Piel's Beer Bert & Harry Print Block

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Here is a piece my wife found while we were at a local antique flea market over the weekend. This is a lead over wood newspaper print block that was used to advertise Piel's Beer. I love the characters Bert and Harry as well as the phrase "Try Piel's. Don't Try it, insist on it!" they use on this piece.

This is the only print block for this brewery that I have ever seen or heard of, so I imagine it is pretty rare. Pus printer blocks were never meant to be distributed to the public, they were meant to be used then destroyed and recycled to make new print blocks.

Piel's Brewing Company at the time was located in Brooklyn, NY. Back in the early 1950's the Piel's Brewing Company hired Young & Rubicam ad agency to create a new advertising campaign that could be used in print, radio, and television. Young & Rubicam created the the characters Bert and Harry to promote Piel's beer.

Bert and Harry were fictitious animated owners and pitchmen for the brewery and the sale of beer. Their voices were provided by the comedians Bob and Ray. Harry (Bob Elliott) was tall and soft-spoken, always calming down the short loudmouth Bert (Ray Goulding) when something went wrong. The first Bert and Harry commercials aired December 1955 and ran until 1960.

The brewery put Bert and Harry on different media to advertise their beer such as TV, radio, commercials, newspapers, coasters, bar top chalkware, bar cloths, glasses, pins, and clocks.

Thanks for looking. :)