Tuesday’s ad is for Ballantine Ale from 1949 and take an unusual approach. The ad highlights three hotels and restaurants carrying Ballantine Ale, and especially their servers. These include the Homestead in Hot Springs, Virginia, the Ambassador’s Pump Room in Chicago, Illinois and the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, California.
After a week on hiatus during the Craft Brewers Conference, Monday’s ad is a Ballantine ad from 1950, and features a snowy scene near the north pole. Three stages of the aurora borealis add the Ballantine rings in glorious shimmering color while an Eskimo looks on, making Ballantine’s three fingers and the “okay” sign with his hand — which signifies “three rings.”
Friday’s ad is another Ballantine ad from, I’m guessing here, the late 50s or early 60s. I love the suggestion that Ballantine is “deep-brewed,” whatever that might mean. And I can’t help but wonder: what the hell is that rooster doing on his shoulder as he pours his beer?
Thursday’s ad is from 1949, a Ballantine ad that’s all green, in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. My initial thought is that it was printed in a magazine that wasn’t full color but instead used spot color, in this case black and green. But it works pretty well. And I love the slogan: “A flavor you will find in no other beverage.”
Friday’s ad is from 1950 and is for Ballantine. Showing a delectable hamburger paired with a Ballantine, as disembodied hands slice onions into the iconic three-ring logo, eventually ending up perfectly arranged on the open-faced burger.
Tuesday’s ad is from 1941 and is for Ballantine Ale. The “Early American Sign” is the three-ring Ballantine logo that George Washington is pointing to on the tavern’s sign. Happy birthday George.
Thursday’s ad is a Ballantine ad from 1947. Part of the history ads featuring clay dioramas, this one shows a wagon heading west, passing a saloon where the bartender is coming out with a mug of beer. The wagon driver’s rope is making the three-ring Ballantine logo, which would be impressive if someone could actually do that in real life.
Wednesday’s holiday ad is also for Ballantine, this one from 1953. It shows an invisible refrigerator outdoors during winter, with the idea that the reader will equate Ballantine beer with the “Flavor that chill can’t kill,” whatever that means.
Tuesday’s holiday ad is for Ballantine, from 1940. Part of a series of dioramas Ballantine used in their ads at that time, the holiday one uses a triple wreath on the door with the pilgrim kissing his gal on the cheek.
Monday’s ad is for Ballantine Ale from 1947. The whale may not be white, but it sure seems to play on the story of Moby Dick. Ballantine did a series of diorama ads that featured different stories, some from literature and some from history. I don’t know how many they did, I’ve collected at least a dozen of them, but I’d love to know more definitively what subjects they covered.
