Monday’s ad is for Pabst Blue Ribbon, from 1954. It’s from their “What’ll You Have” series,and this one shows three recently caught fish frying in a pan on the grill. Is is me or is that bucket of ice that the beer is cooling in a little close to the flame? That ice is going to melt pretty quickly.
Friday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1956. The scene shows two couples drinking some beer and making sweet music. I love the expression on the harmonica player’s face, but it’s the accordion that signals just what a hopping party it must have been.
Anchor Brewing released a fun three-part story over the past few days on their blog, pieced together by resident historian Dave Burkhart. The story, “Steam Beer Billy,” is a true story that was told in the San Francisco newspapers in 1898, 115 years ago. The story concerns William “Yankee” Sullivan and his pet goat, Jack, both apparently big fans of Steam Beer, and their exploits that began on New Year’s Eve and ended several days later, when Sullivan was finally out of jail and reunited with Jack.
Part one ran on Wednesday, part two yesterday, and part three finished off their tale today. Enjoy.
Thursday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1960. It features a perfectly quaffed man in his pajamas and a robe raiding the icebox at 11:45 p.m. He’s got what’s presumably a Schlitz in one hand and a sandwich in the other. Surprisingly enough, that’s exactly what I look like just before midnight most nights … except for the robe … and the pajamas … and the sandwich.
Wednesday’s ad is for Miller High Life, from 1954, during their minimalist period. They seem to be well ahead of the curve showing a variety of different cheeses, including a giant vat of cheese sauce. We all know how well cheese and beer pair together. Unfortunately, I’m not sure Miller High Life has enough flavor to stand up to most of those cheeses, especially the blue.
Tuesday’s ad is for Ballantine, from 1961. While Ballantine may be one of the few American breweries in the 1960s making ales, this ad is for their Double LL, which was a “Light Lager.” You have to admit “Double LL” sounds better than light lager, even if it doesn’t quite make sense. Wouldn’t it just be “Double L” since “Double LL” would actually be “LLLL?” Either way, it’s “the ‘crisp’ refresher…”
Monday’s ad is for Carling Black Label, from 1948. The ad is in French for the Canadian market and boasts that Carling is Canada’s most popular lager. But there’s no translation for “Mabel, Black Label!” But I’m still not sure why they’re playing tic-tac-toe on the tablecloth.
Friday’s ad is for Narragansett, from 1961. After the tragedy in Boston and the swift capture/killing of the perpetrators last night and today, I thought an ad with the Red Sox was in order. This one shows Boston’s schedule for the 1961 season, and shows a cask of the Rhode Island beer emblazoned with the tagline “Straight from-the-Barrel Taste.” It’s hard to believe that was what they were going for in 1961, or that people would respond to such a claim.
Thursday’s ad is for Molson, from 1957. Although I don’t speak (or read) French, I only know it says something along the lines of “Molson, a full table” thanks to Google translate, though I’m confident there’s some idiomatic translation that’s more poetic.
Today’s infographic shows Five Centuries of Beer in Colombia, created by Pulpo. I suspect that if I knew Spanish it would even be cooler.
Click here to see the infographic full size.