On these warm June nights with mosquitoes biting more than the fish…a fifty year old’s mind wanders to…."boy wouldn’t a beer taste good now!"  Living in Minnesota, we have been "blessed" with many great local beers.  But none of them had the pinnacle of success that was achieved by the Theodore Hamm Brewing Company of St. Paul, Minnesota.

Started in 1865, the beer achieved most of its successes in the 60′s with 5 plants across the United States and one of the top 10 beers in the nation with distribution only in 31 states.  In 1968 it was acquired by Heublein Brewing Company, which sold it to Olympia Brewing Company, who in 1980 merged with Pabst, which in 1984 was acquired by Stroh’s and bought by Miller in 1999. Many locals believe its downfall began due to its recipe being changed by various owners in order to cut costs.

Practically more famous than the beer was its marketing, which still ranks in history as one of the greatest campaigns by a beverage company.  Making its debut in the early 1950′s the clumsy animated bear was created by Patrick DesJarlait, an Ojibwa, for the Campbell Mithune advertising agency.  He went on to become a successful artist and his family still resides in Red Lake. Typically the bear would dance around in a pastoral setting of woods and lakes depicting Minnesota while the jingle "Land of Sky Blue Water" was sung in the background. It has become in history one of advertising’s most recognizable characters. In fact in 1965, the Audit Bureau Research (ARB) reported that the Hamm’s Bear ranked #1 Nationally for "best liked" advertisements nationwide….quite a feat remembering it was only distributed in 31 states!  For 30 years the bear (whose was actually named Sasha) appeared in television commercials everywhere, in particular for the Minnesota Twins, Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox.

The jingle that went with the commercials is just as memorable. The lyrics were written by Nelle Richard Eberhart and music by Charles Wakefield Cadman, were taken from a 1909 song entitled " From the Land of Sky Blue Water".  It originally was used on radio and later on TV.  The song actually has 5 verses:

From the Land of Sky Blue Waters,

From the land of pines, lofty balsams,

Comes the beer refreshing,

Hamm’s the beer refreshing.

Brewed where nature works her wonders,

Aged for many moons, gently mellowed,

Hamm’s the beer refreshing,

Hamm’s the beer refreshing.

From across the rippling water,

Through the whisp’ring pines and birches,

Comes the beer refreshing,

Hamm’s the beer refreshing.

Comes a call to cool enchantment,

Comes a call to cool refreshment,

Hamm’s the beer refreshing,

Hamm’s the beer refreshing.

Hints of lakes and sunset breezes,

Dance and sparkle in each glassful,

Hamm’s the beer refreshing,

Hamm’s the beer refreshing. 

The picture with this article is a sculpture in downtown St. Paul donated by the "Hamm’s Club" in celebration of the bear’s 50th anniversary. Unfortunately, you will never see the bear again, as the government has a ban on animated advertising of alcohol and tobacco (remember Joe Camel)  as it may influence children. Another aspect of their marketing was their "cool" motion bar lights…many with moving water and smoke rising from campfires.

 

Hamms Beer has a rich history but a shaky future. Miller now distributes Hamms in 24 states with its sales down nationally about 20%.  Miller sells about 30 to 40 different brands of beer and is not putting any dollars into marketing Hamm’s. They do report sales are up in 3 states, California, Wisconsin and Minnesota. It’s 30 pack for $10 to $15 has made it popular again with the college crowd (in fact my son brought a 30 pack with him from Michigan Tech a few months ago…telling  me it was the "rage" on campus there). So what says summer more than a beer…"from the land of sky blue waters…"

 

Attached here is a youtube video of a great old Hamm’s Beer commercial. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hc7HoWEk6y8