Wednesday’s holiday ad is for Hamm’s, from 1956. The newspaper ad shows a idyllic winter forest scene with the Hamm’s bear in a Santa hat delivering a wrapped case of beer. Or maybe just drink that giant glass of beer on the ginormous silver tray which just happened to be there in the snow.
Today is Yule, observed each year on the Winter Solstice, and originally part of Germanic pagan beliefs, but later brought into the Christmas observances, like many aspects of our modern holiday. Another modern tradition is the model train around the tree or Christmas train, especially among families with a train enthusiast. I have one in mine — my son Porter — so I tend to notice these things.
There’s another modern tradition, perhaps less common, but no less elaborate, known as the Christmas Village, or something like that, a subgroup within the miniature village and dollhouse crowd. One of the local train shops we frequent is known as Dollhouses, Trains & More, and has abundant inventory of these villages. They’re sold one piece at a time, so you can go as simple or as elaborate as you want, as it is with most hobbies. Also, like many collectibles, new parts of the village are introduced every year, while others are “retired,” making the desirable ones go up in value. Maybe this is anecdotal, but these seem to pair up in some families, with one member of the family collecting trains and the other the villages. It brings balance, I guess.
So anyway, I noticed one the other day which was pretty funny, the Yulesteiner Brewery, from the Lemax Company, one of the big companies in model villages. It’s a brewery that’s part of their Caddington Collection, a Christmas village described like this. “The charming Caddington Village Collection captures the elegance of the Victorian Era, with its detailed architecture and colorful daily life.”
According to the Product Details,” Beer bottles revolve around beer vat” and “Beer kegs and ‘beer gnomes’ rotate on upper level of brewer.” It’s 10.63 x 12.01 x 7.24 inches and was released in 2010. It’s made of porcelain and is product type “Sights & Sounds.” Here’s a short video of it in motion.
But that’s not the only one it turns out. There have been at least a few other beer-themed buildings over the years. A quick search turned up these.
The Olde Firehouse Pizze & Brewery
The Bavarian Berwery
Curiously, the beers offered by this brewery include an IPA, Amber and a Stout, beers one typically would not find in a brewery in Bavaria.
Grinning Goblin Brewery
This one, obviously, is actually for a Halloween Village, which apparently is also a thing.
The Big Ben Pub
While not a brewery, it seemed close enough to include.
Helga’s Beer & Sausage Shop
Village Wine & Beer Garden
Stein Haus Pub
Delany & Sons Brewery
In addition to Lemax, another leader in the field of miniatures is Department 56. They have a few of their own.
Jackson Bros. Brewing Company
The Wolfsteiner Brewery
Part of Department 56’s Dickens Village collection.
The Budweiser Brew House
Speaking of Anheuser-Busch, the Bradford Exchange has an entire Budweiser Illuminated Holiday Village Collection
Budweiser Train Station
Budweiser Roundhouse Stable
Budweiser Clydesdales
The Entire Budweiser Village
It’s day thirty-eight of my holiday hotfoot to Christmas featuring all 42 labels from Anchor’s Christmas Ale — a.k.a. Our Special Ale — all different beers (well, mostly different) and all different labels, each one designed by local artist Jim Stitt, up to and including this year’s label.
2012 was the thirty-eighth year that Anchor made their Christmas Ale, and from 1987 through the present day, each year Anchor’s Our Special Ale has included spices, a different combination of them every time. Generally the base beer has been a spiced brown ale, although it has been varied from time to time, as well. This thirty-eighth label was was a “Norfolk Island Pine,” or “Araucaria heterophylla.”
Tuesday’s holiday ad is for Carling’s Red Cap Ale, from 1957. It’s a frenetic scene, as an unseen person’s hand opens — or snaps a cap open — of beer as he watches the army of cartoons he’s invited over to trim his cartoon Christmas tree. The dog’s loose and grandpa’s smoking his pipe by the tree. What could go wrong? Have a beer.
That was version of the ad in French, below is the same ad, though not nearly as good a scan, in English.
It’s day thirty-seven of my seasonal scurry to Christmas featuring all 42 labels from Anchor’s Christmas Ale — a.k.a. Our Special Ale — all different beers (well, mostly different) and all different labels, each one designed by local artist Jim Stitt, up to and including this year’s label.
2011 was the thirty-seventh year that Anchor made their Christmas Ale, and from 1987 through the present day, each year Anchor’s Our Special Ale has included spices, a different combination of them every time. Generally the base beer has been a spiced brown ale, although it has been varied from time to time, as well. This thirty-seventh label was was a “Great Basin Bristlecone Pine,” or “Pinus longaeva.”
Monday’s holiday ad is for Schaefer, from 1942. Mailman #1942 … wait, that’s the mailman for 1942, and he’s delivering “oldtime Holiday Cheer” in the form of a gift box of Schaefer beer. Forget Santa, now that’s what I want the mailman to bring.
It’s day thirty-six of my seasonal scoot to Christmas featuring all 42 labels from Anchor’s Christmas Ale — a.k.a. Our Special Ale — all different beers (well, mostly different) and all different labels, each one designed by local artist Jim Stitt, up to and including this year’s label.
2010 was the thirty-sixth year that Anchor made their Christmas Ale, and from 1987 through the present day, each year Anchor’s Our Special Ale has included spices, a different combination of them every time. Generally the base beer has been a spiced brown ale, although it has been varied from time to time, as well. This thirty-sixth label was was a “Maidenhair Tree,” or “Ginkgo biloba.”
Sunday’s holiday ad is for Schlitz, from 1948. This is a holiday-themed ad from a long-running series of ads Schlitz did that were all three-panel cartoons that all began with someone being “curious” about Schlitz beer, trying it in the second panel and then finally declaring it fit for human consumption … I mean great, usually saying now they understood what Schlitz was the beer that made Milwaukee famous, basically self-referencing their slogan. In this one, it’s a Christmas party, with a gift exchange, though it seems odd that they decorated the tree outside, but had none indoors.
It’s day thirty-five of my flash forward to Christmas featuring all 42 labels from Anchor’s Christmas Ale — a.k.a. Our Special Ale — all different beers (well, mostly different) and all different labels, each one designed by local artist Jim Stitt, up to and including this year’s label.
2009 was the thirty-fifth year that Anchor made their Christmas Ale, and from 1987 through the present day, each year Anchor’s Our Special Ale has included spices, a different combination of them every time. Generally the base beer has been a spiced brown ale, although it has been varied from time to time, as well. This thirty-fifth label was was a “Monterey Cypress,” or “Cupressus macrocarpa.”
Saturday’s holiday ad is for Altes beer, from the Tivoli Brewing Co. of Detroit, Michigan, from 1915. Featuring Santa Claus holding a case of beer, apparently saving your bottle caps could pay off. According to the carton, “Save the Altes caps and get an elegant 42 piece set of china free.” I wonder how many crowns it took to get your free set of china?
