While I don’t put any stock in astrology, in 1980 Guinness put out a calendar with each month representing one of the zodiac signs, and I thought it would be fun to share these throughout the year.
Libra, the scales, is from September 23-October 23. To learn more, see:
Thursday’s ad is from 1968 and is for Budweiser. The ad copy claims that there were 332 beer brands being sold in 1968. Now that’s “brands,” not breweries, because there weren’t nearly that many different breweries in operation then. According to USBA figures, there were 197 U.S. breweries in 1965, but only 154 in 1970, just five years later. So the number in 1968 would have been somewhere in between that period of time when 43 breweries closed. The ad itself shows quite a number of Budweiser’s competitors at the time, claiming — naturally — that only their beer was “beechwood aged.” I recognize many of the labels shown, though a few — like Dawson and Van Dyke — I’ve never heard of before. Still, you’ve got to be pretty confident in your market share to show your competitors’ labels in your own ad.
Wednesday’s ad is from 1939 and is for Pabst. The slogan claims that “Pabst gets The Call for Keener Refreshment” at the celebrated “21.” But even though everyone is dressed to the nines, the place looks like a dump, celebrated or not. With cheesy Italian tablecloths, bowls of snacks on the tables and rec-room wood paneling — there’s certainly nothing wrong with a bar like that — but tuxedos and fur coats just seem somewhat out of place.
Tuesday’s ad is from 1944 and is for Schlitz. Showing a man wooing a woman by romantically rowing her in a canoe, presumably by moonlight, however there’s no beer in the scene. Wouldn’t he have better luck giving her some Schlitz? Now that’s a social lubricant.
Monday’s ad is from 1964 and is for a Guinness product, their Harp Lager. It uses a curious slogan, “If it’s just something cold and wet you want, drink water.” Since I can’t help but think of Harp as not much more flavorful than water, it doesn’t exactly make me want to rush out and buy some of their beer. But I do love the photograph of the beer beautifully posed on rolling sands.
As today is International Talk Like A Pirate Day, I thought I’d share this version of the Pirate Alphabet, which seems to be more about beer than piracy.
THE PIRATE ALPHABET
A — The favorite word of Canadian pirates, ey?
B — B stands for Beer!
C — Da ting we sails da boat on
D — Das beer! German pirates
E — ‘e needs a beer
F — ‘f only I had a beer
G — Gee, I wish I had a beer
H — H’aightch and everone one of us should have a beer
I — I wish I had a beer
J — The guy who sells us beer
K — Jay’s wife, she’s a looker!
L — Da place where bad pirates goes when dey dies!
M — ’em folks needs beers
N — ‘nother beer
O — Oh I wish I had a beer
P — (*long pause*) Self-explanatree!
Q — A French word meaning ‘line for beer’
R — A pirate’s favorite word, Arrrh!
S — What you fall on when you drink too much beer
T — Why we beat the British
U — You should have a beer
V — Vikings! Swedish pirates
W — You and you should have a beer
X — Jay’s former wife, she no longer sells us beer
Y — Why not have a beer
Z — Ze beer! French pirates
This week’s work of art is by a Scottish artist, George Harvey, who painted Hop-Picking around 1839. The setting of the painting is believed to be in the Kentish area of England.
You can read a short biography of Harvey at Wikipedia and find links to more of his work at ArtCyclopedia. You can also see a few more of Harvey’s works at the Web Gallery.
Our 85th Guinness is yet another simple one, though it looks slightly more modern. With a pint of Guinness next to four oysters, the tagline reads “Guinness Brings the Oysters out of their Shell,” followed by the more common “Guinness id good for you.”
The September 2011 standings have been released for Wikio’s Beer Blogs. I got an e-mail about them while I was on my way to Chile, and responded, but never heard back. The person who compiled the rankings, Florian, apparently had his contract coming up for renewal and wasn’t sure if he’d be back or not.
Jeff, from Beervana, overtaking The New School who had reached thetop spot for the first time last month. Here’s what happened to the Top 20 over last month:
| 1 | Beervana (+2) |
| 2 | The New School (-1) |
| 3 | Drink With The Wench (+3) |
| 4 | The Stone Blog (+7) |
| 5 | Brookston Beer Bulletin (-1) |
| 6 | Brewpublic (-4) |
| 7 | A Good Beer Blog (=) |
| 8 | Washington Beer Blog (+1) |
| 9 | Appellation Beer: Beer From a Good Home (-4) |
| 10 | Hoosier Beer Geek (+7) |
| 11 | The Brew Site (+5) |
| 12 | KC Beer Blog (+2) |
| 13 | It’s Pub Night (+8) |
| 14 | The Daily Pull (-6) |
| 15 | Seen Through a Glass (+7) |
| 16 | The Session Beer Project™ (+4) |
| 17 | BetterBeerBlog (-5) |
| 18 | Oakshire Brewing (=) |
| 19 | The Not So Professional Beer Blog (-9) |
| 20 | Brewer’s Log (Blog) (-7) |
Ranking made by Wikio
As usual, I included the relative movements of each blog from last month. Movement seems to have started to accelerate somewhat, there’s a lot more blogs changing places up and down the list. As always, I continue to stress that this is just a bit of fun and that we shouldn’t take it too seriously. Until next month ….
This week’s work of art is by English artist Clarkson Frederick Stanfield (sometimes incorrectly called William Clarkson Stanfield), and it depicts a real event that took place on May 22, 1832. I think the title says it all, which is The Burning of the Anchor Brewery. It was painted in 1832 and in 2009 it was purchased by the City of London for their Guildhall Art Gallery.
When the painting was first shown at the London Galley, a local community website had the following story posted:
The Burning of the Anchor Brewery was painted by Clarkson Stanfield and was purchased last year by the City of London Corporation.
The fire took place on 22 May 1832 when, it is believed, a lamp held by one of the employees of the brewery ignited. As the buildings were made of wood and contained very combustible material such as malt and hops, the fire spread quickly. A number of fire engines were brought in but the firemen and the brewery employees were unable stop the fire burning for many hours.
The Anchor Brewery was established in 1616 by James Monger the Elder and was then bought by Josiah Child who supplied beer to the Navy and named it the Anchor brewery. On the death of Henry Thrale, the owner in 1781, the brewery was sold to David Barclay, of Barclay’s Bank fame. Henry Thrale and his wife Hester were great friends of Dr Samuel Johnson, compiler of the first comprehensive English Dictionary and he was an executor of Henry’s will.
Henry’s brewery manager John Perkins was taken on by Barclays and the business was renamed Barclay, Perkins & Company Ltd. By 1815 it was the leading brewery in London producing 330,000 barrels a year and accommodating 200 dray-horses. Barclay Perkins were the owners of the brewery at the time of the fire.
The brewery was rebuilt and extended after the fire and it was said to be one of the sights of London. Charles Dickens featured the brewery and its beer in his novels and in The Old Curiosity Shop Dick Swiveller describes the porter as having ‘a spell in its every drop ‘gainst the ills of mortality’.
In 1955 Barclays merged with its rival Southwark brewery Courage at Shad Thames. In 1962 the site became a bottling factory and in 1970 the company was renamed Courage Ltd.
The Anchor Brewery site finally closed in 1981 and the buildings were demolished. The old brewery tap pub – The Anchor Bankside – is still open today and a plaque in Park Street commemorates the site of the brewery.
You can read more about Stanfield at his Wikipedia page and there are links to his works at ArtCyclopedia. You can also see more of his artwork at the Tate, Fine Art China, and WikiMedia Commons.