I'll admit right now that I know as much about patriotic ballads as I do beer, but I still couldn't resist the cute "Wee Folk" illustration gracing this can of Royal Hibernia (1979.) The blurb on the back fills in a few gaps, but hopefully it's the can design itself that truly captures the Irish spirit of whatever this is actually all about, ie: the dapper young male serenading two gorgeous, long-haired maidens while strumming on his cute lute, leprechauns, castle, green and gold clovers etc. It certainly makes for an interesting contrasting culture clash when compared to the more aggressive approach of major label American beer can design, what with all of the obvious manly overtones...
Now this is the type of beer can I wouldn't mind collecting.
ReplyDeleteGreat art in a most unexpected place, though many times great art is in hiding waiting for an art lover to find it.
I love the children's book pastel-ish color scheme of this! There's some real readability choices in this, like how the banner goes behind the elf but the words are in front, things people other than us wouldn't normally notice.
ReplyDeleteThat can does rock.
ReplyDeleteI can just imagine drinking out of something that looks like that in a gruff, working-class public house, circa nineteen seventy-nine, all oiled wood tables and a brass bar with dart boards and whatall. I mean, it isn't that it's such a pleasantly fay image or anything about manliness, it just sort of stands out strange. Everybody else guzzling bitters and lagers by the tankard, and here I'd be drinking out of what looks for all the world like a Hobbit's tobacco tin.
Also I would have been an nine year old (assuming this was bottled after Halloween). So maybe this woulda looked fitting after all.
Not that beer cans aren't very interesting nowadays. With the rise of trendy craft microbrews, modern beers come in plenty of wonderfully designed containers (Ralph Steadman illustrates the ones for Flying Dog Brewery in MD, just one example). It feels like whoever was canning Royal Hibernia was ahead of their time for sure.
Cone on AEET fans, make a post, maybe the wee folk will grant you good luck if you do.
ReplyDeleteI am a little curious what this stuff would taste like, but I'm not at all holding my breath either, as I'm usually never surprised by how disgusting every beer always tastes to me.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments, up next-- it's bath time!