The Royce Files

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 ...

It's been a while. I've had a short vacation and pretty much neglected the blog for over a week. I didn't even use the Internets over the vacation at all. Too busy golfing or watching Dragnet . Time to take a look at some more ugly online adverts that have been popping up on your screens- or spewing forth like a dreaded slimy goo. Our first today is trying to get people to go back to school. This time it does not invoke the Presidential influence. In fact I am not sure whether this could be a mixed up ad for Classmates.com. The image they use is rather dated. I'd say its late-70s to mid-80s based on the hair and the possiblity that she is wearing a corduory jumpsuit. Actually the image is a little ambiguious since I am not sure those are straps on the shoulder or suspenders. Indeed if it is suspenders then we've got a great mullet going here. Does this make you want to go back to school? It certainly reminds me of school. So it must be targeting my peer group. T...

With the FIFA World Cup over we can all now go back to work. And I can bemoan fairly poor finale that pitted Spain against Netherlands. Although superb at times during the tournament, the Dutch decided to hack it out with Spain which culminated with 12 yellow cards, a sending off, and a Spanish victory. It appeared that Mr. Glasses may have scored for the Spanish. I never knew he played, but he cropped up and scored the winning goal. Not one to play favorites, he also played for the Dutch as well that evening. The evidence is below. Thank you Mister Glasses. I never knew what you could do. You may ask, just who is this Mister Glasses fellow? Good question. First he is an architect. But I'll let his video explain it. The 3rd place match between Germany and Uruguay was highly entertaining. In retrospect neither of these teams had the pressure and so played a freer game with plenty of goals. Though Germany were the victors, Uruguay's Diego Forlan nearly brought his team back...

2/3rds of the rocking trio Children 18:3 like to chill out of the limelight. I happened to be in the same place as them last month, just days before their new album dropped (and was mentioned on the Relevant Podcast ). They were rather quiet and hardly mentioned anything about their band. In fact, their mother told me more about the band than either Seth or David Jr. David marvels at the wisdom of a friend Seth may believe coffee in casual doses is good for drummers I've know these guys since they wore corduroys. We cross paths from time to time since I pass through Morris on occasion. Looks like they'll be playin Six Flags New England this fall. Incredible! I just hope they get to play on the Relevant Podcast.

The next few weeks you'll hear about my incredible journey that took me just over 400 miles on a bicycle in 5 day in North Eastern North Dakota. To the left you can see how the trip ended for me. But I am not giving anything away.

Another post about the Back to the 50s car show. This post's theme is nameplates and I've got a dandy amount of classy ones here to display. The Plymouth Belvedere with some spots of rust. A lot of nameplates used a cursive script. Ford Galaxie 5 00 adds a regal touch with a crown emblem. A Chrysler Imperial with a bird emblem harkening to either the Great Seal of the United States or the flag of Mexico or perhaps even German symbolism of the past. Imperial is also the chief beer in Costa Rica . And I conclude with the fabluous Ford Thunderbird with its cool font. I like the reflection of the Tiny Tim donut stand in the paint.

Battles were fought on July 4th somewhere and at sometime - but not the battle for independence in the United States. This holiday was mostly bloodless although years of bloodshed and battle preceded and followed to ensure that independence. The day which the Yanks celebrate commerates the signing and adoption of a statement- The Declaration of Independence . A signing may have happened that day but it seems the historical record also gives some credance that some signatures were added a month later. Nevertheless, this document caused quite a stir. So the Americans whoop it up, blow up, and grill things. Want to imagine you were there at the signing of the Declaration- then this MP3 is for you: You Were There- Declaration of Independence This is great CBS radio program from the 1950s. Educational and entertaining.

Another find at the swap meet- this box of cans. Lot's of beers represented here. I can't make them all out but there is a few we know: Hamm's, Michelob, Bud Light. Then there is also Steel City Beer with the entire Pittburgh Steelers on the can. A beautiful Bosch can. An unusual label-  Andy's 56 Crossroads Beer . And the funny named Tuborg Gold. I think there also is a Molson Canadian can just to the right of the Steel City. But to sully it all- a Coke can. Andy's was a private label for a local liquor store in Rochester, Minnesota. It was brewed by August Schell Brewery in New Ulm, MN in the 1970s. I remember vaguely these types of steel cans which required a can opener to drink it. Can openers were for more than opening soup and beans in the past. Steel City Beer is also of similar make produced for the store that sold it- Steel City Beer . Bosch is no more but the label is own by Leinenkugel and does not produce the beer any longer. It was brewe...

The Back to the 50s swap meet of a few weeks ago has many remarkable finds. None of which I purchased. I don't have room for this stuff. But the internets do. So let's begin our tour. Here we find 2 bottles of Schmidt's City Club beer, a  Whistle Beverage bottle  of some kind (I believe it is a soft drink bottle but I could be wrong), and a goblet with the mark of Pabst Blue Ribbon  (of which one is already owned in my family). Brewed in St. Paul, City Club began its life as a near-beer during prohibition. Some of my ancestors lived in the shadow of the brewery that made it along the Mississippi River. It's still there but not sure if its being used for much brewing any more. In a previous signs of beer post I wrote more on Schmidt's. A few years after prohibition, 1936 to be exact, City Club became a full blow beer. Production of the label disappeared in the 1950s. Then in 1997 the then current owner of the label and Schmidt brewery, Stroh's, decided to re...