Tuesday’s ad is for the Continental Can Company, from 1935, the year beer cans debuted. I love the innocent photo, and that tagline: “Say! This Is How Beer Ought To Taste!” And the can itself is priceless in its generic-ness, not to mention “Cap Sealed” and “Opens Like a Bottle.” So modern, at least for 1935.
Monday’s ad is for Rheingold Extra Dry Lager Beer, from 1964. How about the head on that mug? One down, one to go. And only a few more peanuts left. It really is “as good to your taste as it is to your thirst.” But buried in the text is a baseball reference, too. “There’s no better way to work up a thirst than cheering our Mets. No better way to quench it than with Rheingold Extra Dry.” The World Series starts tomorrow. There may be peanut, but there will definitely be beer.
Sunday’s ad is for Reading Premium Beer, my hometown beer, from 1969. It’s an interesting package they’re selling, 16 oz. pint size bottles in a six pack, but notice they refer to them as “glass cans.” In the 1950s they adopted my favorite ad slogan of all-time: “The Friendly Beer for Modern People.” In this ad, they extend that by referring to their beer as “The Friendmaker.”
Saturday’s ad is for Rainier Beer, from the Seattle Brewing & Malting Co., from around the turn of the 19th century, plus or minus. I love the pseudo patriotic tagline: “An American Product for Lovers of Quality.” Not to mention the Statue of Liberty holding up a bottle of Rainier in an American coat of arms. ‘Merica!
Friday’s ad is for Busch Extra Dry, a ginger ale that Anheuser-Busch produced, presumably during prohibition (though possibly not, there is a bottle of Budweiser inset at the bottom of the ad, but I can’t quite make out the text). With the tagline Chambertin [a French red wine] held Napoleon, when Josephine couldn’t, I”m not quite sure how that relates to a ginger ale. If it was champagne, maybe since both a very bubbly and effervescent. Still, it’s interesting to see A-B advertising a soft drink under their label.
Thursday’s ad is for Miller High Life, from the 1950s. Miller did a series of these ads with sparse, minimalist decoration. In this one, it looks like the wall at the back was designed by Piet Mondrian, the Dutch modern artist. It sure looks like it’s going to be a great party, especially once someone picks up that acoustic guitar leaning against the staircase, next to some floor pillows, and starts jamming.
Wednesday’s ad is still another one for Double Diamond, also from the 1950s. Part of the Ind Coope’s “Works Wonders” series. This one shows a trio of their usual cartoon characters bellying up to a bar, and like that old commercial for nut, all they ask is one per day. From the great ad copy. “A daily glass of this big-hearted Burton beer smooths the rough edges of life, revives and refreshes, puts you back on top of your form.”
Tuesday’s ad is yet another one for Double Diamond, also from the 1950s. Part of the Ind Coope’s “Works Wonders” series. I think it’s funny that “everybody” means a mailman, hunter, jack hammer operator and a dressed-up rich guy with his briefcase and umbrella. Yep, that’s pretty much all of us.
Monday’s ad is another one for Double Diamond, this time from 1949. Part of the Ind Coope’s “Works Wonders” series, this is a fairly simple, but beautiful looking ad. One think that’s off to me, however, is the color of the green glass. It appears more like that dull, light green of an old coke bottle, rather than the bright green glass used by Heineken, Beck’s and many others. Is that really what they looked like? I love some of the ad copy, too, especially when they explain how drinking a Double Diamond will “take the tension out of life, revives your confidence, puts you back on top of your form.” After reading that, I don’t just want a beer, I need one.
Sunday’s ad is for Double Diamond, from the 1950s. Part of the Ind Coope’s “Works Wonders” series, but I’m not sure this one was such a good idea. Suggesting that after a few beers, one might have the courage, and skill, to fight crime seems like a potential liability for the brewery. “But your honor, after a few beers, I just had to assert myself. I couldn’t let him get away with the swag.”
