Sunday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1934. It’s just after prohibition ended and Schlitz is definitely going classy. Apparently Schlitz is seen in “the smartest places” and is “served in well-ordered homes.” Not to mention what a big deal out of their brown bottles. But by far, my favorite line in the ad copy makes no sense whatsoever. “Flavor in Schlitz beer is like style in a Worth frock.”
Today in 2005, US Patent 6953256 B2 was issued, an invention of Brent Turner, for his “Illuminated Tap Handle.” Here’s the Abstract:
One object of the invention is to provide an illuminated tap handle including a handle with one end capable of being secured to a tap and a threadable and detachable end allowing the placement of a removable energy source into the handle completing a circuit and illuminating a light source connected to a conducting strip inside the handle when the threadable end is substantially threaded onto the handle and a conducting portion on the threadable end touches the conducting strip and energy source. Another object is where the conducting strip is situated within the tap handle such that when the threadable end is partially or completely unthreaded the tension of the conduction strip is released and situated just above and not touching the energy source, but when the threadable end is substantially threaded onto the tap handle, the conducting strip is again pressed onto the energy source completing the circuit.
Today in 1977, US Patent 4053653 A was issued, an invention of Junjiro Miyata and Yasushi Kikuchi, assigned to Asahi Breweries, Ltd., for their “Method of Obtaining Lupulin-Rich Products from Hops.” Here’s the Abstract:
A method of obtaining lupulin-rich products from hops, which comprises: subjecting frozen hop cones to coarse crushing by a first crusher equipped with a screen having width of openings in the range of 6 – 15 mm and sieving fragments of crushed hops passing therethrough to obtain a first lot of lupulin-rich product as accumulated beneath the sieve; and then subjecting the portion which passed over the screen of the sieve to recrushing by a second crusher equipped with a screen having narrower openings than that of the first crusher a screen having width of openings in the range of 3 – 6 mm, and sieving fragments of recrushed hops passing therethrough to obtain a second lot of lupulin-rich product as accumulated beneath the sieves.
The method is performed on hops and particles thereof maintained in the frozen condition.
Saturday’s ad is for Duraglas, from 1940. It’s Duraglas, a brand of glass bottles owned by the Owens-Illinois Glass Company, that’s “Changing Beer Bottle Behavior.” If you peek behind the action of the woman handing a green bottle to one of the two tuxedoed gentlemen into the refrigerator, you can see a green, brown and clear glass bottles sitting on the shelf inside. But in the foreground, it’s a brown bottle of beer being poured into the glass next to the salad. If you look closely at the bluish wallpaper around the ad, there are bottles of beer with brands on them, like Carnegie Pilsener Beer, Kato Pilsner Beer, Felsenbrau, Old Ox Head Ale, Mule Head Stock Ale, Topaz, Stegmeier Porter, Monarch Beer, Ruppert Ale, Hillcrest Lager Beer, Lucky Lager, Cincinnati Burger Brau, Top Hat Beer, Lucky Ale, Edelbrau Porter, and that’s just some from the left side. They all appear to be different, which is pretty amazing. I recognize enough of the brands to assume they must all be real brands from the time period.
Today in 1967, US Patent 3346167 A was issued, an invention of Trueman L. Schmidt, assigned to the Olympia Brewing Company, for his “Insulated Reclosable Beer Carton.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:
It is the main object of the present invention to provide an insulated carton for filled beer cans or similar containers, which carton has a handle, allowing it to be readily carried about, and which carton can be opened to remove one or more cans Without exposing all the cans, and which carton can thereafter readily and effectively be reclosed to retain the cool temperature of the remaining filled beer cans, to enable subsequent consumption thereof by the purchaser and his friends.
The insulated reclosable carton of the present invention is characterized by having a sleeve type outer carton member and a box type inner carton member slidably received by the outer carton member in snug relation thereto. The outer carton member has a handle by which it, together with the inner carton member, can be readily carried. The inner carton member is provided with one and preferably two hatch flaps in the side walls of the inner carton member, the hatch flaps being openable to provide an opening through which one or more can be removed from the carton. The hatch flaps are then readily flipped back to their closed positions and maintained in such closed position by the outer carton member when the inner carton member is again slid back into the outer carton member. The hatch flaps are located in staggered relation and near the end margins of their respective side wall panels so that the inner carton member does not have to be completely removed from the outer carton member in order to remove one or more cans, and, by staggering the hatch flaps, it is immaterial which Way the inner carton member is moved relative to the outer carton member because one of the hatch flaps will be exposed regardless of which way it is shifted. The inner carton member and outer carton member are so constructed that the inner carton member is releasably retained in its fully surrounded condition by the outer carton member to avoid accidental displacement of the inner carton member relative to the outer carton member.
Today in 1944, US Patent 2359876 A was issued, an invention of Frank H. Schwaiger, assigned to Anheuser-Busch, for his “Brewing.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:
The principal objects of the present invention are to devise a better, simpler, more thorough and more economical way of removing. the suspended solids from the wort. The present invention consists principally in cooling the wort, while it still contains the hot break sludge, under conditions that overcome the difficulties and disadvantages that have heretofore made it impracticable to delay the removal of the sludge until the wort is cooled. It also consists in delaying the removal of the hot break solids until the wort is cooled. It also consists in aerating the wort at or above pasteurizing temperature and quickly cooling and simultaneously aerating it again and then separating the sludge therefrom by sedimentation. It also consists in a novel way of utilizing hot break for removal of cold break from the wort. It also consists in the process hereinafter described.
Friday’s ad is for Budweiser, from 1934. The idea is eight months after prohibition ended, orders were coming in once more for Budweiser from all over the world. The half-dozen stereotypes sitting on the globe in national garb, each raising their beers with a traditional toast, represent six nations or cultures. Curiously, the American toast is “Here’s How.” That’s not a toast I’ve ever heard here, or anywhere for that matter.
Today in 1934, US Patent 1976173 A was issued, an invention of Edward W. Hutchings, for his “Barrel Stave.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:
This invention relates to the manufacture of staves for barrels and other containers and the object is to utilize thoroughly seasoned and dried lumber which is now available and which will render unnecessary steaming of the stave in order to bring it into the desired shape. Staves for barrels and kegs, especially for beer kegs, have heretofore been cut from white oak and then subjected to steaming in order to be bent into the required curvature. White oak, however, at the present time, is very scarce and the steaming process is expensive and time-consuming, while there is available a plentiful supply of thoroughly dried and seasoned lumber which may be utilized for the production of staves. It is an object of the present invention to utilize available lumber, and especially lumber which would otherwise be treated as waste, for the production of staves by a method which is expeditious and inexpensive. The invention will be herein fully described in connection with the accompanying drawings and resides in certain novel features which will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
Today in 1877, US Patent 195980 A was issued, an invention of George J. Cave and George E. Nicholson, for their “Improvement in Gage Attachments for Beer-Measures.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:
The object of this invention is to furnish an improved measure for measuring beer and other liquids that foam when drawn, which shall be so constructed as to show at once how much of the liquid there may be in the measure, however foamy it may be, so that there need be no waiting for the foam to subside, and no refilling.
The invention consists in the combination of the detachable glass tube, the rubber rings, and the screw-plug with the case,the measure, and the elbow-pipe connected with the interior of the measure, or with a box or trap secured within said measure; and in the combination of the screw-cap, provided with the hole and the handle, with the box or trap secured in the interior of the measure, and connected with a glass tube by an elbow-pipe, as hereinafter fully described.
This morning Pilsner Urquell tweeted the quetion “What happened in Plzen in the 1830s to make the citizens decide to build their own brewery?”
The answer Pilsner Urquell gives to Plzen Before Pilsner Urquell is a short history lesson about Bohemia in the mid-1800s.
What was the town of Plzen like when Pilsner Urquell was founded back in 1842? To get a feel for things, imagine the number 563. That’s the total number of dwellings — just 563 buildings for living in — that stood in Plzen at the time of the town’s 1840 census.
Despite its small size, Plzen was still a relatively important place, especially after the construction of the military barracks that were built there in 1826 (this was crowd-funded and paid for by the citizens), after which the town’s population and strategic importance grew substantially. By 1840, Plzen had grown to 10,184 inhabitants, up from 6,447 inhabitants some fifty years earlier.
Along with the barracks, Plzen also developed a more cultivated side in the 1820s and 1830s, developing a merchant class and showing theatrical performances and concerts in both Czech and German languages. Perhaps because of that cosmopolitanism, as well as the town’s setting not far from the Czech-Bavarian border, a number of imported beers, including many Bavarian dark lagers, began showing up in Plzen by the mid-1830s. These proved to be quite popular, and some residents complained that Plzen was flooded by imported beers. Ironically, the imports were quite cheap, much cheaper than Plzen’s own beer at the time, which thus had trouble selling fast enough to keep up with its relatively short shelf life.
The result was a major problem for local beer lovers. The first solution suggested by the citizens of Plzen? A ban on all imported beer. Only after this idea was laughingly dismissed by the town’s mayor Martin Kopecký did the good people of Plzen came up with their second proposal: to build a new brewery that could compete with the imports.
It’s funny to see concerns about imports being an issue even 175 years ago, something that’s still talked about today.
The image Pilsner Urquell uses part of with the story is from 1649. It was a “copper engraving, uncolored as published,” and is a “Bird’s eye view of the city of Pilsen, published in the Topographia Bohemiae by Matthaeus Merian.”
