Monday’s ad is a somewhat creepy one from 1943 for Pabst Blue Ribbon. I’m sorry, but those blue ribbon people I find just way too freaky. And how about that copy? “This is the Banker of Blue Ribbon Town who formerly wore a Peppermint Frown.” WTF?!
Guinness Ad #96: A Nose For Guinness
Our 96th Guinness ad shows the iconic Guinness toucan with a man sporting a toucan-like nose of his own. They say pet owners resemble their pets, and this would seem to support that theory. They both seem to have a nose for Guinness. I guess it really is a “Lovely day for a Guinness.”
Beer In Ads #490: Budweiser’s Beach Weenie Roast
Friday’s ad is for Budweiser, from their “Where there’s life …” series, probably from the 1950s or early 60s. The scene shows a smiling and way-too-shiny-faced couple on the beach, having a weenie roast, while the woman pours a can of Bud into an already full mug.
Beer In Ads #489: For Pure Drink Get Rainier Beer
Thursday’s ad is another ad for healthy beer, somewhat similar to yesterday’s Budweiser ad. This one is just a few years later, from 1907, and was sent to me by fellow blogger Lisa Grimm from WeirdBeerGirl (thanks Lisa). The ad is for Rainier Pale Beer, from Seattle Brewing & Malting Co., and shows a group of children using a giant beer bottle as a Maypole. Mother can be seen in the background, arriving on the scene with a tray full of beer bottles and glasses. Again, can you just imagine that ad today? The copy is equally interesting.
Pure Air, Pure Food, Pure Drink are essential to healthy growth … for Pure Drink get Rainier Pale Beer
Another beautiful sentiment.
Beer In Ads #488: The Ladies Home Journal Endorses Beer As Opposed To Patent Medicines
Wednesday’s ad is a Ladies Home Journal (LHJ) ad from 1904 for Budweiser. It’s an interesting ad. First of all, check out the cage and cork on a Bud bottle. That’s not something you see every day. And the endorsement by LHJ is priceless. Can you imagine this today?
Mr. Edward Bok, editor of the Ladies’ Home Journal, in a page article in the May issue gives a list of 36 medicines, with official analysis, asserting them to contain 12 to 47 per cent. of Alcohol!
The ad goes to suggest the reader think of beer, with a mere 2 to 5 percent, is nothing compared to many of the medicines that mothers might give their child, some of which are “stronger than whisky.” At this point, Budweiser suggests that their beer is much healthier even than water with its low alcohol content.
Budweiser contains only 3-89/100 per cent. of alcohol. It is better than pure water because of the nourishing qualities of malt and the tonic properties of hops.
Budweiser is pre-eminently a family beverage; its use promotes the cause of true temperance—it guards the safety of health and home.
Now that’s a beautiful sentiment.
Beer In Ads #487: J&M Haffen Brewing’s Mermaids
Tuesday’s ad is for an old Bronx brewery, the J&M Haffen Brewing Co. The brewery was only in existence from 1856 until 1917. As far as I can tell, this was used for a 1906 calendar for the brewery. Is it just me, or is one of the mermaids showing a bit more cheek than is usual?
Beer In Ads #486: Geo. Winter Bock Beer
Monday’s ad is a 19th century ad for a New York brewery, the Geo. Winter Brewing Co. According to the ad itself, the brewery was located on 55th Street, between 2nd and 3rd Avenues. It’s from around 1900, plus or minus. The ad shows “Columbia raising a glass of beer, posed with a keg and a billy goat, the symbol of bock beer.”
Guinness Ad #95: Where’s My Guinness
Our 95th Guinness ad originally ran during World War 2, and shows a painter camouflaging a gun turret. He’s done such a good job that he can’t find his beer in all the camouflage. The tagline is “My Goodness — where’s My Guinness?”
Beer In Ads #485: Bring On The Falstaff
Friday’s ad is for Falstaff, from 1955. It’s another Thanksgiving ad, and the setting looks exactly like my family’s table. Look how perfect everyone looks. And how about that headline. “Along with Autumn’s Golden Best … Bring on the Falstaff.” But I do love the bottle suspended in the air, pouring down into the already full pilsner glass, presumably mere seconds from it spilling over and making a great mess. Take a close look at the bottle, it’s practically full. Even if it wasn’t, just the amount of beer flowing but not yet in he glass will make it overflow.
Beer In Ads #484: America’s Earliest Thanksgiving … Was For Corn
Thursday’s Thanksgiving Day ad is for Budweiser. I’m not sure when the ad originally ran, but clearly it’s from a time when sensitivities toward Native Americans weren’t particularly keen. That’s based on the ad copy, which after the headline — “America’s Earliest Thanksgiving … Was For Corn” — is the following:
With joyous chants and throbbing tom-toms, the Indians celebrated each bountiful harvest of maize. How the red man would marvel to see the part his native grain plays in the nutrition and individual prosperity of modern America!
Later in the ad, the copy connects corn to “its neighbor, barley,” adding. “For, from America’s costliest barley comes Budweiser to adds its distinctive, delicious taste to the fine flavors that make such a world of difference between merely eating and really dining.” Curiously, no mention of rice, though.
Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!
