Beer Garden

Think of how exotic this must have looked to the "family" demographic back in 1959. You've got your (admittedly crappy) NORTHWEST U.S. beer and an image of fish in its natural (as opposed to canned or frozen plywood stick) form. Plus, nobody even mentioned Lent anywhere in the ad text. Pretty edgy. From the April 1959 issue of Family Circle.

You can tell it's not much of a game, because the ash tray hasn't been used. At least not yet... From the September 1st issue of Collier's magazine.

Let's hear it for Manifest Destiny! How else would we have gotten these lovely accent pieces for our living room? From the April 1st issue of Time magazine.

A really nice image, especially in an era where women's magazines were all about trapping every damn thing in Gelatine Hell. Maybe this ad was on loan from some more "manly" publication of the same year. From April's Family Circle magazine.

Pretty understated for a Christmas ad. The presents and ornaments are mostly tucked in the corners where they don't take over. I couldn't find much about the artist, Cassell. Too bad.

Back cover of a souvenir program: 6th Edition Skating Vanities of 1948 . Call me crazy, but they don't seem to have a very good view of the action.

Yes, the best time to watch the prize fights is when the men have all gone shopping. You can just relax and be yourself!

"Oh, Darling, with the children away at camp, I feel so... so..." "You mean...?" "Yes! We should purchase some... FOREIGN cheese to go with our beer!"

"The few important points to learn about building a Beer-B-Cue fire can be easily mastered. Follow the directions carefully and your fire building will be simple to do..." Or just do what everyone else did back then: Get plastered and impatient and dump a whole bottle of lighter fluid on the grill. Don't give your wife any beer. You'll need her to drive you to the hospital. From a 16 page booklet published by The Tested Recipe Institute, New York, NY and The F. & M. Schaefer Brewing Co., New York & Albany, N.Y.