Labatt's corporate drinking songs of the Great Depression

Here's a fun bit of history for beer, music and communications industry fans.

I found this artifact at an antiques sale in Kingston, Ontario. I estimate its vintage as 1930s, based on the label on the IPA bottle on the front cover, as well as by the design. 

Note that many of the popular folk and drinking songs have had their lyrics modified to make in-jokes about beer, brewing, and the Labatt family. Also, cringe at the casual racism ("darkies") of the time.

An interesting peek into early 20th century morale-building HR campaigns from one of Canada's major beer brands.

More on Labatt's history here.

Cross-posted on Retronaut.

Great Moments in Hoservertising

Canada Day is almost upon us, the 24-hour period in which Canadians release a year's worth of repressed patriotism in one massive, drunken EH?-gasm.

In honour of the event, I'd like to take a look back at my formative years in Canadian advertising, to the days when all Canadian men were blue-collar, hirsute and named "Gordie". Let's start with a jingle that Labatt would do well to resurrect for a classic brand:



Molson on the other hand, celebrated the great Canadian wisdom that the best-tasting beer is a free one:



Watch how many stubbies you have, though, or you could end up like this dude:



Or even worse, if you juice on the job:



Speaking of Hosers, here's a 1986 Harvey's commercial with Dave Thomas doing one of his other SCTV roles:



This blog wouldn't be complete without a Timmy's link, even though their '80s ads sucked Boston Creme:



And Canadian Tire, back when they were still a hardware and automotive store:



Another great Canadian brand, this one courtesy of our tax dollars:



Speaking of which, I ought to end on Canada's greatest achievement in the realm of PSA:







And, of course, this awesome modern parody:



Have an awesome, proud, and safe Canada Day!