Adelphi Genuine Lager Beer?????

[Jim K]

Last night on History HD, I was watching a show about FDR. In the last 15 minutes or so, they were talking about the US military's lack of being able to fight in WW2 around the late 30's due to the depression. To reinforce the point, they began to show various black and white footage of soldiers doing drills with wooden guns, firing bags of flour at makeshift wooden tanks, etc.

Last place I expect to see beer cans, right? Well, they show a few guys practicing loading and "firing" a large artillery gun, but they're not using real artillery: they're using beer cans. And the can is plainly "Adelphi Genuine Lager Beer" They even cut briefly to a close-up image of about a six pack of them stacked on the ground; plenty clear enough to see if the image were frozen. The can was a flat top, I didnt see it in the book, and nothing else in the footage would help date it. Foreign Can? Any ideas?

The show was called FDR: A presidency revealed pt 1

[CMD]

I think Chris Taylor took some still of that and it made the cover of Rustlings

out

Dan

[PinBeer]

Hemmings? Paying attention here?

I have photocopies of this screen capture that I got from Andy's Dad 20 years ago or so. I think it's a paper label that says "Adolph's" beer. We did some research back then on it, but I don't think it came up with anything solid. The other cans shown with them are Pabst. I haven't found those pics since moving a few times, but I'm pretty sure I still have them.

[hemmings]

HI Rod... and all... My dad grabbed an image of this can from WWII footage about 1990- maybe before then. At the Canvention in New Orleans in 1993 we had blown up pictures of it on our room door. We got nothin' it seems no one knew anything about it then and I'm not sure anything has turned up??? I wasn't quite sure what the name was exactly.. I always kinda wondered if it was related to the Hotel Adolphus in Dallas? I have old matchbooks from there that have a mildly similar font... But that's all I got.... If someone would just agree to go out and find enough that I can get one to show off I would be much obliged.... Andy

[PinBeer]

Bumping this back up, as I was able to find my photocopy of the screen capture that Andy's Dad made.

What do you think of it? I think it's odd that all the labels are pretty much facing the camera, while the Pabst cans are upside down and backwards. Best I could ever make out was "Adpolph's Special Lager Beer", but that's by squinting a bit...

[Mike S]

Just a theory here. anyone think its possible that those could have been paper labels made for a joke? does anyone think they would have made adolphs beer during that time frame? it looks like the labels dont go fully to the top and bottom but it could be just bands on the label too. Also the tops look funny, almost like food can tops but it could be just that the picture is blurred or something.
mike

[ANGRY GARY]

i cannot think of a better way to repel the Hun invasion than shelling them with really bland 3.2's. sort of reminds me of the chalk messages the airmen would write on ordinance.

AG

[hemmings]

Has anything changed about the Adelphi can's? Has anyone found anything about them in the last 10 years? Inquiring minds are a terrible thing to waste or something..

[CrustyRusty]

Has that spelling been verified?...just a thought, maybe Adolphus as in Adolphus Busch?, just throw'n it out there....

[hemmings]

I think that must be right... the cans in the pic Pinbeer got from my dad really looks like it ends in I not US..but?? Could it be Adolph' or Adolph's really hard to see below the dot in the i or ' if that what it is.....

Anyone have an idea what it says in the ribbon above Lager? let me go check on Ebay for one now.......hehe....

[Summitcan]

WW2 .
could they be gag paper labels made for target practice and stuff ??
perhaps adolf's spelled adolph's ??
mis-spelling his name would show a proper lack of respect .

[jinsequa]

I think it is pretty obvious it was not a production can but a joke can? Constantly, munitions were tagged with sayings directed at the Nazi’s. Certainly no beer named “Adolph’s” would be sold in this time period, when beer brands where trying to purposefully lose their German connection. The Alt Heidelberg Du Feine can (that I paid 4 figures for one a while back) is a prime example of the de-Germanization of American products at that time. They quickly lost the Du Feine when German connections became bad for business. Same thing happened prior to WWI when sauer kraut became liberty cabbage. Simply a hand drawn label pasted on a can.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Grommet]

Just a theory here. anyone think its possible that those could have been paper labels made for a joke? does anyone think they would have made adolphs beer during that time frame? it looks like the labels dont go fully to the top and bottom but it could be just bands on the label too. Also the tops look funny, almost like food can tops but it could be just that the picture is blurred or something.
mike

This was from a WWII documentary series called "Why We Fight", or something similar. I did a screen capture some years ago and the paper label "brand" is definitely spelled ADELPHI. There also are a few upside down Pabst(?) O/I cans in the stack. Date-wise, the similarity between Adelphi and Adolph was probably intentional. And yes, the cans were used to train new enlistees in artillery or mortar loading at the start of the War when there wasn't enough real stuff around yet to train with.

[hemmings]

Didn't intentionally set out to bring this up but was moving a stack of old beer magazines and books and found a folder of blown up pics of the stack of cans my dad made years ago. Re-read the two threads about this and thought of a couple of things worth mentioning-

Clearly the spelling is Adelphi which kind of rules out any jab at Adolph.

I do not think they are paper labels- 1 the application is too even at top and bottom and 2 they are not wrapped around Pabst cans so that means some other can would be involved and it just starts to get too far down the just so story line for me... Admittedly just my opinion. Seems the the bands at top and bottom are gold can anyone tell though?

the picture someone posted of the guy holding the sideways can really does not look like a paper label to me either

Below Adelphi in the ribbon it looks like it says St Louis - or St L at least in the 8x10s I have. Resolution not great just bigger images


Clearly a flat top can called Adelphi was made, whether hand made paper labels or actually from a brewery remains debatable but they DID exist and as far as we know no one has one today.

I'll try to come up with more minor details to flog this over until someone finds a dang can/s Andy

[Cap-Sealed]

They have really big pressure beads too... like soup can lids.