Well, here's an ad for a beer I'd never heard of before: Cincinnati Cream, or "Cinci" Cream for short. At first glance, I thought it was brewed downstate and was a regional favorite. But it turns out that it was produced in Canada.
There's not a lot of information online about Cinci Cream Lager Beer. The label on the bottle below (courtesy of untappd.com) says, "Since 1882."
I'm not sure if the beer's tagline – Who Wants The Handsome Waiter – is supposed to be funny or not. But the waiter is surely distinctive and adds a lot of personality to the proceedings.
Here's a vintage label courtesy of the Tavern Trove website, which reveals that Cinci Cream was brewed by the Carling Breweries Ltd.
You might have noticed in the Lorain Journal ad that the beer was distributed locally by the well-known Goodman Beverage. Well in 2008, Goodman Beverage was purchased by the Dayton Heidelberg Distributing Family of Companies, and moved shortly afterwards out to the former Ford Motor Company plant on Baumhart Road, which is being redeveloped by IRG Lorain LLC.
Here's a recent photo of the firm's facility at the old Ford plant. It looks pretty nice!
I remember seeing "Cinci" in the stores; I thought it was from Bengalsville, too.
ReplyDeleteI figured the "Who Wants The Handsome Waiter" to be a rhetorical question.
ReplyDeleteI did a search in NewspaperArchive and found the phrase as early as 1891 being used by those selling beverages at baseball games.
First time:
New York World April 23, 1891, pg 2, c 4, in a description of Boston (4) v. New York (3) at the Polo Grounds on April 22, 1891:
"A young man from 'Dasher' Troy's Cafe, bearing a tray packed with glasses of beer (mostly foam) appeared. 'Here y'are, who wants the handsome waiter?' he shouted."
It seemed to spread to there.
One of the last times: Washington Evening Star, August 01, 1932, pg A8, c 1, in a little space-taking "clip:"
"As far as the bellow for beer is concerned, both parties show alacrity in responding in ancient phrase "Who wants the handsome waiter!"
Interesting. I'll have to use it in a story, someday.
I don't remember Cinci at all. Nor have I heard "Who wants the handsome waiter?" although I imagine it was a good way for a beer vendor to get attention at the ol' ball game.
ReplyDeleteThanks to Dan and Don for these lessons in beer and catchphrases, two long-standing interests of mine.
...Now that's a name I've not heard in a long, long time.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Don, for researching that – it makes sense now. The "If You Grew Up in Windsor, Ontario..." Facebook page has some information about the likeness of the waiter.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.facebook.com/groups/rememberwindsor/posts/4576806775746591/?paipv=0&eav=AfZCgOKdKEm3I85U3USQvXMqxMUC8B4_zNPszNEziOTyMSPEe43TWPkFWQzlpL3LQd4&_rdr