Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Beer In Ads #46: O’Keefe’s Girl In The Moon

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Wednesday’s ad is for O’Keefe’s and was done around 1900, years before Miller put on a woman in the moon. O’Keefe’s was a Canadian brewery that in 1916 was purchased by Carling, and later merged with Canadian Breweries in 1930. In 1969, it became Carling O’Keefe again but merged with Molson in 1989. The ad is typical of the turn of the century, when ads were often low-key with grand illustrations showing idealized beauty. “Pilsener Lager” I understand, but “Special Extra Mild Ale” is a bit of a head-scratcher. Extra Mild makes about as much sense as Imperial Mild, and now we’ve seen both.

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Beer In Ads #45: Dorothy Dandridge For Jax

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It’s not just any Tuesday, but Fat Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday — Mardi Gras — so today’s ad is for a New Orleans beer, Jax. It’s a celebrity ad, with actress Dorothy Dandridge hawking Jax Beer. Dandridge was the first African-American woman nominated for an Academy Award and Halle Berry played her in the award winning HBO biopic Introducing Dorothy Dandridge. Using the tagline “Get the Light Idea!” That’s followed by “Drink Mellow Jax Beer.” You rarely see mellow used as a positive attribute these days, which is a shame, I think. I’m not sure when this ad is from, though Dandridge passed away in 1965, so it’s most likely it was before then. It was brewed by Jax Brewing Co. until 1956, when the New Orleans’ Jackson Brewing Co. bought the brand and brewed it there (the old brewery is now a shopping mall) until 1974, when Pearl Brewery bought them out. Since 1985, Pabst has owned the brand, but as far as I now, is not brewing it anywhere. Happy Mardi Gras.

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Beer In Ads #44: Miller High Life Plays Chess

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Monday’s ad originally was published September 15, 1958 and is for Miller High Life, “The Champagne of Bottled Beer.” It’s a beautiful illustration of a man playing chess with only the beer, bottle and Miller logo in color. The art has an MC Escher quality to it, and though it’s signed, even at the original size I can’t make out who it was. The detail in the illustration is wonderful, especially the chess pieces.

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Guinness Ads #5: Bear’s Beer

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The fifth Guinness poster by John Gilroy is one of many ads that are in a zoo. In this one, a bear has snatched the zookeeper’s Guinness and is trying to offer a trade, but the bear looks none too interested in giving up his beer for anything. The tagline is another common one, “My Goodness – My Guinness.”

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Beer In Ads #43: Budweiser’s Pick A Pair

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Friday’s ad is for Budweiser cans from 1963. You have to admire her ‘do and the mod frock, but “Pick a Pair,” suggesting that the “smart way to buy” is to purchase two six-packs implies that the 12-pack had not yet been invented. To me, that’s the odd notion. When did the 12-pack debut as a lasting package? I know breweries experimented with varying package sizes, before the sixer became the standard. I also seem to recall its victory had something to do with weight and ease of carrying. Though despite the obscenely happy face she’s wearing, she seems to be struggling a bit with carrying two six-packs, or at least they’re perched precariously.

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Beer In Ads #42: Schlitz Late Night Bear

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Thursday’s ad is another Schlitz ad from most likely the 1950s. I find it a little creepy, actually, though I’m sure that was not the intention. That fairy tale bear in his nightshirt and slippers just looks a bit eye. And while the house obviously has electricity to power the refrigerator, he’s still carrying an old-fashioned candle. Why? Wouldn’t the light in the ‘frig be enough?

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Beer In Ads #40: Coors’ Rocky Mountain Spring Water

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Tuesday’s ad is for Coors because it’s the anniversary of their merger with Molson five years ago. This ad is from 1977, the year I graduated from high school, and Coors was still considered a “cool” brand because we couldn’t get it on the east coast. It looks so amateurish now, and I love the tagline suggestion “refrigerate to retain brewery fresh flavor.” Was keeping beer in the refrigerator still uncommon enough that suggesting it was a prominent part of their advertising. It’s interesting that Coors’ obsession with cold is at least three decades old.

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Beer In Ads #38: Gangloff

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This Friday is also the three-year anniversary of The Sessions, a.k.a. Beer Blogging Friday. When I created the logo for the Session, I used this Gangloff beer ad from 1930. I chose it for its simplicity and clean lines. I think it’s worked well, and so it made the obvious choice for today’s ad.

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As far as I can tell, Brasserie Gangloff was an Alsatian brewery that closed in 1970. The only photo I could find of it was after it was bombed on July 16, 1943 during World War II.

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