Wednesday’s ad is a pre-war 1937 ad for Budweiser. A stylized pin-up fortune teller is peering into her crystal ball containing a crystal beer. Seeing the Budweiser, she declares “I see you have excellent taste.” See, I knew those fortune tellers were fakes.
Today in 1889, South Dakota became the 40th state.
South Dakota
South Dakota Breweries
South Dakota Brewery Guides
Guild: No known brewers guild
State Agency: South Dakota Special Tax Division
Package Mix:
Beer Taxes:
Economic Impact (2010):
Legal Restrictions:
Data complied, in part, from the Beer Institute’s Brewer’s Almanac 2010, Beer Serves America, the Brewers Association, Wikipedia and my World Factbook. If you see I’m missing a brewery link, please be so kind as to drop me a note or simply comment on this post. Thanks.
For the remaining states, see Brewing Links: United States.
Today in 1889, North Dakota became the 39th state.
North Dakota
North Dakota Breweries
North Dakota Brewery Guides
Guild: No known brewers guild
State Agency: North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner
Package Mix:
Beer Taxes:
Economic Impact (2010):
Legal Restrictions:
Data complied, in part, from the Beer Institute’s Brewer’s Almanac 2010, Beer Serves America, the Brewers Association, Wikipedia and my World Factbook. If you see I’m missing a brewery link, please be so kind as to drop me a note or simply comment on this post. Thanks.
For the remaining states, see Brewing Links: United States.
Tuesday’s ad is a 1948 ad for Schlitz. It’s part of the “I was curious” series, this one showing a buttoned-down young being schooled by an older gentlemen (father-in-law perhaps?) on what beer to drink. He certainly seemed to prefer drinking to listening to the woman playing the piano.
Our 57th Session is a bit of a last-minute hardscrabble just to make it happen, and big props to our host, Steve Lamond, from Beers I’ve Known — who was supposed to host December but stepped in to November’s glass slipper after tragedy struck our original Cinderella. The illustrious Pete Brown was supposed to host November but my reminder e-mail got lost along with his entire new book when his laptop was unceremoniously stolen. By the time the dust settled and he started rebuilding his book again from scratch, Pete understandably asked for a rain check on hosting duties. After a fruitless search, Stephanos stepped up and said he’d be happy to tackle November and so here we are, less than a week away. He’s chosen the topic Beery Confessions: Guilty Secrets/Guilty Pleasure Beer, which Stephanos describes as follows:
One of the things I most enjoy about blogs and personal writing in general is the ability to have a window into another’s life, in a semi-voyeuristic way. So I’d like to know your beery guilty secrets. Did you have a particularly embarrassing first beer (in the same way that some people purchase an atrocious song as their first record) or perhaps there’s still a beer you return to even though you know you shouldn’t? Or maybe you don’t subscribe to the baloney about feeling guilty about beers and drink anything anyway?
You’re also welcome to write about bad drinking experiences you’ve had as a result of your own indulgence or times when you’ve been completely wrong about a beer but not yet confessed to anyone that you’ve changed your mind.
Its fairly wide open, take your pick. Variety is the spice of life as they say (and I hope there’s more than 57 of them…) Blogs are due this Friday (3rd November) but as its short notice I’ll accept submissions until next Friday (11th November)
So get into the confession booth and release all your guilt by writing about it. Trust me, it will be cathartic. You’ll also be helping out Pete Brown, Steve Lamond along with Stan and me by keeping the Sessions going, so you can feel good about that and not feel any more guilt, either. So write ten hail bloody marys and ten how’s your big daddy’s for the next Session on Friday, November 3 — just 3 days from now — though our host has graciously given everyone an additional week, if they need it, to ponder their guilt and fess up.
Oh, and if some kind soul out there wants to host the December Session next month, please drop me a line or leave a comment here. It’s good karma.
Monday’s ad is a 1955 Halloween ad for Ballantine Ale. Showing an apparently impressed jack-o-lantern who just tried some beer, he’s declaring “that Ale brother!”
Today in 1864, Nevada became the 36th state.
Nevada
Nevada Breweries
Nevada Brewery Guides
Guild: Nevada Brewers Guild
State Agency: Nevada Department of Taxation
Package Mix:
Beer Taxes:
Economic Impact (2010):
Legal Restrictions:
Data complied, in part, from the Beer Institute’s Brewer’s Almanac 2010, Beer Serves America, the Brewers Association, Wikipedia and my World Factbook. If you see I’m missing a brewery link, please be so kind as to drop me a note or simply comment on this post. Thanks.
For the remaining states, see Brewing Links: United States.
As tomorrow is Halloween, this week’s works of art involves the supernatural as well as beer. It’s from around 1639 and was painted by Judith Leyster, one of three significant Dutch Golden Age female artists. It’s known by various titles, The Last Drop, the Gay Cavalier and the Merry Drinkers. Whatever you call it, the original is at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
The museum describes the painting:
The costume that the standing figure wears over his clothes suggests that the setting is vastenavond, the night before the beginning of Lent, when people frequently went on binges in order to prepare themselves for fasting and abstinence. This painting speculates on the consequences of such overindulgence. In their dissipated state, the gay cavalier and his companion ignore the menacing presence of the skeleton, which bears an ominous hourglass in one bony hand and a skull in the other.
But another art critic had this to say:
This candle-lit cabaret scene depicts beer drinkers engaged in a drinking competition of sorts. The use of shadow and contrasts in light is pronounced and is reminiscent of Caravaggio. Although the scene is a merry one, Death, symbolized by the skeleton, is present to encourage their excesses, marking them for an all too obvious fate. The setting is magnificently constructed and the lively treatment owes much to Frans Hals. The allegory is striking in the contrast it depicts between the carefree frolickings of the figures and the tragedy awaiting them.
So it seems not everyone agrees about what’s going on in the painting, but it seemed appropriate for Halloween because of the skeleton and the spectre of death it represents.
Leyster painted a number of portraits and genre paintings, and at least one more with beer. Below is The Merry Drinker, from 1630.
Unfortunately, she stopped painting after she married. Of course, it was the 17th century. You can read her biography at Wikipedia and at the National Museum
of Women in the Arts. And you can see more of her paintings at ArtCyclopedia, Olga’s Gallery, the Web Gallery of Art and the WikiMedia Gallery.
Our 91st Guinness ad apparently is advertising home delivery, or at least being available at home, by featuring a deliveryman walking down a residential street with a couple of cases of Guinness while virtually everyone living there is out on the front porch, balcony or window wondering aloud; “Is that my Guinness?” At the bottom of the ad it reads “Guinness gets home.”
David Farnsworth, who co-founded the well-known beer bar Lucky Baldwins in Southern California, passed away yesterday. The Full Pint has the full story, and a hat tip to Dr. Bill, who gave them the news. I only met David a couple of times, but used to talk to him on the phone regularly when I was with the Celebrator full-time. He definitely did a lot for the beer scene in California and will be missed. Raise a glass of Belgian beer tonight in his memory.