Two years ago I decided to concentrate on Bock ads for awhile. Bock, of course, may have originated in Germany, in the town of Einbeck. Because many 19th century American breweries were founded by German immigrants, they offered a bock at certain times of the year, be it Spring, Easter, Lent, Christmas, or what have you. In a sense they were some of the first seasonal beers. “The style was later adopted in Bavaria by Munich brewers in the 17th century. Due to their Bavarian accent, citizens of Munich pronounced ‘Einbeck’ as ‘ein Bock’ (a billy goat), and thus the beer became known as ‘Bock.’ A goat often appears on bottle labels.” And presumably because they were special releases, many breweries went all out promoting them with beautiful artwork on posters and other advertising. With Spring approaching, there are so many great examples that I’m going to post two a day for a few months.
Thursday’s first ad is for Bock Beer at least twenty breweries located in Brooklyn, Union City, Stapleton, Newark, and New York itself (by which I assume they mean Manhattan but it’s not clear) which was published on March 26, 1934. This ad was for the Brewers Board of Trade, Inc. of New York, which appears to have been a local trade organization active from the 1930s through perhaps as late as 1960. They were celebrating the fact that this was the first Bock release in fourteen years, and the first one after prohibition was repealed. This ad ran in The Brooklyn Eagle, of Brooklyn, New York.
