or at the dedicated website Newcastle set up for the promotion: If We Won. The latest is below, though I’d encourage you to go back and watch them all. Here’s the most recent one, and they keep adding news ones every few hours.
And here’s another favorite one, with Britsh comedian and writer Stephen Merchant. There’s also ones with Elizabeth Hurley and Zachary Quinto. You can check out all fifteen (at last count) at Newcastle’s YouTube channel.
AdWeek has a story about the advertising campaign, Newcastle Ambushes July 4 by Inventing ‘Independence Eve,’ Celebrating British Rule The Redcoats Get Revenge. From the article:
British brands, understandably, don’t have much to say around the Fourth of July—until now. Newcastle Brown Ale, among the cheekiest of U.K. marketers, has turned America’s most patriotic holiday to its advantage by inventing a new, completely made-up holiday: Independence Eve on July 3. The idea of the tongue-in-cheek campaign, created by Droga5, is to “honor all things British that Americans gave up when they signed the Declaration of Independence,” Newcastle says.
“Newcastle is a very British beer, and needless to say, it doesn’t sell that well on July 4. So why not establish it as the beer you drink on July 3?” says Charles van Es, senior director of marketing for Heineken USA portfolio brands. “Unlike the Redcoats in the 18th century, we’re picking our battles a little more wisely. By celebrating Independence Eve, we’re taking liberties with America’s liberty to create a new drinking occasion and ensuring freedom on July 4 tastes sweeter than ever.”
But not to worry, they’re returning to American beer promptly at the stroke of midnight, when it’s no longer Independence Eve, but officially the Fourth of July, and Independence Day.
Wednesday’s ad is yet another one for Rheingold Beer, this one also from 1959, and features Miss Rheingold from that year, Robbin Bain. In this ad, she’s “aiming for refreshment,” but the guy behind her is carrying the gun, while she’s got a portable chair in her two gloved hands. And how about that nifty green hat?
