Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Beer In Ads #1229: The Brew Of Quality

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Saturday’s ad is for Pabst, which most sources claim is from 1920 or the 1920s. It’s mostly a simple photo 9or is that an illustration?), but some of the text is priceless. Starting with the “most refreshing thirst quencher on the market this long, blazing summer” (how exactly would you measure that?), to “Its label means exactly what is says” (so that’s “The Brew Of Quality,” I guess), “And you don’t have to remember a ritual to get it” (not like those other beers that require a special dance or secret handshake before you can buy them).

pabst-1920s

Beer In Ads #1228: Its Heart Belongs To Europe

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Friday’s ad is for Imperial Pilsener, from 1976. Imperial Pilsener was made by the Hofbrau Brewing Co. from Allentown, Pennsylvania. It’s interesting to see a beer using “imperial” in its name in the 1970s. Using the tagline “Its heart belongs to Europe,” it seems less like they’re using it to denote strength than an air of European-ness.

Hofbrau-1976-imp-pilsner

Beer In Ads #1227: Real Quality Beer For 100 Consecutive Years

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Thursday’s ad is for Iron City Beer, from 1960. Despite a clock in the background, they seem to have a funny idea about time. Actually, even funnier, that clock looks like it marks both the days in a month and the hours in a day; a clock and a calendar. The ad claims “Real quality beer for 100 consecutive years,” but that seems to ignore those pesky 13 years when no one was supposed to be brewing beer.

Iron-City-1960

Beer In Ads #1226: People Try It …

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Wednesday’s ad is for Carling Black Label Beer, from 1959. Part of Carling series of ads using the tagline “People Try It … And They Like It.” Interestingly, the ads usually feature a different type of glass. This one is a glass stein with an ornamental conical lid.

Carling-Black-1959-pouring

Beer In Ads #1223: Dad Takes On All Comers

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Sunday’s Father’s Day ad is another trade ad by the United States Brewers Foundation, from 1956. This is #96 in the “Home Life in America” series, part of the Beer Belongs campaign by the USBF. It originally ran in prominent magazines in late June and early July of 1954. The artwork was by Douglass Crockwell, a well-known illustrator of the day, and was entitled “Dad Takes On All Comers.” And Dad’s sport of choice?: croquet. BUt he may have met his match. His daughter, one presumes, is going for the peg, as Mom shushes the crowd so she can concentrate on beating Dad. You have to admit, that’s a pretty impressive back yard. But who puts the barbecue right next to a tree? If I’m not mistaken, trees are what they make firewood out of.

096. Dad Takes On All Comers by Douglass Crockwell, 1954

Beer In Ads #1222: Good For You!

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Saturday’s ad is a trade ad by the United States Brewers Foundation, from 1959. Featuring a foursome bowling, the text starts with “What a great feeling to see all the pins go down…” followed by the tagline “Good for you!” “A strike! You did it.” Ah, bowling. But I especially love the end. “A glass of beer adds so much fun to so many occasions. And it really picks you up, too!”

usbf-1959-good-for-you

Beer In Ads #1221: Pabst Gets The Call!

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Friday’s ad is for Pabst, from 1939. Set at what the refer to as “Boston’s Swank Copley-Plaza,” which today is part of the Fairmont chain, the ad features a couple dressed to the nines and out for a night on the town. But what really makes this ad a hoot, is how they refer to the beer. “For Keener Refreshment … It’s Lighter … Brighter … Brisk-Bodied, Not Logy!” Whew, well thank goodness it’s not logy. Wait, what the hell is “logy?” Apparently it means “dull and heavy in motion or thought; sluggish.”

pabst-1930s-gets-the-call