Friday’s ad is yet another one for Rheingold beer, again from 1958, featuring Miss Rheingold for that year, Madelyn Darrow, on a picnic, though really it looks more like tailgating, though far more mellow tailgating than I’m used to.
Beer In Ads #353: Miss Rheingold Out On The Boat
Thursday’s ad is another one for Rheingold beer, this one from 1958, featuring Miss Rheingold for that year, Madelyn Darrow, out on a motor boat — the Owens — along with a driver, her dog and at least a six-pack of Rheingold beer, in cans naturally since they’re on the water.
A Hilarious Spoof Of The Uber Beer Geek
Ray Daniels of the Cicerone program tweeted this link yesterday, but I didn’t get a chance to watch it until this morning. The creator of the video, Liquid Horseplay, must be an insider because he’s knows a lot of the right people. The video was made using the Xtranormal movie making architecture and is a hilarious spoof of the uber beer geek. Make sure you watch it through to the end, because it just keeps getting funnier.
Beer In Ads #352: Louis Pasteur Works In Whitbread’s Laboratory
Wednesday’s ad is for Whitbread, from 1937, and the ad shows an illustration of Louis Pasteur working on his fermentation studies in a laboratory at Whitbread Brewing in 1871, nine years after he completed his first test of pasteurization, which took place today in 1862.
Beerstrology Sign: Taurus
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.
Taurus, the bull, is from April 20-May 21. To learn more, see:
- Astrology Online
- Universal Psychic Guild
- Wikipedia
- Zodiac Signs
Beer In Ads #351: Come Join The Tavern Schlitzfest
Tuesday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1957, during one of my favorite ad campaigns by any brewer: Schlitzerland. Schlitzerland featured some great retro-style illustrations (though at the time perhaps they weren’t quite so retro). This one shows the happiest people in the world singing and drinking Schlitz in a tavern — the kind “Where Schutzfellows Get Together.”
UK Gov’t Statistics On Women Drinking Found To Be Wrong
For the second time in a few years, a UK Government agency has admitted to making a mistake regarding statistics used in the creation and furtherance of alcohol policy. The first, in 2007, was when the UK’s Department of Health revealed that the definition of a hazardous drinker, that is what the safe limits of alcohol intake were said to be, was completely made up, quite literally “plucked out of the air.”
On Monday, the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) “admitted that it misrepresented the trends in alcohol consumption and has issued a sincere apology to the Portman Group, the drinks industry organisation that champions responsible drinking.”
According to Straight Statistics:
In a report about the productivity of the NHS published at the end of last month, the claim was made that the proportion of women drinking more than 14 units a week had increased by a fifth since 1998, leading to a greater demand for healthcare. As Straight Statistics reported here, there was no justification for such a claim.
A change in methodology for measuring alcohol consumption in 2006 creates a break in the time series. If not allowed for, this gives the impression that the number of women who exceed 14 units a week has indeed increased. Plenty of anti-drink campaigners are happy to spread this false message but it came as a shock when the ONS did so.
David Poley, chief executive of the Portman Group wrote to Stephen Penneck, Director General of the ONS, who has now replied admitting that Mr Poley’s concerns are “entirely justified”. He blames a “lapse in the quality assurance process by which we check carefully the accuracy and reliability of any information that is for publication … unfortunately in this rare instance a key issue went unnoticed.”
The article and press release have been amended. The article, accessible here, is now proceeded by a correction notice. The press release now reads: “The percentage of males and females consuming over the weekly recommended alcohol limits declined from 2006 to 2009.”
Mr Penneck’s response is prompt, straightforward, and makes no attempt to fudge the issue. If only it were equally easy to persuade the media to look more critically at its assumptions about drinking being out of control.
At least they admitted their error. I doubt the same would be true on this side of the pond, where statistical errors tend to live in perpetuity if they serve the anti-alcohol agenda. But the original stories that parroted the incorrect statistics that drinking for women has increased in The Daily Telegraph, the Daily Mail and the Daily Star are still out there and, as far as I know, have not been corrected. They can’t be, really, because the stories focused on the false problem at the heart of the mistake. And that’s the same here, too, as propaganda — even after it’s been disproved — is still used by numerous anti-alcohol groups. Repeat a lie often enough and … well, you know the rest.
A Texas Bar & The Power Of Prayer
It reads like a joke, so I don’t know if it’s true or not, though it does come from the Clark County Democrat of Grove Hill, Alabama from late October, 2009. Thanks to Pete Slosberg, who sent me the link. Apparently, a Texas beer joint sues church…. Here’s the joke … er, story:
In a small Texas town, (Mt. Vernon) Drummond’s bar began construction on a new building to increase their business. The local Baptist church started a campaign to block the bar from opening with petitions and prayers. Work progressed right up till the week before opening when lightning struck the bar and it burned to the ground.
The church folks were rather smug in their outlook after that, until the bar owner sued the church on the grounds that the church was ultimately responsible for the demise of his building, either through direct or indirect actions or means.
The church vehemently denied all responsibility or any connection to the building’s demise in its reply to the court.
As the case made its way into court, the judge looked over the paperwork. At the hearing he commented, “I don’t know how I’m going to decide this, but as it appears from the paperwork, we have a bar owner who believes in the power of prayer, and an entire church congregation that does not.”
Beer In Ads #350: The Rheingold Bird House
Monday’s ad is for Rheingold, from 1952, featuring Miss Rheingold for that year, Anne Hogan, putting up a bird house on a fine Spring day.
Rare Beer Prices On eBay
A GT Wharton posted an interesting survey that he conducted about the prices people will bay for rare beer on eBay. His article, entitled Market Behavior for Rare Beer: eBay Auction Prices in Review appeared today on Rate Beer’s Hop Press. It appears to be a quite thorough look at auction prices realized over a one-month period. His dataset included 887 auctions. The average price was $122 ($137 w/shipping included). $9.50 was the low price and $999 the highest.
The five most expensive auctions by 12oz volume were:
- Midnight Sun M: $544.77
- Cantillon Don Quijote: $312.40
- Cantillon Rose de Gambrinus 1992 Vintage: $284.00
- Russian River Depuration: $265.07
- Flossmoor Station Wooden Hell: $260.12
And here, for example, is a chart showing “Average Value of Three Floyds Dark Lord by Vintage.”
Interesting stuff. He doesn’t go into the moral dilemma of selling beer on eBay and the fact that most brewers decry the practice, but from a merely numbers perspective it’s worth a read.