Tuesday 24 January 2012

William Younger adverts from the 1920's (part three)

More ads, you spoilt children. And here something vaguely intriguing happens. Probably not for everyone. But if you're still here after months and months of Scotland, it may tickle your curiosity.

The two previous sets of ads were from January to March 1923.  If you can think back that far, you'll recall Scotch Ale was being pushed as a warming winter bevvy. See how the ads had changed after the summer break:


"Good luck- Professor Coné, every day I get 'YOUNGER' and younger."

TO warm your blood and fortify your system on raw cold days, drink Wm. YOUNGER'S SCOTCH ALE. It produces a cheerful glow and a healthy stimulation which no other Malt Liquor surpasses. That is why it has so quickly become the favourite with all who enjoy a glass of GOOD Ale.

William Younger's
Scotch Ale
Brewed in Edinburgh
The beer with a bite in it.
Nottingham Evening Post - Thursday 13 December 1923

See the transformation? Gone are those smiling landlords in tights and foaming tankards. And there's Father William, rather natty in his tartan kecks and waistcoat. They're still making dubious claims about its stimulating and warming properties, but now it's in a modern setting.

Anyone know who the hell Professor Coné was? For once, Google was no help.


"Youth will be served you know. Father William"
"Yes. and if youth's wise It insists on being served with 'YOUNGER'S'"

There's a grand satisfaction in a glass of Wm. YOUNGER'S SCOTCH ALE.  It appeals to the palate as no other malt liquor does. Sparkling, sound and stimulating, it upholds the reputation of centuries enjoyed by Edinburgh Ales.

William Younger's
Scotch Ale
Brewed in Edinburgh
The beer with a bite in it.
Nottingham Evening Post - Thursday 27 December 1923
In addition to suspect health claims, they're now also encouraging the young to drink. That's another no-no according those stuffy modern rules. As jokes go, the opening conversation is even worse than my efforts. They don't get any better. A series of obvious puns on the name Younger, mostly.

I can't say that the bloke with the fag in his gob strikes me as looking particularly youthful. Then again, footballers of the day all looked about 50.



"You are old, father William." the youth did say—
"All nonsense, my lad I get 'YOUNGER' each day!"

For hundreds of years - since the monks of Holyrood first brewed - Edinburgh has been famous for her Ales and THE Edinburgh Ale of  to-day is that wonderful Malt Liquor Wm. YOUNGER'S SCOTCH ALE. Pure Hops and Malt - brewed with the famous Edinburgh Water.

William Younger's
Scotch Ale
Brewed in Edinburgh
The beer with a bite in it.
Nottingham Evening Post - Thursday 24 January 1924

This and the previous advert emphasise the good reputation that Edinburgh had long had for the quality of its Ales. Though I suppose the "brewed in Edinburgh" tagline had already been doing that. And where is Younger's brewed now? Bedford. I doubt they'd give that much prominence in an advert.

There's that pure malt and hops claim again. Lies. Worse, damn lies. How could they get away with that? 40% maize grits, that's what Younger's beers were really brewed from in the 1920's.

The bloke in the weird clothes with the pitchfork has me puzzled. Who the hell is he supposed to represent? He reminds me of Jack from a panto of Jack and the Beanstalk.Either that or an armed morris dancer.

There's quite a bit more of this. Younger's advertised regularly and rarely repeated ads. Enough to keep me going for weeks yet.

8 comments:

Sud Savant said...

Neat stuff! Thanks for finding and sharing.

The Beer Nut said...

I'm sure the malt was perfectly pure. Hardly any weevils or anything in it.

This is basically the "made with..." approach to ingredients so beloved of dodgy breweries.

The boy is after Tenniel's illustration of the poem in Alice in Wonderland.

Rod said...

"An armed Morris dancer"!
Ron, you're funniest when you aren't really trying!

Ron Pattinson said...

Beer Nut, I'm glad there's someone cultured who reads this blog. Thanks for spotting that.

Gary Gillman said...

I suspect the beer is the "ointment" in the poem, part of the extended joke of the allusion.

More background:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Are_Old,_Father_William

In one sense, advertising HAS changed, since it is hard to think sophisticated literary references of this kind are used in modern ad copy.

Gary

Martyn Cornell said...

It was "Professor Coué" - Émile Coué, a French psychiatrist whose methods involved "autosuggestion", including getting his patients to repeat constantly: "Every day, in every way, I'm getting better and better."

I'm surprised they were able to get away with nicking the Tenniel character - the cartoonist only died in 1914.

Ron Pattinson said...

Martyn, thanks for identifying Coué. I'd mistakenly read his name as Coné.

I thought exactly the same thing about that cartoon: surely it wasn't out of copyright.

I've loads more different adverts in this series. Many, I think, depicting specific characters.

The Beer Nut said...

It's not a copy of Tenniel's drawing, though, it's an original work based on it. Fair game, I think.

Well spotted, Martyn. Any ideas for the other one? He looks like Edward Carson except he's smiling. And is he wearing sports gear? Serve = tennis pun?

Looking forward to more of these.