Every time I dip into the Outdoor Life magazine archives to dig up an old adventure story or Jack O’Connor column, I can’t help getting sidetracked by the art. That includes everything from our illustrated covers to iconic gun advertisements. Print magazines were one of the key ways manufacturers reached their customers in 20th-century America, and our past issues were crammed with all kinds of strange and wonderful marketing ploys.
This time, I couldn’t resist airing out some of our old alcohol ads. I pulled these pages from a range of decades, starting in the late 1940s (when color images in the magazine became more common). Though the following selection does not reflect an exhaustive search of the archives, I didn’t run across any ads for wine or spirits besides whiskey.
You’ll notice that roughly half of this collection is ads for Miller High Life. That’s because Miller’s full-page color advertisements for “the Champagne of Bottle Beer” were frequent and specific to OL readers. Unlike other generic alcohol ads that could have appeared in the pages of any men’s interest publication, all of Miller’s ads and those from the following brands feature hunting, fishing, or related outdoor content. Enjoy.
This particular Miller High Life ad appeared in the September 1946 issue. Outdoor Life ArchiveOld Thompson is now owned by Sazerac, but when this full-page ad — featuring a black Lab and a greenhead — ran in the November 1946 issue of Outdoor Life, it was still owned by the Glenmore Distillery Company, which was owned by the Thompson family for most of the 20th century. The poem on duck hunting appears to have been specifically written for this ad campaign. Outdoor Life ArchiveThis November 1948 advertisement for Hunter whiskey mostly just capitalizes on its name and the season. The strutter in the ad is a nod to Thanksgiving rather than turkey season, and the red-jacketed rider recalls European fox hunts instead of American hunters, but the name held its own appeal for OL readers. Hunter ran ads in Outdoor Life throughout the decades. Outdoor Life ArchiveMiller really stepped up its Outdoor Life advertising game in the 1950s, a decade that saw a High Life ad in most every issue. This March 1951 advertisement capitalized on a simple association with fishing. Outdoor Life ArchiveThis August 1951 campaign leveraged outdoor legend Zane Grey to market Pleasant Moments whiskey, which was popular from the 1940s to the 1960s but is no longer produced. (You can still find the occasional bottle, which sells for upwards of $430 given its scarcity.) Zane Grey wrote a handful of stories for Outdoor Life, including a piece in the November 1930 issue (“Giant of the South Seas”) that tells the full tale of the catch for the Tahitian marlin referenced in this ad. Outdoor Life ArchiveThis iconic High Life ad ran in the September 1951 issue of OL. This ad must be going for broad appeal, since it’s quite the mixed bag. Hanging on the cabin wall are a single ruffed grouse, quail, woodcock, pheasant, cottontail, and drake pintail, and the cabin’s owner and his setter can be seen beyond walking a fence row beyond the window. Outdoor Life ArchiveWhile Miller High Life has become ubiquitous outside its hometown of Milwaukee, Blatz beer remains relatively regional to this day. It’s now owned by Pabst and only found in certain Midwestern states. Perhaps that’s because the brand didn’t corner the sportsmen’s market as effectively as competitors; this ad depicts a boat ride on Lake Arrowhead — without fishing rods. Compare it to the Miller ad below. Outdoor Life ArchiveThis May 1952 ad for Miller continued to pursue OL’s target audience with references to muskie, bass, and a beer break while fishing a worm under a bobber. Outdoor Life ArchiveThis Miller ad from the September 1952 issue depicts an ecstatic duck hunter back from the marsh, with his waders and feet drying in front of the fire and a cold High Life in hand. In an era when most hunting dogs lived outside, it’s nice to see this (admittedly fictional) retriever getting to warm up, too. Outdoor Life ArchiveThis February 1954 ad may have gotten slightly less billing since it only spanned two-thirds of a page, but it gets the nod for the cool bass art. While Old Cabin Still was originally bottled by Pappy Van Winkle himself and remains in production today, it’s less premium than it used to be and runs about $15 bottle. Outdoor Life ArchiveSchlitz beer had a good run, with parent company Pabst putting it on “hiatus” just this spring. When this April 1954 ad appeared in Outdoor Life, it was still owned by Jos. Schlitz Brewing Co. in — you guessed it — Milwaukee. Outdoor Life ArchiveHere’s one key explanation for the run of killer Miller High Life ads in the 1950s: the celebration of its 100-year anniversary. Miller Brewing Company was founded in 1855, and this ad ran in the October 1955 issue of Outdoor Life. Outdoor Life ArchiveThis two-page Hamm’s beer ad ran in the September 1970 issue. Hamm’s marketing team leaned into its frontiersman’s history (back when the Minnesota North Woods were the frontier) and Outdoor Life‘s own heritage. Hamm’s is still brewed today, though production has moved from Minnesota to Wisconsin. Outdoor Life ArchiveU.S. production of Olympia beer has been paused, but you can still find this classic in Western Canada. This black-and-white ad appealing to West Coast waterfowlers ran in the October 1971 issue of OL. Outdoor Life ArchiveThis ad for Kessler blended whiskey appeared in the February 1972 issue of OL. Kessler remains in production and, given its price tag, highly popular in the U.S. Outdoor Life ArchiveThis November 1978 ad for Lord Calvert Canadian whisky was one of a series featuring different waterfowl species, the molds of which were hand carved in a riff on wooden duck-decoys. That $35 price tag in 1978 would cost the equivalent of $174 today. (By the same token, a plain old handle of Lord Calvert costs about $23 today.) Outdoor Life ArchiveLast but not least, this Wild Turkey ad ran in the October 1983 issue. This bourbon is still going strong at turkey and deer camps across America. Outdoor Life Archive
Read Next: 27 Vintage Gun Ads That Introduced Some of America’s Most Iconic Firearms
