Friday, December 21, 2012

Illustrations from past decades / part 9 / Beer belongs / one


From the mid-forties the United States Brewers Foundation ran a series of ads in the weekly and monthly consumer magazines to promote beer drinking at home.  The ads were called Home life in America and each featured an illustration of white middle-class folks having a good time…thanks to the beverage of moderation. 
     The leading commercial artists of the times were used including Douglas Crockwell (he did seventy paintings) Stevan Dohanos, Haddon Sundblom, Mead Schaeffer, John Gannam, Fred Siebel, Pruett Carter, Ray Prohaska, Austin Briggs and Glenn Crober. 
    There were 119 numbered ads though this is slightly misleading because there were two numbered 2 and Douglas Crockwell’s Thanksgiving (left) was used three times and Haddon Sundblom had a painting used twice. 
    Each ad also featured a small illustration of some food and a glass or two - I’ve used some of these as a frieze across the top, as the look of the ads were very similar I’m only showing the art.  Here are the first twenty plus a surprise at the end.  Check out the Index for the rest of the series.



















The next twenty paintings from this ad campaign are in the February 2013 Archive
A cool bit of satire by Bill Elder from Mad Magazine, April 1956

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