Wednesday’s ad is for Budweiser, from 1951. With the tagline “Something more than Beer” followed by “… a mark of good taste,” a couple is apparently unwrapping wedding gifts. The expression on the woman’s face is priceless as she looks over a statue she’s just opened, while her new hubby arrives to rescue her with a tray of beers and snacks.
Tuesday’s ad is for Blatz, from 1953. Apparently Milwaukee in olden days had Sousaphone players wearing Lederhosen serenading restaurant diners but nowadays, thanks to Blatz, it’s a violinist. I’m sure I’m in the minority here, but I actually love a good oompah band. I also have to wonder. How did they fill two pilsner glasses with only one bottle of beer?
Monday’s ad is for the Barley and Malt Institute, from 1959. It appears that the now-defunct trade group for barley growers ran these ads for just a couple of years and that was it. Perhaps they decided they weren’t worth it or they didn’t get anything out of them, but they certainly were some great ads, at least in my humble opinion.
Mental Floss had an interesting story about how Pabst Brewing Co. got the blue ribbon that graces every bottle and can of their beer. In How Did Pabst Blue Ribbon Win its Blue Ribbon? author Matt Soniak details the events at the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago that led to Pabst claiming total victory and justifying that blue ribbon in the years that followed.
Friday’s ad is also for Schlitz, this one from 1943. Using the return of the Swallows — the birds — to introduce the idea of “happy swallows,” the swallowing of their beer … with “no bitterness.”
Thursday’s ad is for another one for Schlitz, this one from 1959. Apparently the way to “Know the Real Joy of Good Living” is to be near a mountain lake. And wear pink.
Wednesday’s ad is for also for Schlitz, from 1953. It’s a more low key Schlitzerland ad, showing a cocktail party under way. With the tagline in the bottom lefthand corner — “Life is Wonderful in Schlitzerland, U.S.A.” — even the dogs and cats are happy.
Tuesday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1957. Furthering their murdering of the English language in Schlitzerland, shake hands with your “Schlitzsaler,” the man who sells the beer. “A man in your community you should know” indeed.
Friday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1957. When “the fun begins at Schlitzo’clock.” The Schlitzfest ad campaign, and especially the accompany artwork, is one of my all-time favorites. I’ve even seen shirts made out of the art, but alas never in my size.
Thursday’s ad is for the Christian Staehlins Phoenix Brewery, from 1850. The brewery was located in St. Louis, Missouri. I love these old posters of longshots showing the entire brewery complex. Don Russell was just telling he’d recently learned that a lot of these were created for insurance purposes since photography was expensive and hard to do from the vantage point you’d need to get the whole brewery in the shot.
