Signs of Beer 7: Hamm's Beer bear

In the first installment of this series we met up with a Hamm's Beer sign. There is still more Hamm's stuff to encounter. That is what we have here today, the lovable Hamm's Beer bear.
The bear has appeared in numerous advertisements for the beer since 1952 when Patrick DesJarlait created the bruin for a commercial. The bear's name is Sascha which was the name of a wife of one of generations of Hamm's which ran the brewery on the east side of St. Paul.
As Hamm's ownership changed hands over the past 2 decades the bear faded from its association with the beer. Still, Sascha is quite popular. Popular enough to have a monument in downtown St. Paul. The St. Paul Pioneer Press also named the bear as one of the 150 most influential Minnesotans of the past 150 years in 2008. The Twins's mascot, T.C. Bear, could be a relative of Sascha.

 I suspect this article may have been part of a liquor store display rather than a monument that another blog may suggest that it is. (Well not really but in a way.)
As associated with the bear is the every famous jingle in these parts - "From the land of sky blue waters.....Hamm's the beer refreshing, Hamm's the beer refreshing."
Here's a typical commercial with the bear and a bearded man in the woods drinking beer in a mug.