This branch of the Austrian Hesch family is descended from Johann Hesch and his wife Marya (Schlinz) Hesch, who came to America from Oberschlagles, Bohemia with three sons: Paul, Mathias, and Anton. +++Johann & Marya settled in Buffalo County, Wisconsin but moved to Pierz, Mn in about 1885. .+++Mathias settled in Waumandee, Wisconsin and moved to Pierz in 1911. +++Anton never married but farmed with his dad in Agram Township, where he died in 1911.+++And Paul, my great grandfather, settled five miles away, in Buckman, Minnesota. He died there in 1900.

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Sunday, January 18, 2015

Beer, Thrift Stamps, and a 'New Joy'

 It's horrifying how companies over the years have used fear to sell their products.  The ruse still works, of course (think of how we suddenly believe every surface is covered with killer germs, or that water in plastic bottles is somehow superior to pure tap water).  It obviously worked too in 1914, when Schlitz ads warned that exposure to light made your beer taste "skunky".  No mention of how much light it took, either.  When I think of how dad bought beer, it was in a case of 24 and those bottles rarely saw daylight.  The case was in the basement, and a few bottles were brought up at a time and cooled in the fridge for when the uncles showed up to play cards.
OTOH, beer is still sold mostly in brown bottles these days, and it's almost never stored on glass shelves in the window, so it worked.


 Next, a novel ad, and from the government, too.  During the First World War, 'patriotic people' were asked to loan money to the government via War Savings Stamps.  A quarter at a time, when a loaf of bread was between 6 and 10 cents. It sounds simple to us now, but then it must have been a real sacrifice.  Still, everyone knew a man who was over there fighting--a much bigger sacrifice. I assume most everyone bought Thrift Stamps in 1918.


I like gum, and certainly Wrigley's Doublemint was around when I was a kid.  I just hadn't realized it was available in 1914, or that it was a "joy"...☺

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