This post represents a confluence of two compelling forces: some cool radio clips that John Tefteller played at Marxfest last month, and the advent of the new Advertising and Brands section of Travalanche.
2024 happens to mark the 180th year of the beer company we now call Pabst. The centennial of that founding was celebrated 80 years ago on a radio sponsored by the beer: Pabst Blue Ribbon Town.
Founded in Milwaukee by German immigrant Jacob Best in 1844, the concern was initially called Best Select. Captain Frederick Pabst married Best's daughter Maria in 1862, although his name wouldn't replace Best's in the product name until 1889. In 1893, Pabst Beer took a prize at the World's Columbian Exposition (i.e. Chicago World's Fair) and this is where the titular "Blue Ribbon" comes into it.
Many Marx Brothers fans know about the team's radio show Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel (1932-33), and Groucho's later hit game show You Bet Your Life (1947-60), but fewer I'm sure know about the radio program he hosted from 1943 to 1944, Pabst Blue Ribbon Town. Regulars on the comedy/variety show included Virginia O'Brien, Fay McKenzie, Leo Gorcey, and Kenny Baker. Baker of course had appeared with the Marx Brothers in At the Circus (1939) and O'Brien was in The Big Store (1941). McKenzie later toured with Groucho's pal Harry Ruby. As for Gorcey, Groucho walked away with his 21 year old wife! Leo and Kay Gorcey divorced in 1944, the second and last year of Blue Ribbon Town. Groucho and Kay married the following year. Their daughter Melinda was born in 1946.
Groucho left Blue Ribbon Town in June, 1944. He seems to have been fired, possibly for insulting the CEO Edward Pabst. Stefan Kanfer reports three versions in his Groucho biography. In one story, Groucho accidentally (or intentionally) bought Pabst large amounts of Miller High Life to drink at the bar. In another, Groucho was annoyed by one of the Pabst children while hanging out the family manse and told him to "Fuck off". In yet a third yarn, he made another ill-advised crack at the expense of the kid, a remark invoking masturbation. Knowing what we know of the comedian, all three things might have happened, or none of them. Pabst cited low ratings for getting rid of Groucho. Kenny Baker took over the hosting core for the final two months of its single season. Several episodes of the show are available to listen to on Youtube. I enjoyed what I heard at Marxfest!
Epilogue: Sales of Pabst Blue Ribbon peaked in the late '70s and early '80s. It was my dad's brand of choice at around the same time, and I'm going to speculate that the beer's popularity with my blue collar dad, and with the greater beer-buying public, had to do with economy. Obviously Budweiser was the industry leader at the time, but Pabst was not far behind it, and probably cost a little less. By the late '80 and '90s, however, a creeping beer snobbery began to take hold among consumers and sales of Pabst fell of substantially. To the point that in 1997, the brewery was permanently closed. The brand however survived. The company simply farmed out the production end, and focused on marketing and sales. Early the 21st century, the company somehow succeeded in rehabilitating the brand, as a new generation of smartass hipsters began to drink the brand (now nicknamed PBR) "ironically", through some kind of combination of retro chic and camp, turning former negatives into positives. A convenient joke, I must say, when buying the cheap brand makes you cool. More like that, please, American Culture!
For more on the Marx Brothers, please check out my new book The Marx Brothers Miscellany: A Subjective Appreciation of the World's Greatest Comedy Team (2024).
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