Friday’s Independence Day ad is for Ballantine Ale, from 1955. That’s a happy-looking man watching the 4th of July fireworks, as he sips his beer. That’s ale, brother! Happy Independence Day!
Beer In Ads #1241: Friendly, Fresh’ning, Happily Dry
Thursday’s ad is for Rheingold Beer, from 1961, when beer, and other things, were still “friendly.” In this case, not just friendly, but also “fresh’ning” and “happily dry,” too. Interesting to see pizza and beer, I remember pizza still be fairly exotic at least until the 1970s.
Beer In Ads #1240: Rheingold Pheasant Hunting
Wednesday’s ad is yet another one for Rheingold Beer, this one also from 1959, and features Miss Rheingold from that year, Robbin Bain. In this ad, she’s “aiming for refreshment,” but the guy behind her is carrying the gun, while she’s got a portable chair in her two gloved hands. And how about that nifty green hat?
Beer In Ads #1239: Talk About Pleasant Traditions
Tuesday’s ad is another one for Rheingold Beer, this one also from 1959, and features Miss Rheingold from that year, Robbin Bain. In this ad, she’s holding a Dalmatian puppy in front of a scene of an old-fashioned fire truck. Even the fireman is wearing a retro firefighter’s uniform, and I wonder if that’s the puppy’s Mom on the truck with him?
Beer In Ads #1238: … And Follow Through With Rheingold!
Monday’s ad for Rheingold Beer, this one from 1959, and features Miss Rheingold from that year, Robbin Bain. In this ad, she’s out for a night of bowling, then a far more popular pastime. “Between frames or games — nothing scores like a refreshing glass of beer!”
Film History: Old Man Drinking A Beer
Here’s a curious piece of film (and beer) history. I don’t know if it’s the first time someone was filmed drinking a beer, but I imagine it has to be one of the first. The film is from 1898 (or 1897), and is known as Old Man Drinking a Glass of Beer, though it’s also sometimes known as Comic Face. Frankly, he doesn’t look that old to me.
It was made by legendary British filmmaker George Albert Smith and features a close-up of comedian Tom Green drinking a beer and making faces. Green was a local Brighton comedian and was known for his “pantomime harlequinades at the Brighton Aquarium.” He went on to appear in many subsequent films made by Smith.
This was apparently a groundbreaking development in film, showing the actor close up making changing facial expressions and this type of film became known as a “facial,” defined as “a work showing a variety of facial expressions to the audience.” According to one source, “the ability to get close up to the star was a great advantage that film had over the stage and early filmmakers were keen to exploit it,” and in this one Green is shown in a single shot “drinking a glass of beer whose face and hands become increasingly lively as a result.”
Here you watch the entire 38-second silent film:
Beer In Ads #1237: Schooner Ahoy!
Sunday’s ad is for Oland’s Schooner Beer. The Oland Brewery is from Nova Scotia, Canada, though today it’s owned by Labatt Brewing, and ultimately ABI. They still make this beer today, though it’s now known as Schooner Lager. This ad, I think, looks like it’s from the 1950s.
Beer In Ads #1236: A Doctor’s Reasons
Saturday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1904. It’s an unthinkable ad in today’s world, where health claims are strictly forbidden in beer advertising, even if they’re true. In a fictional, or hypothetical at best, conversation between a doctor and his patient, the physician unequivocally endorses Schlitz beer because it’s so pure. How does he know? Because he’s seen it being brewed, which of course makes no sense. But my favorite advice the doc gives is about why pure beer is good for you. “The hops form a tonic; the barley a food. The trifle of alcohol os an aid to digestion. And the custom of drinking beer supplies the body with fluid to wash out the waste. People who don’t drink beer seldom drink enough fluid of any kind. A great deal of ill-health is caused by the lack of it.” And no, it doesn’t cause biliousness, which is a “term used in the 18th and 19th centuries pertaining to bad digestion, stomach pains, constipation, and excessive flatulence.” Whew, dodged a bullet there.
Beer In Ads #1235: Goodbye Hug
Friday’s ad is for the U.S. Brewers Industry Foundation, from the 1940s, sometime during World War II. This is from the brewing industry’s “Morale is a Lot of Little Things,” their award-winning campaign that talks about the little things that help people’s morale during the war. Not surprisingly, beer is usually one of them.
Beer In Ads #1234: When Knights Were Bold
Thursday’s ad is for Anheuser-Busch, from 1945. A World War 2 ad, showing a modern soldier — a Sergeant First Class — in which he compares himself to a suit of armor, most likely while liberating a European castle. The tagline reads “When Knights were Bold .. they were not so Big.” I guess the big strapping enlisted man is taller than the knight would been, based on the armor’s size.
