Friday’s ad brings our Miller High Life week to a close. I’m not sure when the ad is from, but it’s a safe bet it was at least when needlepoint was popular. Although if my memory serves me, I think this is actually crewel. My mother, grandmother and several aunts were addicted to sewing and assorted needlework crafts. Still, I actually think it’s kinda cool — in a retro geeky way — but again that’s probably because I was around so much of it when I was a kid.
Thursday’s ad is yet another one for Miller High Life, the Champagne of Bottle Beer, this one from 1956. This one seems less about sophistication, and more about a return to a simpler, down home, country lifestyle. But it looks like a set, and nothing like an actual home. It just seems odd. “Aren’t we quaint, we’ve got an old iron stove.”
Wednesday’s ad is another one for Miller High Life, the Champagne of Bottle Beer, from 1948. Again, the attempt is to make it appear more sophisticated, as it’s served on a silver tray, with a garnish of an orchid and a handsome looking bottle opener resting on the tray, too. With that presentation, how could one not enjoy life?
Tuesday’s ad is for Miller High Life, the Champagne of Bottle Beer, but in a more down-to-earth setting: the bowling alley. I don’t know the age of the ad, but it feels Fifties. The ad copy claims the beer is “Sparkling … flavorful … distinctive.” Don’t they look like they’re having fun?
Monday’s ad is from 1948, and is for Miller High Life, which even then was being touted as the Champagne of Bottle Beer. It’s an obvious visual device to put the beer into a champagne bucket, but it works.
Our 73rd Guinness ad is again from the “Guinness For Strength” series, with a pair of golfers walking the links, but the one with the bottle of Guinness in this bag seems far more able to manage his large bag while his compatriot is struggling with not only a smaller bag but a wheeled cart. Since it looks likely that the U.S. Open will again be won by an Irish golfer, and in fact Northern Ireland, a golf ad seemed appropriate.
Friday’s ad is from 1956, and is for Falstaff and shows what appear to be the preparations for a cocktail and which, according to the wonderful ad copy, are making the people not just thirsty, but beer-thirsty!, apparently a whole new level of thirsty that only Falstaff can cure.
Thursday’s ad is from 1968, when Karate had worked its way into public consciousness, and shows a black belt karate master posing beside four blocks of wood resting on a pair of cinder blocks, ready to be karate-chopped. The only thing standing in his way is a glass of Ballantine Ale. The tagline is pretty funny. “Stronger, Bolder, really means business!”
Wednesday’s ad is from 1959 and is for Rheingold beer. It features a formal horse riding outing and Miss Rheingold for that year, Robbin Bain, the 19th woman to hold the title. The tagline for the ad is “There’s Fun A-Field With Rheingold!” Personally, I don’t know how much fun you could have in such stiff attire, but I’m not much of a horse person anyway.
Tuesday’s ad is a 1898 ad for a New York brewery, Geo. Ringler & Co. It’s actually a calendar poster, which was common for beer advertising during the time period. But since it’s Flag Day, and she’s wrapped in a flag, it seemed an appropriate one for today.
