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Monday, October 09, 2006

Weinhard Commercial: Schludwiller

At long last, I have digitized copies of a bunch of archival Henry Weinhard material--including commercials, documentaries, and random errata. There's so much of it that I won't be able to post it all, but I'll give you a sample. This is one of the more famous ads from the 1970s, about the fictitious Schludwiller brewery from California.

It has extra resonance for Oregonians, because it was during a time when the state was particularly agressive toward California immigration. Oregon's most famous and beloved Governor, Tom McCall, exhorted non-Oregonians to visit but "please don't stay." Bumper stickers read "Don't Californicate Oregon." Webfeet have always distrusted Golden Staters, but this was the most fervent period.

Schludwiller never made it in. ("Earl, wanna try Idaho?")


14 comments:

  1. Ahh, Thank you Jeff. Keep 'em coming good buddy!

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  2. Jeff,

    Thank you for this post. I acquired a home a few years ago, and cleaning it out I found a unopened can of "Schludwiller" "A Beer, A Lifestyle, and now a T-shirt." I had NO clue what it was about. I watched the commercial and it all came back to me. I remember that commercial from YEARS ago (Oh damn, I am that old aren't I?). I have no idea what I am going to do with this thing, but I sure as heck wont open it now. :) It's probably too small to fit me anyway. :)

    Talos@bctonline.com

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  3. I don't know if you'll see this comment, but I was wondering if you had the other Schludwiller commercials available. I know there were at least 2 others. Can you post them, or possible offer for sale a DVD of the digitized stuff?
    Thanks!

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  4. Dude. Seriously. Where's the commercial about the California land developer caught bringing beer into Oregon???? That commercial was AWESOME!

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  5. There were a few Blitz "Well Now..." commercials. All starring actor "Trooper" Dick Curtis. (Mr. Curtis has also recently written a book titled, "The Way We Were".)#1: Trooper On The Boarder. #2 Trooper catches them going in "The Back Way" to Oregon. (Dick pulls up in a isuzu "Trooper"). and lastly #3: Schludwiller flys it in, "Trooper" Dick catches them in a 1928 "Curtis" Bi-Plane..on a side note, there WAS a 4th that was on the drawing board that was never shot..Vern and Early come in by SUBMARINE!!! Too bad it was never shot. The commercials spawned a record by Dick titled "Well Now..." and Dick was the MC at the Oregon State Fair for two years in a row. Dick is currently alive and "Well Now..." and living in Washington state. If you read these comments I would love copys of all three commercials for Dick, if you happen to have the time, I know he would enjoy them. -Ethan Tudor W.
    www.imdb.com KEYWORD SEARCH: Ethan Tudor W.

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  6. I was the copilot on the DC-3 that was flying in the beer. Art Scholl flew the bi-plane pulling up along side and then the "well now line. Never got to see the commercial because it was dif. size vhs tape that wouldn't play on home vhs. Five days filming in Hood River Oregon. Would love to see the video

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  7. Here are three commercials including the above mention DC 3 commercial

    http://vimeo.com/10573512
    http://vimeo.com/10573531
    http://vimeo.com/10640632

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  8. I have three of these vintage beer cans with t-shirts inside from this great ad campaign. I figured there might be some people interested in them. I was going to post them on e-bay but if I had people interested on here I could just sell them to you devoted beer fans.

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  9. Rachael, I would be interested in the Beer cans for Dick. He's my friend, contact me at ethantudorw@gmail.com also there is some GREAT Audio AND video of Dick AND The Dick Curtis SHOW if you search Panasker Dick Curtis at YouTube

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  10. I am looking for a henry's commercial that was filmed on my family's hop farm, and aired for some time on tv. It was filmed at Horseshoe Lake Hop Farm in St. Paul, Oregon, and featured my grandfather, Claude Smith, among others. Any chance you would have access or knowledge of that? Thanks!
    Julie

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  11. Do you remember a circa 1980 commercial for Henry Weinhards featuring 2 or 3 old geezers sitting on the front porch of an old general store. One was telling some tall tale about the origin of Henry Weinhards, and one or more of the other geezers were shaking their heads. It ran in Texas, but I don't know if it aired anywhere else. I've been looking for this for several years.

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  12. I liked that commercial too. I thought the old geezer may have been played by John Steadman and the town he mentioned was Saragossa or was it Saragoza -- Pecos?

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  13. genuiuses at Google? Is that like programmers?

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  14. Used to run Henry Weinhard's down around Zaragosa. Long horns they was. Or was they short horns...?

    @robert2924: did you ever get the "California developer" commercial? The best part of that is that the border guard is going to let the guy in with the beer in the trunk, saying, "It's just a misdemeanor. Enjoy your vacation." Guy says, "Oh I'm not on vacation. I'm here for work." Guard asks, guy responds that he's a developer. Guard says, "That, Sir, is a felony."

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