Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Beer In Ads #1641: Wiener Beer

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Friday’s ad is for Blatz, from 1904. Even at a time when people seemed to speak with more poetry, it’s hard to understand how Blatz’s “Wiener Beer” didn’t catch on to become an iconic beer. But the ad copy is pretty hilarious. “The unprecedented popularity of Blatz Wiener is due to its pronounced individuality — that indescribable honest flavor that always means ‘Blatz’ — that delightful Wiener ‘smack’ that goes straight to the spot. Drink it for beer character — For health’s sake drink it.” Pure poetry.

Blatz-1904-wiener

Beer In Ads #1639: Black & Tan Babies

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Wednesday’s ad is for Anheuser-Busch’s Black & Tan, from 1899. I’m sure this seemed like a cute idea at the turn of two centuries ago, around 116 years from now, but to our current sensibilities, it certainly looks odd. Back in 1995, A-B reintroduced their Black & Tan as part of their “American Originals” series, but this ad is from its original release, when it was “prepared only by Anheuser-Busch Brew’g Ass’n.” The patriotic ad shows a pair of American flags for most of the background behind the label, with a military camp showing beneath the flags at the bottom of the ad. The army “volunteers” referred to appear to be nine naked babies whose skin is either tan or black. And I’m not sure why there’s a dog — a black and tan doberman? — barking at them at the bottom of the label. I’m sure naked colored babies with rifles made sense in 1899, but I can’t imagine the ad being green-lit today.

black-and-tan-1899

Beer In Ads #1638: In The Barremolen

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Tuesday’s ad is for Heineken, from 1976. The ad shows a woman in a traditional Dutch costume pouring a bottle of Heineken, apparently inside of a famous Dutch windmill known as the Barremolen. It’s located in Zoeterwoude-Rijndijk, Zuid-Holland, and according to the Dutch Windmill Database, it was built in 1661. The windmill, besides being a symbol of the Netherlands, is also located on the site of one of Heineken’s brewery, so it certainly made sense to feature it in their advertising.

Heineken-1976-barremolen

Beer In Ads #1637: A Doctor’s Reasons

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Monday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1904. The ads shows an interesting black and white illustration of a doctor talking with his patient, with a bottle of Schlitz and two glasses between them. The text below imagines the conversation they’re having, about Schlitz being pure and doesn’t call biliousness. Plus the drawing framed by the hops looks pretty cool.

Schlitz-1904-doctors-reasons

Beer In Ads #1636: Every Sip … Like A Trip To Snow Country

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Sunday’s ad is for Genesee Beer, from 1970. “Every sip … like a trip to snow country,” with a cold mountain stream still filled with ice, but slowly starting to thaw. Who doesn’t want their beer to evoke that setting? Assuming, of course, the beer hasn’t actually frozen or is so close to freezing that we can no longer taste it. That would be bad.

genesee-1970

Beer In Ads #1635: Ladder Drinking

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Saturday’s ad is for Carling Black Label, from 1958. A man’s up a ladder, doing some sort of work around the house, presumably. The ad reads: “Time for a break!” Maybe it’s just me, but it seems the more prudent way to take that break might have been to climb down off the ladder first before enjoying a glass of beer. It doesn’t even look like one of those ladders where there are two sides making it relatively stable, at least from what we can see. Don’t drink and climb ladders seems like a good, if inelegant, rule of thumb. It’s also another instance of a “friendly” beer, stating. “It’s the friendly beer at the friendly, popular price.”

Maybe-you-shouldnt-drinking-beer-while-balancing-ladder

Beer In Ads #1633: Early American

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Thursday’s ad is for Ballantine Ale, from 1940. A bottle of Ballentine Ale sits in front of a framed picture of a 100-year old ship to celebrate Ballantine’s 100th anniversary. In fact, the ship is coming out of the frame, as is a red flag/handkerchief/whatever, which is actually pretty cool. The subheading, “The Flavor of Ballantine’s Ale is a Century Old — A Century Great” seems odd. I know they don’t mean it this way, but it strikes me that they’re saying the flavor is old, 100 years old, which doesn’t seem like much of a compliment.

ballantine-1940-ship