Seagram's Extra Dry Gin Ads May 22, 2020

What's up peeps!!! Hope everyone is doing well today. Just wanted to go back to the Vincent Price and Angostura Bitters May 20, 2020 post. In said post, two of the ads highlighted the Gin 'n Bitters aka The Pink Gin. One of the ads showed a bottle of Seagram's Extra Dry Gin. I had stated that I would post a few ads that Seagram's had for this particular gin. So, here we go back down the internet rabbit hole.

For these ads, I chose ads from the 1960's when the Seagram's Extra Dry Gin hit the market to roughly the 1980's. Seagram's chose to present their gin as the gin that sophisticated, well to-do people drank:

By the 1970's, Seagram's would run ads for specific cocktails that could be made with their "Perfect Martini" gin:

The French Martini (with a couple drops of brandy replacing the vermouth):

Bloody Marys:

And the interesting Italian Martini (with anisette instead of vermouth) and the Red Baron (gin, orange juice, lime and grenadine):

And let's not forget the classic Gin and Tonic, the Gin and Bitter Lemon, the Gin Rickey and the Lemon dipped in Vermouth Gin Cocktail:

 
Never let it be said that Seagram's was only targeting one audience:

Seagram's Extra Dry Gin could be enjoyed no matter the weather or time of year:

These 1980's ads might be the most visually appealing to me:

 

There are many other Seagram's Extra Dry Gin ads online. Check them out for a blast to the past in terms of liquor advertising. Any particular liquor brands you want me to profile here on my page? Drop me a line in the comment box and let me know what you want to see next. 

Until Then May You Have Some Happy, Safe and Responsible Drinking,

SiscoVanilla

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Vincent Price and Angostura Bitters May 20, 2020

Hey peeps!!! How's everyone doing these days. If you gals and guys are anything like me, you are tired of being cooped up at home and even more tired of the news concerning COVID-19. All the misdirection, gossip and politics concerning the pandemic sure has me wanting to put my head though the wall. But that hurts too much. Instead I decide to go down the internet rabbit hole, specifically the New York TimesMachine. And here I came across a doozy (at least to me.) Check out this ad from the January 29, 1972 edition of the New York Times:

Vincent Price, the master of the macabre and Angostura Bitters. Talk about a union in culinary and cocktail heaven (or hell if you want to go the horror route.) With this as a jumping point, down the hole I go to see what else I can find.

Vincent Price was quite the party-smarty (the term foodie yet to become common place.) So much so that he had a couple of cookbooks published including a cookbook with his wife Mary. Here are two examples:

There was an ad campaign that had Price and Angostura Bitters offering a free cookbook via mail. The ads had Price highlighting a recipe along with a cocktail to enjoy with the meal. I was only able to find four of those ads. Two of them advertised the Gin and Bitters aka Pink Gin:

" To be blunt, most parties go wrong in the dreary sameness of the drinks," says party-smarty Vincent Price. "So, next time switch to tots of frosty gin 'n bitters (or, as the English say, Pink Gin). A generous dash of Angostura aromatic bitters and 1 1/2ounces of a fine dry gin over ice - that's all.

The ad shows a bottle of Seagram's Extra Dry Gin in between the cocktail and the bitters.

Seagram's entered the gin market with their Seagram's Gin known as the "Ancient Bottle" in 1939. As the company grew, they branch out with their Extra Dry Gin which hit the market during the early 1960s. I haven't had the Seagram's Extra Dry Gin before. Here is how Seagram's describes it on their website:

If you don’t have a go-to gin, now you do. Smooth and mellow since 1939, Seagram’s Extra Dry Gin is fit for all of your everyday occasions.  The award-winning recipe is versatile enough for your favorite mixers yet complex enough for the gin connoisseur.

Seagram's had a heavy advertising campaign for their Seagram's Extra Dry Gin that I will look at in a later post. The Price/Angostura ads also focused on two classic cocktails, one of which Price highlights a variation of in the second ad:

The first ad has a recipe for a Manhattan:

Over ice, stir 2/3 any good whiskey, 1/3 sweet vermouth, two dashes of Angostura.

And as you can see in the picture, it was strained out into a coupe glass. Nicely done.

The second ad has the riff of an Old Fashioned called a New Fashioned:

A lump of sugar dissolved with 3 dashes Angostura and a splash of club soda, plus two rocks, a twist, a cherry and 1 1/2 ounces light Canadian whiskey. That's what makes it a New Fashioned. 

Thankfully the recipe doesn't call for muddling of the cherry. If you like that sort of cocktail, then rock on. But I like for my Old Fashioned cocktails to look nice and clear with the oils of the twist on the surface and a nice brandied cherry, if requested. Though back when I drank cocktails (over one year and counting,) I did prefer orange bitters in both my Manhattans and Old Fashioneds. But to each his own.

The last cocktail from the Vincent Price/Angostura ads that I came across was for Beef Wellington paired with a Bloody Mary.

Those of you who love an extravagant Bloody Mary with all the garnishes will not like this recipe which simply calls for 3oz icy tomato juice, plus 1 jigger of vodka, 2 dashes of Angostura. Bloodies sure have changed since then.

Anyone have the mail in recipe book? Drop me a line in the comment box if you do. With that I will leave you with the following inspirational quote that is attributed to Vincent Price:

Keep an eye out for the next post. Be safe and healthy out there. See you soon.

Until Then May You Have Some Happy, Safe and Responsible Drinking,
SiscoVanilla

#SiscoVanilla
#SiscoVanillaHasABrewski
#SiscoVanillaBeerChronicles
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