Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Beer In Ads #1581: A Treat From Mid-Summer Manhattan

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Tuesday’s ad is for Goebel Beer, from 1944. Using the tagline “Nationally famous for good taste,” which seems more optimistic than realistic, the ad features a woman seated at a table with an empty wine glass on it while a man holding a cigarette in his hand stands over her. It’s hard to tell what’s supposed to be going on there. The “treat” referred to is a recipe for “Chicken Louisette” created by the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in New York, and is show paired with Goebel Beer. And look, it’s another one of those magic bottles. The pilsner glass is full, but the bottle is only half empty?

Goebel-1944-ritz

Beer In Ads #1580: Ballantine Beer Watches Your Belt-Line

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Monday’s ad is for Ballantine Beer, from 1954. This must have been ad laying the groundwork for low-calorie diet beer, as light beer was known in those days. In fact, that’s why it flopped initially, because people didn’t like the idea of beer being called “diet,” though it seems to have worked fine for Coke. It’s funny how that brought red belt draws your attention to her waistline but then the dress below fans out so it maker figure look disproportionally hourglass, although I guess that was a thing once, wasn’t it. I also love the tagline captioning the photo. “Brewed to the American taste … to the American figure.” Hilarious.

Ballantine-1954-belt-line

Beer In Ads #1579: The Wife Most Likely To Be Kissed …

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Sunday’s ad is for Owens-Illinois Glass, 1958. Owens-Illinois is still a going concern, making glass worldwide. It’s a big company. According to Wikipedia, “Approximately one of every two glass containers made worldwide is made by O-I, its affiliates, or its licensees.” In the late 1950s, they were trying to persuade people that “The wife most likely to be kissed … always puts Beer on her shopping list. Especially in “No-Deposit, No-Return Bottles.” Of course, this was also a time when it was “her shopping list” and not just “the shopping list.”

glassbottles_1958

Beer In Ads #1578: 3 Hoefijzers Bier

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Saturday’s ad is for 3 Hoefijzers Bier, from Breda in the Netherlands. The Three Horseshoes was founded in 1628, although there had been a brewery on the same site since 1538. The copy on the old ad (I’m not sure when it’s from) translates as “the surprise of Breda,” which may refer to a battle there, possibly the Capture of Breda in 1581 or the Capture of Breda in 1590 or it could be another battle entirely. In 1995, after many years of mergers, Interbrew bought the brewery, but in 2007 was razed to build a residential complex.

3-Hoefijzers

Beer In Ads #1577: All Systems Are “Go”

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Friday’s ad is for the malt liquor Colt 45, from 1970. This was at the height of the space race, the year following landing on the moon, so turning the can of malt liquor into a rocket was marketing genius. What’s the only thing better than a six-pack of Colt 45? Why two, of course. Very subtle. Associating the kick of a rocket with the kick of increased alcohol? Genius. “Take Off Time” indeed. “All Systems Are ‘Go'” to get drunk.

Colt45-1970-rocket-can

Beer In Ads #1576: Coming Home From A Day’s Hard Work

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Thursday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1941. This ad was presumably from the months before America entered World War 2, when life was still relatively normal. A time when the “thoughtful wife” has Schlitz waiting for her husband when he arrived home from “a day’s hard work.” For some reason she left the icebox door wide open, letting all the cold air out and warming up the beer, not to mention all of the food in there.

Schlitz-1941-coming-home-2

Beer In Ads #1575: Yours To Enjoy

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Wednesday’s ad is for Olympia, from the 1950s. I suspect this was originally a billboard ad, and it’s surprisingly colorful. A Stubby bottle of Olympia sits next to a full pilsner glass on a table in front of a grand piano. What is that box on the table to the right of the beer? Tissues, cigars or something else?

Olympia-1950s-piano

Beer In Ads #1574: Chiamami Peroni Saro La Tua Birra

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Tuesday’s ad is for Italy’s Peroni, from 1976. The headline, “chiamami Peroni sarò la tua birra, translates roughly to “call me Peroni I’ll be your beer” or possibly “call me, Peroni’ll be your beer.” And in the ad copy there’s “sono la birra pùr bevuta la Italia,” which is something along the lines of “drinking the beer while in Italy,” and finally “Lo sapevi,” meaning “did you know?” What makes this ad stand out is how exactly is she holding up that beer mug in her hand with all five of her fingers spread wide? Either she just let go and the photographer snapped the picture before it smashed to the floor, or that’s one slick magic trick.

Peroni-1976-chiamami

Beer In Ads #1572: Man Size Pleasure Of Bronco Riding

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Sunday’s ad is still another one for Falstaff, also from the late 1950s. This is the third Falstaff ad I’ve come across equating manliness with beer, and in particular sports. While the last ones were for golf and baseball, while this one celebrates the horsemanship of bronco riding as its “Man Size Pleasure.” Yesterday’s ad was also apparently a doubletruck ad, that is a two-page ad, but I only have half of it, but a reader who collects Falstaff breweriana tells me the other half “has a runner sliding into base.”

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Beer In Ads #1571: Man Size Pleasure Of Baseball

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Saturday’s ad is yet another one for Falstaff, also from 1959. This is the second ad I’ve found equating manliness with beer, and in particular sports. While the last one was for golf, this ad touts baseball as its “Man Size Pleasure.” It’s got a “A taste to satisfy your biggest thirst … yet always light enough to leave room for more.”

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