Life, 1905-08-10 · page 26 of 26
Life — August 10, 1905 — page 26: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a Schlitz beer advertisement from Life magazine (dated August 10, 1905). It's not satire but a straightforward commercial pitch emphasizing the brewery's sanitation practices—a major selling point in the early 1900s when food and beverage safety were genuine public concerns and competitive advantages. The ad addresses consumer anxieties about brewery cleanliness by claiming their facility matches home kitchen standards. It highlights specific practices: cleaning all equipment after each use, washing bottles four times by machinery, and filtering the air itself. These details were meant to reassure buyers that Schlitz met modern hygiene standards, distinguishing it from competitors. The tagline "The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous" became iconic for the brand, positioning Milwaukee as America's beer capital.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Our brewery is as clean as your kitchen. We clean every tub, vat, tank or barrel—every pipe and pump—every time we use it. We wash every bottie four times, by machinery. The very air is filtered. [hat 1s one reason Ask for the By See that the cor for purity. The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous. comicbooks.com