Thursday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1956, when bowling was at the height of its popularity. Look how the dude is cradling his ball, I’ve never ever seen anyone hold their bowling ball like that. “So refreshing!”
Beer In Ads #131: IBI’s Full Case Test
Wednesday’s ad is for IBI, or International Breweries Incorporation, a group of breweries that merged or were bought out in the Midwest beginning around 1955. The ad is from 1960, and shows the crowns, or bottle caps, for a number of their brands. I really like the ad visually, with the case of empty bottles suspended at the top of the ad and the crowns at the bottom. For the time, there’s an awful lot of white space in the middle, something that was fairly rare in 1950s advertising.
While there’s not much information on the web about IBI, I did find this very old beer can collecting website, that doesn’t appear to be currently maintained, that had the following information:
In 1955 a group of businessmen from Detroit bought out Iroquois Beverage Corporation to help form the International Breweries Incorporation, with combining plants in Frankenmuth, Findaly, Tampa and Covington. International continued the Iroquois “arrowhead” label from the Iroquois Beverage Corp., however, they did change the Frankenmuth label from the Black Label to the oval label that came in beer, ale, and bock, from the Buffalo, NY plant.
IBI quickly created their own look, some collectors call these the “TV Screen” cans, the IBI cans came in Iroquois, Frankenmuth, Silver Bar in matching red beer and green ale cans, the IBI Frankenmuth Bock, and the IBI Old Dutch Beer. While the Buffalo plant was the only IBI brewer to produce all the cans, Iroquois remained solely in Buffalo. All the cans came as flattops, the IBI Iroquois beer has been found as a zip top. The Buffalo plant, also used 2 can companies, Continental Can Co., and Kegline, this produced a color variation with the red Beers.
The IBI logo eventually was removed, as some of the other plants closed or were sold, and a similar looking “TV Screen” can was produced. Buffalo kept filling Frankenmuth in Beer and Ale and shipping to the Midwest and the southeast in flattop cans. There are 2 different designs with the Frankenmuths, a single label with a yellowish background, and a 2 label white background can, however, not sure which came first. And similar to the single label Frankenmuth came an Iroquois Beer, but in a white background. Those were the final flattop cans from IBI of Buffalo. The Ponce DeLeon Silver Bar beer and ales that are identical labels were only canned in Tampa The odd thing is that they had matching beer and ales for Frankenmuth, but only the beer for Iroquois on the post IBI label.
Now there is a post IBI Iroquois Ale, but this is the identical label to the IBI’s, the Indian head replaces the IBI logo.This can has only been found in a zip top, no flats as indicated by the BCU and came out around 62 or 63, and is a very tough can to find. IBI of Buffalo only would last a few more years and canned their Iroquois Indian Head beer and Tomahawk Ale in zip tops.
Along the way International of Buffalo bought some existing labels that many collectors might not be aware of. In 1958 or 59, International canned the Blackhawk Beer for only a year or so before being sold to a Cumberland plant. They also picked up the Stolz label from Tampa, and a few tough variations came from Buffalo. In 1962 the Buffalo plant bought a few labels from Cleveland-Sandusky Brewers, and bear the International of Buffalo d/b/a. Canned in Buffalo were Old Timers and Crystal Rock. G & B was also purchased, and collectors have bottle labels from Buffalo, but haven’t seen a can yet.
Locally, in 1959, International bought out the Phoenix Brewery of Buffalo. Phoenix had just put their beer in cans a year earlier, and a very short run of Phoenix Beer bearing the Phoenix Brewing mandatory was run, this is a tougher variation than the Phoenix from International of Buffalo. The Phoenix Brewery eventually became the Ale plant for International. International eventually went bankrupt in 1966 and a Terry Fox from New Jersey bought the plant and renamed it Iroquois Brewing Company. They continued to produce the Indian Head Beer and replacing the Tomahawk Ale was the Iroquois Draft Ale. Bavarians Select had a short stay and was canned in Buffalo. In 1969, Fox sold the plant to a group from Buffalo, and the name changed to Iroquois Brewery. They discontinued the Draft Ale, and the famous white Draft Beer was canned during this time. With the invasion of Cheaper Canadien Beers, and the growth of the big boys, Iroquois could no not keep up, and on May 5, 1971, Iroquois the once proud brewer of Buffalo shut its doors.
Another website, Kentucky Beer Cans, also shows a few of the IBI cans.
Beer In Ads #130: Miller High Life & Ping Pong
Tuesday’s ad is for Miller High Life, most likely from the late 1950s or 60s, when ping pong in paneled rec rooms was all the rage. And how about that tagline? “Sparkling … flavorful … distinctive.”
Beer In Ads #129: Lowenbrau Try The Dark
Monday’s ad is for Lowenbrau, a Munich brewery. Today is the day Munich was founded in 1158. It could be from the 1960s or 70s, but my money’s on the Seventies. Showing both kinds — country and western, alright light and dark — the ad features the tagline. “Now that you’ve seen the light …. try the dark.” But really, they’re actually trying to sell the glasses.
Guinness Ad #22: The New Gnu Knew
Our 22nd Guinness poster by John Gilroy features another zoo setting, this one with a new Gnu to the zoo, who knew that “Guinness is good for you,” using a nice group of homonyms.
Beer In Ads #128: Gretz Beer
As my Philadelphia theme comes to an end, as does my time at Philly Beer Week, Friday’s ad is for Gretz Beer, never a big force in Philadelphia market, but by 1957 were still hanging on as the smallest brewery left in Philly. You can read below what they were trying to do with their “small car series” of ads, but the exchange between the two men in the Fiat feels forced. It doesn’t feel like a natural conversation, it screams adspeak.
According to Rusty Cans:
The Gretz car series was issued starting in late 1957 by the Gretz Brewing Company in Philadelphia. The smallest of the last four breweries in Philadelphia, Gretz decided to make its small size a selling point by comparing its beer to a sports car. Small cars were better, they argued, and so was a beer from a small brewery! As part of the promotion Gretz bought 11 of the latest sport cars and painted them yellow and black to match the Gretz label colors, with a Gretz logo on the sides. The cars were introduced at the Army-Navy Game in Philadelphia at the end of November 1957 (Navy won 14-0).
And here’s another:
It’s for their bock using the iconic brewery character from 1951.
I love this image of the Gretz guy, and in fact have a t-shirt of it I got from Yesterbeer. I also say an original tray with the same image behind the bar at the Kite & Key last night.
Beer In Ads #127: Bergner & Engel’s
Continuing my Philadelphia theme for Philly Beer Week, Thursday’s ad is old one, from 1873. The brewery is Bergner & Engel’s, which used to be located on 32nd and Thompson. I just love these old posters showing off the brewery at its best that were common in the latter half of the 19th century.
Here’s a description of the poster from the Library Company of Philadelphia:
Since the erection of the first brewery in Philadelphia circa 1683, beer making has been a near steady Philadelphia industry. Following the introduction of lager beer to the Philadelphia market in the mid-19th century, German-American brewers dominated the field. The firm of Bergner & Engel, formed in 1870 between longtime brewers Gustave Bergner and Charles Engel, symbolized the best of the best of that era’s nearly one hundred, mostly German-American run breweries. Operating from a plant built for Bergner in 1858 at 32nd and Thompson streets, the brewery served as the forerunner in the establishment of the industrial neighborhood known as Brewerytown.
This circa 1875 print, a chromolithograph by German-born lithographer Charles P. Tholey, evokes the vitality of the brewing industry and documents the eye-catching imagery of advertising for the city during the 19th century. The advertisement conveys the expanse of the Bergner & Engel plant that included ice houses, a brew room, fermenting and cooling rooms, store rooms, offices, and dwellings. The numerous factory wagons loaded with kegs of beer to be delivered, the visible construction dates of the ice houses, and the several returned and cleaned barrels demonstrate the success of the company. To catch and keep the viewer’s eye, Tholey also employed subtle details such as the excited dogs, the probable job seeker soliciting a worker on break, and one of the proprietors, Bergner, conversing with an employee in front of his office.
Unlike advertisements of today, the product for sale does not serve as the focus of the print. Rather, the factory comprises the image. Competition for consumers was not based on the quality of the good, but the quality of the establishment in which the product was produced. Regarding the circulation of such prints, rather than posting them publicly in stations, on buildings, or fences, businesses probably enclosed the advertisements with product shipments sent to their distributors throughout the country. Enterprises such as Bergner & Engel anticipated that their retailers would display the prints in the public spaces of their establishments to promote their products to a broader base of consumers.
Beer In Ads #126: Schmidt’s For That Friendlier Feeling
Continuing my Philadelphia theme for Philly Beer Week, Wednesday’s ad is for Schmidt’s. Again, I’m not sure, but my guess is it’s from sometime in the 1970s. I’m not sure about those lines and arrows at all, or what the slogan “For That Friendlier Feeling” has to do with the man opening the bottle.
Beer In Ads #125: Schmidt’s Double Header
Continuing my Philadelphia theme for Philly Beer Week, Tuesday’s ad is for Schmidt’s. I’m not sure, but my guess is it’s from the mid-1960s. I love how the foam is spilling out from everywhere, both mugs and the can, too.
Beer In Ads #124: It’s Ortlieb Time
All this week I’ll be featuring ads from Philadelphia breweries since I’ll be there most of the week for Philly Beer Week. Monday’s ad is for Ortlieb. The ad is from 1959 and shows a couple loading beer onto their boat, with this deliciously goofy tagline. “It’s the he-man brew — that the gals love too!” The logo at the bottom also includes this curious slogan, “Ortlieb’s, the wet beer.” Hilarious.
