Wednesday’s ad is for Budweiser, from 1948. Another of Bud’s “Great Contributions to Great Taste” series, this one extolling the virtues of seafood and cold, whether from ice or refrigeration.
Beer In Ads #1018: Refreshingly Different!
Tuesday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1948. The tagline reads, “Refreshingly Different!” And while it’s certainly different, I’m not quite sure how something can be refreshingly different. But if anything could, I suppose a bear waitress in a green polka-dot apron and ice skating to deliver a Schlitz with two glasses would definitely fit the bill.
Beer In Ads #1017: The Ammunition Is Being Passed
Monday’s ad is for Budweiser, from 1943. In honor of Veterans Day, it’s a World War 2 era Navy ad. The tagline, “The Ammunition is being passed,” is a reference to “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition” an patriotic song written by Frank Loesser in 1942. It was a response to the attack on Pearl Harbor that marked American involvement in World War II.
Beer In Ads #1016: Sailing Dry
Friday’s ad is for Rheingold Beer, from 1956, and features Miss Rheingold from that year, Hillie Merritt. The ad shows Miss Rheingold on a sailboat, with the wind at her back. Given that Rheingold beer was sold as “the Dry beer,” doesn’t it seem off that they are using a nautical — a wet — theme?
Beer In Ads #1015: Oysters and Lobsters
Thursday’s ad is for Budweiser, from 1948. On a historical theme — and part of their “Great Contributions to Good Taste” series — the ad suggests that “Oysters and lobsters gave the trail its start,” and by trail, they mean the entire west coast. Apparently the Wells Fargo stagecoach first delivered food before diversifying into banking.
Beer In Ads #1014: No Wonder Dan Parker Needs Malt …
Wednesday’s ad is our second ad for Froedtert Malt, or FroMalt, a Milwaukee maltster. They used to have at least three facilities and at least one closed in 2003, but I don’t know how many are left. This ad is from 1957. I’m not sure who Dan Parker is, but he looks like a very busy guy, and he looks like he could use a beer.
Beer In Ads #1013: There’s One Great Beer That Costs You Less
Tuesday’s ad is for Reading Premium Beer, from 1972. Reading Premium was my hometown beer, but closed in 1976, when I was a junior in high school, more’s the pity. This ad was just four years before they closed their doors, and it must have been an ad of desperation, trying to compete on price against seven brands far more established then they ever were. But at last they were still using my hands down favorite slogan of all time: “the friendly beer for modern people.”
Beer In Ads #1012: Ballantine’s Three-Ring Circus
Monday’s ad is for Ballantine Ale, from 1948. Using the Ballantine logo of three rings in a circus themed ad, this was a typical ad formula during this time period. One oddity: Either that’s a really tiny glass or it’s a nearly bottomless bottle of beer, because the glass is full, but the bottle is still more than two-thirds, possibly as much as three-quarters, full. That’s an impressive bottle. That seems more like a magic trick.
Beer In Ads #1011: Jack-O-Lantern Scarecrow
Friday’s ad is for Rheingold Beer, from 1955, and features Miss Rheingold from that year, Nancy Woodruff. The ad shows Miss Rheingold with what must be one of the ugliest Halloween Jack-O-Lantern’s I’ve ever seen. It looks more like a scarecrow than a pumpkin.
Beer In Ads #1010: Lighting The Jack-O-Lantern
Thursday’s ad is for Rheingold Beer, from 1946, and features Miss Rheingold from that year, Rita Daigle. The ad shows Miss Rheingold looking bewitching as she’s lighting the candle for the Halloween jack-o-lantern. Happy Halloween.
