Thursday’s ad is for Carling Black Label, from sometime in the mid-fifties, during their “Hey, Mabel” period. This the second ad I’ve featured using the “Nothing So Good … For Good Company” slogan, the other one being from 1956. This one has more of a nautical theme.
Wednesday’s ad is for Pabst Blue Ribbon, from 1943. Pabst used these freaky anthropomorphic humanized ribbons with faces for a number of years and I always find them more than a little creepy and unsettling. This was in the middle of World War 2, when collecting scrap metal for the war effort. Apparently my mother was a decorated scrap collector. She would have been 6 in 1943 and her father, my grandfather, was an automobile mechanic, meaning there was lots of scraps around.
Tuesday’s election day ad is for Budweiser, from 1952. But the stubborn postures and acrimonious stares on the two political mascots are as recognizable today as they apparently were sixty years ago. Even though politics seem more divisive today than ever before, maybe there were always this bad? I don’t know if Budweiser has the power to get us all together, but perhaps craft beer?
The same artwork was also used in another ad, with a different headline, “Keep Cool.” Given that the two political mascots are sitting on a block of ice, it seems likely that this may have actually been the earlier or original ad.
I know I’m beating a dead horse — or is that donkey and elephant? — today, but as it’s election day and I’m of the opinion that most people don’t take politics seriously enough, it can’t be helped. Poking around today, when I should have been working, I found an interesting President’s Day piece from earlier this year on Politico. Entitled For Presidents, Beer is Great Leveler, it was written by Joe McClain, president of The Beer Institute. I wrote a similar article earlier this year, too, All the President’s Beer.
McClain and I certainly agree on beers’ importance to presidential politics. “Beer has come to symbolize the unique connection between presidents and the people they serve. Presidents are charged with bridging divides and finding common ground with citizens from all ideologies and backgrounds. There’s no common denominator like beer.” After dropping Eisenhower’s most famous beer quote, he continues. “Just as Ike used beer as a measure of the average American voter, voters used beer to measure presidential candidates.” But I absolutely love his conclusion.
Beer is a unifier and equalizer. It transcends party and ideology, geography and class, and is enjoyed by young and old, male and female, Democrat and Republican. It leads to common ground in politics and life. When so much in the world pulls us apart, beer has been there to bring us together.
Indeed. As I’ve been saying all day. Vote Beer!
Monday’s ad is for Schlitz, from around election day in 1941. It shows a cross-section of 1940s persons waiting in line to vote. The year before, FDR won an unprecedented third term for U.S. president. So in 1941, I’m not sure what election would have been taking place or what the hot button issues of the day would have been, though I’m sure World War 2 was big on everybody’s mind. Given that voting districts are usually small neighborhoods, this one appears to be unusually diverse based on the appearance of the people in line. It’s amusing that the caricature of the “rich person” in bowler hat and monocle is the only one looking at his watch. He must be the only busy person with somewhere else to be.
But regardless of your socio-economic status, your party affiliation, or any other divisive category, please vote tomorrow. Cheers.
Thursday’s ad is from the 1950s, for the English brand John Smith, specifically their Magnet Pale Ale, which they registered as a trademark in 1911. This ad appears to use a Marilyn Monroe lookalike, or at least drawn-alike, to entice people to but John Smith’s Magnet Pale Ale, along with the tagline. “A Magnet for me!”
Wednesday’s ad is for Budweiser, another Halloween ad from the 1950s or early 60s. This one’s part of A-B’s “where there’s life … there’s Bud” series. Showing the makings of a Halloween party, with loads of cheese on plates, and a can of Bud being poured into a glass. The expression of the woman watching the beer is pretty funny, along with the tagline. “Say cheese. Or anything else good to eat.”
Tuesday’s ad is for Blatz, a Halloween ad from 1947. Showing a smirking jack-o-lantern eyeing a full pilsner glass and bottle of Blatz beer next to it. Notice the plate of food below the main ad, with the glass of beer next to it? What exactly do you think that food on the plate might be? It’s lovely presentation, but what the hell is it?
Monday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1961. Showing a beach scene, with a woman in a red bathing suit peeking from underneath an umbrella, full beer mug in hand, with a hot dog and chips(?) on a plate resting on a picnic basket behind her. That sure looks like the makings of a terrific day at the beach.
Thursday’s ad is for Budweiser. Showing a pair of old men sharing bottles of Budweiser, it’s such a simple ad, that it may have been from the early part of last century, if not even older. At least one other source claims it’s from the 1940s, but there’s no evidence for that, so I’m still not so sure. Still, it’s nice illustration and undoubtedly made a good poster for a bar.
