Jay R. Brooks on Beer
Saturday’s ad is for the Frank Fehr Brewing Co., from 1950. The Louisville, Kentucky brewery is advertising their Fehr’s XL Beer as a pairing with ribs. The ribs are laid out on a red and white checkerboard tablecloth with bread and a bowl of sauce. I’m not sure about the horseshoe handles on the baskets, which make it look like a yee-haw sort of restaurant, but if the food is tasty, then why not.
Friday’s ad is for the Frank Fehr Brewing Co., from 1950. The Louisville, Kentucky brewery is advertising their Fehr’s XL Beer as a pairing with Boston baked beans and bacon. I think is well before the days when advertising agencies hired professional food stylists to make the food look perfect, and as appetizing as possible. And while they’re still using their tagline, “It’s Al-ways Fehr Weather,” I confess I don’t understand why there’s a hyphen in always.
Thursday’s ad is for the Frank Fehr Brewing Co., from 1951. The Louisville, Kentucky brewery is advertising their Fehr’s XL Beer as a pairing with fish. I do love how they’ve cut the lemons on the fish so they look like flowers, that’s a nice touch. I’m not sure about the sides, though, which seem to include lima beans and what I think are some sad-looking French fries. They’re getting a lot of mileage out of their tagline. “It’s Always Fehr Weather.”
Wednesday’s ad is for the Frank Fehr Brewing Co., from 1951. The Louisville, Kentucky brewery is advertising their Fehr’s XL Beer as a pairing with food, although that is one seriously scary looking dish. What the hell is that thing? Is it a slap of meat in Jell-O. I see a bone, I think? And what’s on top, it may be rice but could just as easily be something far worse. Sheesh!
Monday’s ad is another one for Frank Fehr Brewing Co.’s Bock Beer, probably from the 1890s. The brewery was located in Louisville, Kentucky, but started out as the Otto Brewery. Its name changed to Frank Fehr in 1890, and remained that name until it closed in 1964. In this one, Tevye the Goat fiddles on top of a barrel of bock beer. He may be a small goat, but he plays with heart.
My most recent “Beer in Ads” post was for a Bock by the Frank Fehr Brewing Co. of Louisville, Kentucky, which was in business from 1890 to 1964, and even earlier as the Otto Brewery. In researching the brewery, I found some amazing promotional photos for the Frank Fehr Brewing Co. at the University of Louisville Digital Collection. If a brewery tried this today, the prohibitionist groups would go seriously apoplectic. Fehr’s actually used a teddy bear, which they referred to as a “Beer Bear” or Fehr’s Bear” in their marketing.
This M.R. Kopmeyer Co. photo of Fehr’s bottle of beer is from July of 1959.
And here’s another one of a Teddy beer with Fehr’s beer bottles from August of 1959.
“Frank Fehr Brewing Co. Int photos of Jack Schnatter and Fehrs beer at Kroger store at Shelbyville Road Plaza,” taken August 28, 1959.
And here’s a close-up of Jack Schnatter and the teddy bear at the same visit to Krogers.
I can just imagine the hue and cry today if any beer brand tried using a teddy bear as a part of their marketing. You know they’d be accused of “targeting” children, a frequent charge leveled by modern prohibitionists and yet in what I imagine was a conservative southern town in the late fifties people seemed to take it all in stride. What does that say about the people running prohibitionist organizations in the 21st century that they can’t tell the difference between targeting and having fun, between knowing what appeals to all people and not just children.
I confess Fehr’s was not a beer brand I was familiar with. I suspect it was only available, even in its heyday, in and around the Louisville area. So there it’s probably well known. They certainly had some great slogans, the one I see the most is pretty awesome. It’s always Fehr weather.”
I guess we know from that how Frank Fehr’s name was pronounced. They used it it a variety of marketing materials, from coasters …
to crowns …
to trays.
Another play on the name was “Be ‘Fehr’ to Yourself” — Drink — Fehr’s Kentucky Beer.”
It’s certainly popular enough in the Louisville area that some people are trying to bring back the brand, and have a website and Facebook page up, though there was more movement and even some local news coverage two years ago.
Saturday’s ad is for Frank Fehr Brewing Co.’s Bock Beer, probably from the 1890s. The brewery was located in Louisville, Kentucky, but started out as the Otto Brewery. Its name changed to Frank Fehr in 1890, and remained that name until it closed in 1964. It’s a twofer, with not one, but two, goats standing over a barrel of their bock, with “Try Our” on the head and “Bock Beer” just below.
Tuesday’s ad is for Geo. Wiedemann Bock Beer, from around 1910, but definitely pre-prohibition. The Geo. Wiedemann Brewery was in Newport, Kentucky. But continuing Bock Week, it’s another beautiful illustration of a goat and his beer.
Thursday’s ad is for Falls City beer, a Louisville, Kentucky brand that was founded in 1905 that lasted until 1978. This is the second somewhat surreal ad for this brewery, the first was Falls City Gives You More. Like that first one, they seem to favor ads that rhyme, too. The ad copy is “Two Big Reasons Why Fall City is the Beer to Buy.” And the two reasons? They’re class, as well. “* Pasteurized * Bitter-free.” The big face in the foreground looks out of perspective somehow; it looks too big, too in your face.
Today in 1792, Kentucky became the 15th state.
Kentucky
Kentucky Breweries
Kentucky Brewery Guides
Guild: None Known
State Agency: Kentucky Office of Alcoholic Beverage Control
Package Mix:
Beer Taxes:
Economic Impact (2010):
Legal Restrictions:
Alcohol sale restriction and wet/dry (both by drink and package) allowed by both county and city local option. Approximately 53 counties in the state (mostly eastern and southern counties) are dry, all alcohol sale and possession prohibited; 16 “moist” counties (with “wet” cities allowing package liquor sales in counties otherwise dry); 21 counties that are otherwise dry but have communities with local option that allow sales of liquor by the drink or under special exemptions allowing sales at wineries. Majority of wet counties around major metropolitan areas in state (Louisville, Lexington, Covington, Owensboro, Paducah).
Data complied, in part, from the Beer Institute’s Brewer’s Almanac 2010, Beer Serves America, the Brewers Association, Wikipedia and my World Factbook. If you see I’m missing a brewery link, please be so kind as to drop me a note or simply comment on this post. Thanks.
For the remaining states, see Brewing Links: United States.