Wednesday’s ad is for “A Great Irish Name … Guinness.” I believe the ad is from the mid-1950s and is for Guinness Ale – Beer, a pair of brands they no longer make, though when exactly they discontinued them, I’m not sure. The ad shows the bottle for Guinness Brite Lager Beer full, and the Guinness Brite Ale being poured into a glass, though I don’t recall either of them, so perhaps they were already gone when my drinking days begin in the 1970s.
Tuesday’s ad is for Centlivre’s Nickel Plate Bottled Beer, from Fort Wayne, Indiana. It was one of the brands from the C. L. Centlivre Brewing Co., founded in 1862 as the The French Brewery, and later known as the Old Crown Brewing Corporation.
Monday’s ad is for “The New Big Name In Beer,” whose name you undoubtedly know. No? I guess this ad campaign from the later 1940s for Brewer’s Best Premium Pilsener Beer wasn’t quite as successful as they’d hoped.
Friday’s ad is for Three Horse Ale, from 1884. The beer was produced by the Long Island Brewery, and that’s about all I know about it.
Thursday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1974, when they were still using the globe with the Schlitz buckle on it. Still, I can’t help but wonder what the heck a “Gusto life” might be? But apparently it involves sailboats.
Wednesday’s ad is for Schlitz Malt Liquor, from — guessing by the pull-tab — around the 1960s or early 70s. The bull logo and the skirt design around the bottom look positively Aztec. But the bull in the ad, he just looks mad.
Tuesday’s ad is for Grain Belt, from 1953. According to the ad, Grain Belt is “America’s Party Beer.” But my favorite part of the ad copy is that Grain Belt is also a “friendly” beer, a term common in 1950s advertising. So if you want to have a kick ass party, you’ll need “the friendly Beer with the friendly flavor.”
Monday’s ad is an another early ad for the Italian brewery Birra Pedavena, which closed in 1937, but reopened again in 1998 as La Bierreria Pedavena. The man struggling with the giant beer glass looks to me like he might be King Gambrinus.
Friday’s ad is an early 20th century ad for the Indianapolis Brewing Co., which was founded in 1887. It’s most popular beer was Circle City Beer, although they eventually closed in 1948. One interesting note, their second president, Albert Lieber, was the maternal grandfather of Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Thursday’s ad is yet another one for Tiger Beer, from a nautical series of beautiful illustrations. This ship has “Cargo Is Securely Locked, Crew Have No Access To Keys” painted on the back of the ship. Damn, and I wanted to open one.
