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Beer In Ads #5183: Like From The Fountain Of Youth Is A Glass Of Leidiger Bock Beer

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Two years ago I decided to concentrate on Bock ads for awhile. Bock, of course, may have originated in Germany, in the town of Einbeck. Because many 19th century American breweries were founded by German immigrants, they offered a bock at certain times of the year, be it Spring, Easter, Lent, Christmas, or what have you. In a sense they were some of the first seasonal beers. “The style was later adopted in Bavaria by Munich brewers in the 17th century. Due to their Bavarian accent, citizens of Munich pronounced ‘Einbeck’ as ‘ein Bock’ (a billy goat), and thus the beer became known as ‘Bock.’ A goat often appears on bottle labels.” And presumably because they were special releases, many breweries went all out promoting them with beautiful artwork on posters and other advertising.

Monday’s ad is for Leidiger Bock Beer, which was published on January 26, 1910. This ad was for the Leidiger Brewing Co. of Merrill, Wisconsin, which was originally founded in 1884 by George Ruder, and the Leidiger family appears to have bought the brewery around 1895. This ad ran in The Merrill Star Advocate, also of Merrill, Wisconsin.

Beer Birthday: Bob Uecker

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miller-lite
Today would have been the 91st birthday of Bob Uecker, who is an “American former Major League Baseball player and later was a sportscaster, comedian, and actor, but he passed away less than two weeks ago. Facetiously dubbed ‘Mr. Baseball’ by TV talk show host Johnny Carson, Uecker had served as a play-by-play announcer for Milwaukee Brewers radio broadcasts since 1971. He was honored by the National Baseball Hall of Fame with its 2003 Ford C. Frick Award in recognition of his broadcasting career.” But he is best-remembered, beerwise, for his humorous commercials in the 1980s for Miller Lite beer.

Miller-Lite-1982-Uecker

This is his biography, from his Wikipedia page:

Though he has sometimes joked that he was born on an oleo run to Illinois, Uecker was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He grew up watching the minor-league Milwaukee Brewers at Borchert Field. He signed a professional contract with his hometown Milwaukee Braves in 1956 and made his Major League Baseball debut as a catcher with the club in 1962. A below-average hitter, he finished with a career batting average of .200. He was generally considered to be a sound defensive player and committed very few errors in his Major League career as a catcher, completing his career with a fielding percentage of .981. However, in 1967, despite playing only 59 games, he led the league in passed balls and is still on the top 10 list for most passed balls in a season. At least a partial explanation is that he spent a good deal of the season catching knuckleballer Phil Niekro. He often joked that the best way to catch a knuckleball was to wait until it stopped rolling and pick it up. Uecker also played for the St. Louis Cardinals (and was a member of the 1964 World Champion club) and Philadelphia Phillies before returning to the Braves, who had by then moved to Atlanta. His six-year Major League career concluded in 1967.

Perhaps the biggest highlight of Uecker’s career was when he hit a home run off future Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax, after which Uecker joked that he always thought that home run would keep Koufax from getting into the Hall of Fame.

bob-uecker-1965

After retiring as a player, Uecker returned to Milwaukee. In 1971, he began calling play-by-play for the Milwaukee Brewers’ radio broadcasts, a position he holds to this day. During his tenure, he has mentored Pat Hughes, Jim Powell, Cory Provus and Joe Block, all of whom became primary radio announcers for other MLB teams. For several years he also served as a color commentator for network television broadcasts of Major League Baseball, helping call games for ABC in the 1970s and NBC (teaming with Bob Costas and Joe Morgan) in the 1990s. During that time, he was a commentator for several League Championship Series and World Series.

As of 2016, Uecker teams with Jeff Levering to call games on WTMJ in Milwaukee and the Brewers Radio Network throughout Wisconsin, save for some road trips which he skips; for those games Lane Grindle substitutes for Uecker on the radio broadcasts. Uecker is well known for saying his catchphrase “Get up! Get up! Get outta here! Gone!” when a Brewers player hits a home run.

Known for his humor, particularly about his undistinguished playing career, Uecker actually became much better known after he retired from playing. He made some 100 guest appearances on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show. During one Tonight Show appearance Carson asked him what the biggest thrill of his professional baseball career was and with his typical dry wit Uecker replied, “Watching a fan fall out of the upper deck in Philadelphia; the crowd booed.” Most of his wisecracks poked fun at himself. He once joked that after he hit a grand slam off pitcher Ron Herbel, “When his manager came out to get him, he was bringing Herbel’s suitcase.” On another occasion, he quipped, “Sporting goods companies would pay me not to endorse their products.” On his later acting career, he commented, “Even when I played baseball, I was acting.”

Uecker also appeared in a number of humorous commercials, most notably for Miller Lite beer, as one of the “Miller Lite All-Stars”

Here’s a selection of some of Uecker’s commercials for Miller Lite:


From 1983:
From 1984:

From 1986:

From 1987:

From 1988:

Another one from 1988, promoting the Olympics:

Beer In Ads #5182: Full ‘O Pep … And Rarin’ To Go!

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Two years ago I decided to concentrate on Bock ads for awhile. Bock, of course, may have originated in Germany, in the town of Einbeck. Because many 19th century American breweries were founded by German immigrants, they offered a bock at certain times of the year, be it Spring, Easter, Lent, Christmas, or what have you. In a sense they were some of the first seasonal beers. “The style was later adopted in Bavaria by Munich brewers in the 17th century. Due to their Bavarian accent, citizens of Munich pronounced ‘Einbeck’ as ‘ein Bock’ (a billy goat), and thus the beer became known as ‘Bock.’ A goat often appears on bottle labels.” And presumably because they were special releases, many breweries went all out promoting them with beautiful artwork on posters and other advertising.

Sunday’s ad is for Delmarva Bock Beer, which was published on January 25, 1943. This ad was for the Delmarva Brewing Co. of Wilmington, Delaware, which was originally founded in 1878 by Carl Specht. Over the years it had a variety of owners and names, and was known as Delmarva (Delaware-Maryland-Virginia) only from 1938 to 1944. This ad ran in The News Journal, also of Wilmington, Delaware.

Beer In Ads #5181: Turn Winter Into Spring

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Two years ago I decided to concentrate on Bock ads for awhile. Bock, of course, may have originated in Germany, in the town of Einbeck. Because many 19th century American breweries were founded by German immigrants, they offered a bock at certain times of the year, be it Spring, Easter, Lent, Christmas, or what have you. In a sense they were some of the first seasonal beers. “The style was later adopted in Bavaria by Munich brewers in the 17th century. Due to their Bavarian accent, citizens of Munich pronounced ‘Einbeck’ as ‘ein Bock’ (a billy goat), and thus the beer became known as ‘Bock.’ A goat often appears on bottle labels.” And presumably because they were special releases, many breweries went all out promoting them with beautiful artwork on posters and other advertising.

Saturday’s ad is for Labatt’s Bock Beer, which was published on January 24, 1966. This ad was for the Labatt Brewing Co. of Toronto, Ontario in Canada, which was originally founded in 1847.  This ad ran in The North Bay Nugget, also of North Bay, Ontario in Canada.

Beer In Ads #5180: STEG-Maier Bock It’s Truly Brewed

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Two years ago I decided to concentrate on Bock ads for awhile. Bock, of course, may have originated in Germany, in the town of Einbeck. Because many 19th century American breweries were founded by German immigrants, they offered a bock at certain times of the year, be it Spring, Easter, Lent, Christmas, or what have you. In a sense they were some of the first seasonal beers. “The style was later adopted in Bavaria by Munich brewers in the 17th century. Due to their Bavarian accent, citizens of Munich pronounced ‘Einbeck’ as ‘ein Bock’ (a billy goat), and thus the beer became known as ‘Bock.’ A goat often appears on bottle labels.” And presumably because they were special releases, many breweries went all out promoting them with beautiful artwork on posters and other advertising.

Friday’s ad is for Stegmaier Bock Beer, which was published on January 23, 1959. This ad was for the Stegmaier Brewing Co. of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, which was originally founded in 1857.  This ad ran in The Times Leader, also of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

Beer In Ads #5179: Nix Besser The First Sign Of Spring

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Two years ago I decided to concentrate on Bock ads for awhile. Bock, of course, may have originated in Germany, in the town of Einbeck. Because many 19th century American breweries were founded by German immigrants, they offered a bock at certain times of the year, be it Spring, Easter, Lent, Christmas, or what have you. In a sense they were some of the first seasonal beers. “The style was later adopted in Bavaria by Munich brewers in the 17th century. Due to their Bavarian accent, citizens of Munich pronounced ‘Einbeck’ as ‘ein Bock’ (a billy goat), and thus the beer became known as ‘Bock.’ A goat often appears on bottle labels.” And presumably because they were special releases, many breweries went all out promoting them with beautiful artwork on posters and other advertising.

Thursday’s ad is for Neuweiler Bock Beer, which was published on January 22, 1960. This ad was for the Neuweiler Brewing Co. of Allentown, Pennsylvania, which was originally founded in 1875 by Benedict Nuding. Nuding retired in 1900, and Neuweiler bought him out, but didn’t change the name until 1905. This ad ran in The Morning Call, of Allentown, Pennsylvania. In case you’re curious, “Nix Besser” is a Pennsylvania Dutch phrase I grew up with which means “none better.” It’s believed to have been derived from “nichts besser,” which means “nothing better” in German.

Beer In Ads #5178: I’m In Town Boys!

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Two years ago I decided to concentrate on Bock ads for awhile. Bock, of course, may have originated in Germany, in the town of Einbeck. Because many 19th century American breweries were founded by German immigrants, they offered a bock at certain times of the year, be it Spring, Easter, Lent, Christmas, or what have you. In a sense they were some of the first seasonal beers. “The style was later adopted in Bavaria by Munich brewers in the 17th century. Due to their Bavarian accent, citizens of Munich pronounced ‘Einbeck’ as ‘ein Bock’ (a billy goat), and thus the beer became known as ‘Bock.’ A goat often appears on bottle labels.” And presumably because they were special releases, many breweries went all out promoting them with beautiful artwork on posters and other advertising.

Wednesday’s ad is for Duqesne Bock Beer, which was published on January 21, 1941. This ad was for the Duquesne Brewing Co. of Baltimore, Pennsylvania, which was originally founded in 1899.  This ad ran in The Pittsburgh Post Gazette, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Historic Beer Birthday: Jinx Falkenburg, the First Miss Rheingold

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rheingold
Today is the birthday of Jinx Falkenburg, who was a minor actress in the 1930s-40s, but a major model. Originally a beauty queen from Barcelona, Spain (some accounts say Chile), her real claim to fame was being chosen as the first Miss Rheingold in 1939. By all accounts, the Miss Rheingold Contest evolved into one of most successful beer promotions of all time, and in its heyday was as popular as the Miss America Pageant. Women would be nominated and whittled down to six. Then the public would vote for their favorite. The winner was then the spokesmodel for Rheingold for the following year and her likeness was on their beer can along with a lot of their advertising.

rheingoldcan

The Rheingold Can featuring one of the Miss Rheingolds

This is from her Wikipedia page:

Her biggest breakthrough as a model came in 1940 when she was picked by New York-based Liebmann Brewery, maker of Rheingold Beer, to be the first “Miss Rheingold.” As the face for its marketing and advertising campaign, her image graced countless billboards across the U.S. and she was featured in promotional ads at every store that sold Rheingold. Her face and the campaign were an advertising executive’s dream come true. Rheingold was suddenly the top brand in New York City.

Falkenburg was probably the highest paid model in the 1940s, and if not the highest, then certainly one of them, making her essentially one of the first supermodels.

Here’s the story of how she became the first Miss Rheingold, from a 2008 newspaper article:

And this must have been one of her first ads for Rheingold, as it’s from January of 1940:

And this one’s from July of 1940:

Whereas this one’s from August of 1940:

And this is from the following year, from 1941.

Falkenberg passed away in 2003. Here’s her obituary from the Newsday’s Nassau Edition:

And this one is from the San Francisco Chronicle:

Her relationship with Rheingold continued long after her year as Miss Rheingold, and she continued to occasional ads for them, such as this one from 1958:

Jinx married Tex McCrary, who “was an American journalist and public relations specialist who invented the talk show genre for television and radio, and appeared on radio and TV with his wife, Jinx Falkenburg.” Below is an ad for Rheingold they did together in 1949.

And here’s another one they did in 1946.

The couple actually did celebrity endorsements ads for a number of different products, including another beer company. In 1941, they appeared in this ad for a rival New York beer, the Jacob Ruppert Brewery.

Beer In Ads #5177: You Mean You Still Haven’t Tasted Lucky Lager Real Bock Beer?

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Two years ago I decided to concentrate on Bock ads for awhile. Bock, of course, may have originated in Germany, in the town of Einbeck. Because many 19th century American breweries were founded by German immigrants, they offered a bock at certain times of the year, be it Spring, Easter, Lent, Christmas, or what have you. In a sense they were some of the first seasonal beers. “The style was later adopted in Bavaria by Munich brewers in the 17th century. Due to their Bavarian accent, citizens of Munich pronounced ‘Einbeck’ as ‘ein Bock’ (a billy goat), and thus the beer became known as ‘Bock.’ A goat often appears on bottle labels.” And presumably because they were special releases, many breweries went all out promoting them with beautiful artwork on posters and other advertising.

Tuesday’s ad is for Lucky Lager Bock Beer, which was published on January 20, 1966. This one was for the Lucky Lager Breweries, known at this time as the General Brewing Corp., which was located in Vancouver, Washington, among other places, and was originally launched in 1934. This ad ran in The Great Falls Tribune, of Great Falls, Montana. If you read the fine print, you’ll discover their goat’s name is “Chet.”

Beer In Ads #5176: Springtime Prescription From Old Doc Bock

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Two years ago I decided to concentrate on Bock ads for awhile. Bock, of course, may have originated in Germany, in the town of Einbeck. Because many 19th century American breweries were founded by German immigrants, they offered a bock at certain times of the year, be it Spring, Easter, Lent, Christmas, or what have you. In a sense they were some of the first seasonal beers. “The style was later adopted in Bavaria by Munich brewers in the 17th century. Due to their Bavarian accent, citizens of Munich pronounced ‘Einbeck’ as ‘ein Bock’ (a billy goat), and thus the beer became known as ‘Bock.’ A goat often appears on bottle labels.” And presumably because they were special releases, many breweries went all out promoting them with beautiful artwork on posters and other advertising.

Monday’s ad is for Wiedemann Bock Beer, which was published on January 19, 1962. This ad was for the George Wiedemann Brewing Co. of Louisville, Kentucky and Cincinnati, Ohio, which was originally founded by George Wiedemann in 1860 in Louisville, Kentucky, and later also opened a brewery in Cincinnati, Ohio. This ad ran in The Cincinnati Post, of Cincinnati, Ohio.