Tuesday’s ad is a maritime ad complete with the signal flags ships use to communicate with one another. The ad is from 1960 and is for National Brewing, from Baltimore. Did you know the Chesapeake Bay area is the “Land of Pleasant Living?” Me neither. I also love the unusual glass, no doubt chosen so we could see more of the poster of flags through it. The bottom stem looks a bit like an upside down bottle neck, doesn’t it?
Monday’s ad finds us at the beach with Ballantine Ale, probably from the late 50s, early 60s. The slogan “Try it for a change … and you’ll never change back!” is pretty interesting, though I’ve no idea what it has to do with being at the shore. The other text, “Ballantine Ale begins where other brews leaves off … in flavor … in satisfaction” is likewise great adspeak.
Our twelfth Guinness poster by John Gilroy is another in the “Guinness For Strength” series, this time featuring a stone statue pining for a Guinness.
Friday’s ad is for a brand I’m not familiar with, Sodibo, which I believe was a French beer. I love the highly stylized pastel drawing with the sophisticated-looking woman partially obscured by a bright blue fog. It’s from the 1920s and the art is by a Jean Rousseau.
You can see more of the art in the poster below, but I still prefer the simpler one with almost no text. Below seems cluttered, above, elegant.
Thursday’s ad is for Genesee Brewing from 1968 since today is their 77th anniversary. It’s a pretty simple time-honored strategy showing a sexy, scantily-clad female atop a giant beer can. I love the arrow pointing to the slogan “a little more exciting …” I guess they worried no one would even read it, what with their eyes unable to look below the dangling foot.
Wednesday’s ad is for one of my favorite classic beers, Saison Dupont. I recently saw this ad as a poster framed at a friend’s house. The Saison Dupont Belgian Mussels poster is actually for sale at their importer’s website, Vanberg & Dewulf, though there’s no information about when it was first created.
There’s also another one in the style of one of my absolute favorite artists, Belgian surrealist Rene Magritte. The Magritte poster is also for sale.
Tuesday’s ad ran in Life magazine in 1957. It’s odd to see them mention a hop variety by name in an ad in the 1950s, though they don’t actually identify it as such. The slogan, “Only Ballantine Ale brews Brewer’s Gold into Genuine Golden Ale Flavor,” further suggests they were the only American brewer using it.
Monday’s ad is a 1955 ad for Schlitz with the oddball slogan “Your thirst can ‘feel‘ the difference.”
Our eleventh Guinness poster by John Gilroy is another “My Goodness, My Guinness” one, this time featuring a crane about to snatch another construction worker’s Guinness.
Friday’s ad is for Miller High Life from 1952 and features a female golfer and the tagline “The Lady Chooses.” I love the hat with tees in them, and did you notice she’s wearing a golf glove on both hands.
