Wednesday’s ad is for Guinness, from 1929. While the best known Guinness ads were undoubtedly the ones created by John Gilroy, Guinness had other creative ads throughout the same period and afterward, too, which are often overlooked. This ad, one of many that used Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland is titled “The Walrus and the Carpenter,” and features a re-written poem all about eating oysters with Guinness to wash them down. I’ve always been a little creeped out by food that wants to be eaten. It’s a persistent theme in advertising, but if you ever stop to think about what they’re advocating, it’s pretty horrible.
Beer In Ads #2488: Mushroom Growth
Tuesday’s ad is for Guinness, from the 1950s. While the best known Guinness ads were undoubtedly the ones created by John Gilroy, Guinness had other creative ads throughout the same period and afterward, too, which are often overlooked. This ad, one of many that used Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland is titled “Mushroom Growth,” and features a story about Alice talking to a caterpillar who drinks Guinness to grow stronger, but Alice concludes she doesn’t have to grow barley and hops, since the people at Guinness already do that and all she has to do is drink their beer.
Beer In Ads #2487: A Mad Lunch Party
Monday’s ad is for Guinness, from the 1950s. While the best known Guinness ads were undoubtedly the ones created by John Gilroy, Guinness had other creative ads throughout the same period and afterward, too, which are often overlooked. This ad, one of many that used Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland is titled “A Mad Lunch Party,” and features a story about Alice, the Mad Hatter and the white rabbit trying to figure out how to have a lunch party and get some more Guinness.
Beer In Ads #2486: Alice Studies Natural History
Sunday’s ad is for Guinness, from 1952. While the best known Guinness ads were undoubtedly the ones created by John Gilroy, Guinness had other creative ads throughout the same period and afterward, too, which are often overlooked. This ad, one of many that used Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland is titled “Alice Studies Natural History,” and features a Carroll-esque story about a tiny Alice conversing with the red queen about science … and Guinness.

Beer In Ads #2485: ‘Tis The Choice Of The Gourmet
Saturday’s ad is for Guinness, from 1952. While the best known Guinness ads were undoubtedly the ones created by John Gilroy, Guinness had other creative ads throughout the same period and afterward, too, which are often overlooked. This ad, one of many that used Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland begins “‘Tis The Choice of the Gourmet,” and features a Carroll-esque poem about how good beer, and especially Guinness, goes with a variety of gourmet foods.
Beer In Ads #2484: Alice In Snowmansland Again
Friday’s ad is for Guinness, from 1948. While the best known Guinness ads were undoubtedly the ones created by John Gilroy, Guinness had other creative ads throughout the same period and afterward, too, which are often overlooked. This ad, one of many that used Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland is entitled “Alice in Snowmansland,” and features a short story about a glass of Guinness, Alice, the Mad Hatter and a snowman, but has a different illustration from one I shared a few days ago from the 1950s.
Beer In Ads #2483: Guinness In Another Festival Land
Thursday’s ad is for Guinness, from 1951. While the best known Guinness ads were undoubtedly the ones created by John Gilroy, Guinness had other creative ads throughout the same period and afterward, too, which are often overlooked. This ad, one of many that used Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland is entitled “Guinness In Festival Land,” which is the same title as a different ad with a giant clock from the same year, 1951. That’s because the Festival of Britain took place in several locations, although the main area was South Bank Exhibition, which included the Dome of Discovery, which is alluded to in the ad. There’s also more about the festival at the blog A London Inheritance. The poster was done by British illustrator Eric Fraser.
Beer In Ads #2482: Bottle And Jug
Wednesday’s ad is for Guinness, from 1954. While the best known Guinness ads were undoubtedly the ones created by John Gilroy, Guinness had other creative ads throughout the same period and afterward, too, which are often overlooked. This ad, one of many that used Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland is entitled “Bottle and Jug,” and the Mad Hatter is apparently a Guinness thief, or will be in the future. The Carroll-esque story is eerily similar to the Philip K. Dick story “Minority Report,” which was about stopping future crime, or precrime, before it happened. But the Guinness ad ran two years before Dick’s story was published in 1956. Maybe this was his inspiration for the story?
Beer In Ads #2481: Alice In Posterland
Tuesday’s ad is for Guinness, from 1952. While the best known Guinness ads were undoubtedly the ones created by John Gilroy, Guinness had other creative ads throughout the same period and afterward, too, which are often overlooked. This ad, one of many that used Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland is entitled “Alice In Posterland,” and Alice is perched above a large aviary cage full of birds while the Guinness zookeeper is being chased around it while he holds a bottle of Guinness and a full glass. The illustration was done by Antony Groves-Raines.
Beer In Ads #2480: Guinness In Festival Land
Monday’s ad is for Guinness, from 1951. While the best known Guinness ads were undoubtedly the ones created by John Gilroy, Guinness had other creative ads throughout the same period and afterward, too, which are often overlooked. This ad, one of many that used Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland is entitled “Guinness In Festival Land,” and shows an odd clock of sorts and features a poem in the style of Lewis Carroll. The poem is about Guinness, of course, but it’s even more about the Festival of Britain, and specifically the Pleasure Gardens at Battersea, which was held in 1951.
The festival ran for several months during 1951 and appears to have been quite large. There were three beer gardens and a large area known as the parade. Along the parade, they actually built the Guinness Festival Clock from the ad. There’s a great story about the festival from the blog A London Inheritance.
