Sunday 20 April 2014

A change in the habits of the people

In old newspapers you sometimes find items which are clearly adverts, but not marked as such. Come to think of it, that's not so different from newspapers today.

If I'm honest, I'm not quite sure what is being advertised. What is a Golden Ale Tablet? Some form of handheld computer?

"The problem to provide a wholesome, stimulating, and satisfying drink that will not intoxicate has at last been solved. This long-felt want has been met by Messrs. Brodrick's, of Dudley, whose Gold Medal Patent Golden Ale and Nourishing Stout Tablets recall the days when our forefathers brewed their own ale. These delightful home-brewed beers are indistinguishable from the best bottled beers, and are perfectly pure and wholesome; being made from the finest malt and hops, which, by Brodrick's patent processes, are rendered non-intoxicating, while preserving all the essential virtues, thus making an ideal beverage for meals. The reference made by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his notable Budget Speech to the "remarkable decline that has taken place in recent years in the consumption of alcohol" shews the increasing need for such non-alcoholic beers as those produced Messrs. Brodrick's Patents. We are, indeed, as Mr. Austen Chamberlain went on say, "witnessing a change the habits the people." This is only natural and wise when the means satisifying the taste and palate are available at practically one-fourth the usual cost; while the same time the genuine beverage we have long been accustomed to is obtainable in this more desirable form. In addition to the Golden Ale and Nourishing Stout, Messrs. Brodrick manufacture Tablets of Concentrated Wine, and their Compressed Hop Tablets are invaluable in the house for making poultices, compressions, infusions, etc. Samples are obtainable from most grocers and chemists, redirect from Messrs. Brodrick's Patents, Dudley."
Lichfield Mercury - Friday 30 June 1905, page 3.
Just another weird, random old reference to Golden Ale.

4 comments:

BryanB said...

Could it be dried non-alcoholic beer?

Ron Pattinson said...

Bryan,

that would be my guess, but it really isn't clear from the text.

Anonymous said...

My first thought was dried unfermented wort, similar to the hopped malt extracts used in homebrewing today.

Norrin2 said...

Sounds horrible. Who knew that a "wholesome, stimulating, and satisfying drink that will not intoxicate" was a long- felt want? Not at my house.