
Rheingold Brewery, also referred to as Rheingold Breweries, or Liebmann Breweries, was the producer and marketer of Rheingold Beer from 1883 until 1987. This article is about both the brewery and its primary brand "Rheingold," which has been sold by other companies intermittently since Rheingold Brewery was ended.
Founded by
Samuel Liebmann and his three sons as S. Liebmann Brewery, the
brewing
Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and #Fermenting, fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with Yeast#Beer, yeast. It may be done in a brewery ...
company was run by the Liebmann family, through several name changes, until 1964 when the fourth American generation sold it to New Jersey–based Pepsi-Cola United Bottlers. At its peak, the company owned five plants around the United States and Rheingold was the leading beer brand in
New York State
New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...
with a market share as high as 35% during the 1940s, 1950s, and early 1960s.
Rheingold Breweries was purchased by
Chock full o'Nuts in 1974, and then by
Christian Schmidt Brewing Company in 1977. Schmidt continued to sell Rheingold Beer under the subsidiary name, "Rheingold Brewery". In 1987, Rheingold was purchased by
G. Heileman Brewing Company which continued to sell the beer but stopped using Rheingold Brewery or Breweries as a company name on the label. Sales of Rheingold Beer have been continued off-and-on by subsequent owners, with two gaps—one in the mid-1990s and another from 2013 through 2023.
The name Rheingold is an allusion to the legendary ring made of gold from the
''Rhein (Rhine)'' river in
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, which is the subject of the opera ''
Das Rheingold
''Das Rheingold'' (; ''The Rhinegold''), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis, WWV 86A, is the first of the four epic poetry, epic music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's Literary cycle, cycle ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nib ...
''.
History
In 1854, brewer Samuel Liebmann immigrated from
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
to
America
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, partly to escape government oppression. He sent his oldest son
Joseph
Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...
ahead to find a suitable place for a brewery. When Samuel, his wife, and the other five children arrived in Philadelphia on November 7, 1854, Joseph met them on the wharf and escorted them to
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
. Within a week, Samuel leased a small brewery on Meserole Street where he started brewing beer with his three sons.
[Downard (1980), p 159.] A year later the company bought a 6.4-acre site at the corner of Forrest Street and Bremen Street, in the
Bushwick section of Brooklyn, and built a new plant there.
Samuel retired in 1868, and in 1870 the name of the company was changed to S. Liebmann’s Sons Brewery.
The Rheingold brand name was first used in 1883.
There are several family-lore explanations of its origin. The first is simply that "Rheingold" was an allusion to the great
Rhein River in Germany (also spelled "Rhine").
Another story was that at a banquet held after an opera performance, the conductor held up the glass of beer and declared it was the color of "Rheingold", or "Das Rheingold" ("Rheingold" being a reference to the legendary ring, made of gold from the Rhine River, which is central to
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...
's
Ring cycle operas. ''
Das Rheingold
''Das Rheingold'' (; ''The Rhinegold''), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis, WWV 86A, is the first of the four epic poetry, epic music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's Literary cycle, cycle ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nib ...
'' is the first of the four Ring cycle operas.) A third version holds that a special beer was brewed for a dinner held to honor the head of the
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...
after the season finale performance of ''Das Rheingold'', and the beer was named "Rheingold". It was a hit, so the brewery introduced it as a permanent product.
The brewery's production increased from 1,200 barrels in its first year, to 39,000 barrels in 1877, 165,000 barrels in 1894, 200,000 barrels per year in the early 1900s and in 1914.
It expanded to adjacent properties, absorbed the nearby John Schoenwald Brewery in 1878, and Claus-Lipsius Brewery in 1902, and in 1907 it was the largest and most complete brewing facility in the eastern United States, occupying 18-acres and four city blocks. The plant pioneered new refrigeration methods and was the first plant to have its own laboratory.
During
Prohibition
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...
, from 1920 through 1933, the brewery survived by selling "near beer", lemonade, and "Teutonic", a concentrated liquid extract of malt and hops for nutrition and good health.
During the three decades following Prohibition, Rheingold was promoted as the "Dry Beer", and the annual Miss Rheingold contest, launched in 1940, became the centerpiece of its marketing campaign.
Between 1947 and 1954, the company acquired four new plants: In 1947, Eichler Brewery in the
Bronx
The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...
; in 1950, Trommer's Brewery in
Orange, New Jersey
The City of Orange (known simply as Orange) is a Township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 34,447, an increase o ...
; and in 1954, the
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
and
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
plants of Acme Brewing Company. With five plants, Rheingold had more production facilities than any other brewing company in the country except
Falstaff Brewing Corporation, which had six. Its expansion into
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
was unsuccessful; the San Francisco plant was closed in 1955, and the Los Angeles facility was sold to
Hamm's Brewery in 1957.
Rheingold became the leading beer in New York state and prospered until the early 1960s when profits were squeezed by rising labor and other costs, and fierce price competition from brands whose broader national footprints gave them competitive advantages.
In 1964, the fourth generation of the
Jewish American
American Jews (; ) or Jewish Americans are American citizens who are Jewish, whether by culture, ethnicity, or religion. According to a 2020 poll conducted by Pew Research, approximately two thirds of American Jews identify as Ashkenazi, 3% id ...
Liebmann family sold the company to New Jersey based Pepsi-Cola United Bottlers, Inc. (“PUB”), a bottling and distribution company of Pepsi-Cola and other soft drink brands, for $26 million, which then adopted the name “Rheingold Breweries” for the combined entity. Beer sales peaked in the following year, 1965, at , but declined thereafter.
[Robertson (1978), p. 177.]
In 1966 Rheingold Breweries introduced Gablinger's Beer, one of the first reduced calorie beers, which was brewed using a process originated by chemist Dr. Hersch Gablinger of Basel, Switzerland.
The beer was also marketed as Gablinger's Extra Light Beer. It failed in the marketplace, but the formula was tweaked by
Joseph Owades, PhD, a biochemist working for Rheingold, and made available to
Meister Brau Inc. in 1967, which made minor adjustments to Owades' formula and marketed it as Meister Brau Lite. Despite widespread popularity of Meister Brau and Meister Brau Lite, the brewery carried unmanageable debt and in 1972 sold both brands to
Miller Brewing Company
The Miller Brewing Company is an American brewery and beer company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was founded in 1855 by Frederick Miller. Molson Coors acquired the full global brand portfolio of Miller Brewing Company in 2016, and operates the ...
, which relaunched Lite as "Lite Beer from Miller", and later
Miller Lite
Miller Lite is a 4.2% ABV reduced calorie light American lager beer produced by Molson Coors. It was introduced in 1973 in limited markets by the Miller Brewing Company (then owned by Philip Morris, Inc.) and began being distributed nationa ...
.
In 1967, Rheingold Breweries acquired Dawson Brewing Company in
New Bedford, Massachusetts
New Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast region. At the 2020 census, New Bedford had a population of 101,079, making it the state's ninth-l ...
.
In February 1973,
PepsiCo
PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase, New York, Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the f ...
, Inc. bought a controlling interest in Rheingold Breweries, paying $57 million for 83% of the Rheingold/Pepsi Bottling operation. Industry observers said that PepsiCo was more interested in the company's soft drinks bottlers in California,
Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
,
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
, and
Puerto Rico
; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...
than in the beer business. Sales in 1973 fell below .
In January 1974, after difficult negotiations with the local
Teamsters Union, Pepsi closed the Brooklyn plant, explaining that it was on track to lose $8 million due to high costs. The remaining two beer plants in Orange, New Jersey and New Bedford, Massachusetts remained open. Pepsi poured of beer into the
East River
The East River is a saltwater Estuary, tidal estuary or strait in New York City. The waterway, which is not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island, ...
, saying that packing it would be too costly. The plant was kept open for two months when the Teamsters Union filed an antitrust lawsuit asking for an injunction against Pepsi to prevent them from closing the plant, contesting the legality of Pepsi's right to control the plant, and claiming $600 million in treble damages for the workers of the two local union chapters. But the plant was officially closed in early March.
William Black William Black may refer to:
Politicians
* William Black (Ontario politician) (1867–1944), speaker of the Legislature of Ontario and Conservative MLA
* William Black (Canadian politician) (1869–1930), Progressive party member of the Canadian Hou ...
, the founder of the
Chock full o'Nuts coffee company stepped in and negotiated a deal with the union, giving their members ownership of 10% of Rheingold Brewery in exchange for wage concessions. He then purchased the brewery on March 8, 1974, for $1 plus assumption of the brewery's $10 million in debt.
The Brooklyn plant was unprofitable for another two years and its doors were closed for good in mid-January 1976. Rheingold production was continued in the brewery’s Orange, New Jersey plant.
In October 1977, Chock full o'Nuts sold Rheingold Breweries to
Christian Schmidt Brewing Company of
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
, which moved production of Rheingold Beer to its Philadelphia and
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...
plants and sold the Orange, New Jersey plant. Schmidt changed the callout on the Rheingold label from "Extra Dry" to "Premium", and changed the brewery of record on the label to "Rheingold Brewery".
Christian Schmidt's brands were sold to
G. Heileman Brewing Company in April 1987, and then to
Stroh Brewery Company in July 1996. Heileman Brewing continued to manufacture Rheingold Beer in its
La Crosse, WI plant, at least into the 1990s. No written record of this can be found, but vintage Rheingold Premium cans are occasionally seen on
eBay
eBay Inc. ( , often stylized as ebay) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that allows users to buy or view items via retail sales through online marketplaces and websites in 190 markets worldwide. ...
that show "G. Heileman Brewing Co., LA CROSSE, WISCONSIN" on the side panel and with 1990s-style stay-tabs, and the Christian Schmidt Brewery Wikipedia article says, "Heileman produced Rheingold after 1987, but it was retired by Stroh in the late 1990s".
In 1996, Mike Mitaro, a veteran beer industry executive, licensed the rights to the Rheingold brand from Stroh, started Rheingold Brewing Company, Inc., and relaunched Rheingold Beer in 1998. The new Rheingold executive team included Walter "Terry" Liebmann, a fifth-generation American member of the family of brewers who had worked at Rheingold Breweries in the 1960s. The product was produced under contract by
F.X. Matt Brewing Company in
Utica, New York
Utica () is the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The tenth-most populous city in New York, its population was 65,283 in the 2020 census. It is located on the Mohawk River in the Mohawk Valley at the foot of the Adiro ...
, and, starting in 2004, at Greenpoint Beer Works in
Clinton Hill, Brooklyn.
In February 1999, Stroh sold the Rheingold brand to
Pabst Brewing Company
The Pabst Brewing Company () is an American company that dates its origins to a brewing company founded in 1844 by Jacob Best and was, by 1889, named after Frederick Pabst. It outsources the brewing of over two dozen brands of beer and ma ...
.
In 2005,
Drinks Americas of
Wilton, Connecticut
Wilton is a New England town, town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the town population was 18,503. The town is part of the Western Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut, Wester ...
, purchased Rheingold Brewing Company, Inc. The product was modified and F.X. Matt Brewing Company continued to produce it under contract. As of 2010, Drinks America was selling Rheingold Beer in the
New York Metropolitan Area
The New York metropolitan area, also called the Tri-State area and sometimes referred to as Greater New York, is the List of cities by GDP, largest metropolitan economy in the world, with a List of U.S. metropolitan areas by GDP, gross metropo ...
,
Connecticut
Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...
,
New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
, and
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...
. By 2011, it had expanded to
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
,
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
, and
Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
. Drinks America stopped selling Rheingold in 2013 and it was unavailable until mid-2023 when Brewing Brands, LLC sold some.
The Rheingold Brewery building in Brooklyn was torn down in 1981. In 2018, after many years of disrepair and vacancy, a 500-unit apartment building was built on the site. The apartment complex, at 10 Monteith Street, Brooklyn, is called, “The Rheingold” or “Rheingold - Bushwick”.
Additional products and brands
While Rheingold Beer was its main product, the brewery also produced and sold additional products including Rheingold Ale, Rheingold Bock and Golden Bock, McSorley's Cream Ale, Knickerbocker Beer, Knickerbocker Natural, Kool Mule,
Esslinger's, Acme Gold Label Beer, and Bull Dog Ale. Also, during the time when the company was combined with Pepsi United Bottling in New Jersey, Rheingold Breweries became a local producer and distributor of Pepsi, and other soft drinks.
Marketing
Rheingold developed a successful marketing formula in the early 1940s that led to thirty years of share strength. It included radio and television jingles, the annual "Miss Rheingold" contest, official sponsorship of the
New York Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...
, and print and TV advertising with racial diversity that was atypical at the time.
Rheingold was the official beer of the
New York Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...
, and its advertisements featured
John Wayne
Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne, was an American actor. Nicknamed "Duke", he became a Pop icon, popular icon through his starring roles in films which were produced during Hollywood' ...
,
Jackie Robinson
Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first Black American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the Baseball color line, ...
,
Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Lois Vaughan (, March 27, 1924 – April 3, 1990) was an American jazz singer and pianist. Nicknamed "Sassy" and "List of nicknames of jazz musicians, The Divine One", she won two Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, ...
and the
Marx Brothers
The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act known for their anarchic humor, rapid-fire wordplay, and visual gags. They achieved success in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in 14 motion pictures. The core group consisted of brothers Chi ...
. Humorist and radio personality
Jean Shepherd
Jean Parker "Shep" Shepherd Jr. (July 26, 1921 – October 16, 1999) was an American storytelling, storyteller, humorist, radio and TV personality, writer, and actor. With a career that spanned decades, Shepherd is known for the film ''A Christm ...
was the radio spokesman for Rheingold's radio ads on
New York Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...
broadcasts in the 1970s.
Rheingold's radio and TV commercials typically featured
jingle
A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meanings that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually ...
s that became widely known. One was written by jazz musician
Les Paul
Lester William Polsfuss (June 9, 1915 – August 12, 2009), known as Les Paul, was an American jazz guitarist, jazz, country guitarist, country, and blues guitarist, songwriter, luthier, and inventor. He was one of the pioneers of the solid body ...
in 1951. Another was set to
Émile Waldteufel's,
Estudiantina Waltz, Op. 191, with the words:
''My beer is Rheingold, the dry beer.''
''Think of Rheingold whenever you buy beer.''
''It's not bitter, not sweet; it's the dry flavored treat.''
''Won't you try extra dry Rheingold beer?''
When
Nat King Cole
Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, alternatively billed as Nat "King" Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's career as a jazz and Traditional pop, pop ...
became the first major black entertainer to host a
television show
A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platf ...
, many advertisers demurred; Rheingold on the other hand became the New York regional sponsor for Cole's show. Rheingold aired television ads featuring African American,
Puerto Rican, and
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans with ancestry from the continent of Asia (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of those immigrants).
Although this term had historically been used fo ...
actors to appeal to its racially diverse customer base. Rheingold also sponsored The
Jackie Robinson
Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first Black American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the Baseball color line, ...
Show on Sunday evenings during the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Rheingold's core consumer was working class men. A 2003 ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' article gave a creative description: "Rheingold Beer was once a top New York brew, guzzled regularly by a loyal cadre of workingmen, who would just as soon have eaten nails as drink another beer maker's suds." During the cleanup of the
World Trade Center rubble after the 2001 collapse, Rheingold cans were found that had been stashed in the beams by construction workers decades earlier.
In 2004, Rheingold stirred controversy in New York City with a series of ads that mocked
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
Mayor
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman and politician. He is the majority owner and co-founder of Bloomberg L.P., and was its CEO from 1981 to 2001 and again from 2014 to 2023. He served as the 108th mayo ...
's ban on smoking in bars and enforcement of city laws prohibiting dancing in bars that did not have a "cabaret license". Bloomberg responded by drinking
Coors in public.
Miss Rheingold (1940–1965, and 2003-2004)
In 1940, Philip Liebmann, great-grandson of founder
Samuel Liebmann, initiated the "Miss Rheingold"
contest
CONTEST is the United Kingdom's counter-terrorism strategy, first developed by Sir David Omand and the Home Office in early 2003 as the immediate response to 9/11, and a revised version was made public in 2006. Further revisions were publish ...
. The first winner was chosen by company executives, but subsequent winners were chosen by popular vote. Each year, six candidates were chosen from a large field of applicants by a panel of company leaders, celebrities, and advertising executives. Then Rheingold drinkers could vote for their favorite at up to 35,000 boxes displayed at the end of supermarket aisles, atop crates of Rheingold beer and on bar tops – always with pictures of the six finalists framing the box. The contest was heavily funded and the winner would be widely-publicized throughout the following year in TV and radio commercials, on billboards, and packaging, as "Miss Rheingold". In the 1950s, as many as 25 million votes were cast, leading the company to claim, "the selection of Miss Rheingold was almost as highly anticipated as the race for the White House."
The first Miss Rheingold was Spanish-born
Jinx Falkenburg. Future NBC television personality Robbin Bain was crowned in 1959. Two of the final winners were actresses Emily Banks (1960) and
Celeste Yarnall (1964), both of whom had featured guest roles as yeomen on separate episodes of ''
Star Trek: The Original Series''. A number of Miss Rheingold runner-ups achieved success in show business, including
Jean Moorhead,
Suzanne Alexander, and Robbin Bain.
The public contest was ended after 1964 because budgets were being squeezed, and the image of demure, smiling, all-white females was becoming passé.
A winner was chosen in 1965 by brewery executives.
The new Rheingold owners revived the Miss Rheingold contest in 2003 and 2004, but unlike the wholesome girl-next-door image of earlier Miss Rheingold contestants, a company spokesman explained: "They no longer wore ball gowns and white gloves; They had
tattoo
A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several tattooing processes ...
s. They were pierced. They were badasses." Though in 2003, ''
The Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...
'' noted Rheingold for "the best marketing campaign co-opting
hipster drinking habits." public response was lackluster compared with earlier years and the contest was not continued.
In popular culture
In music
In the introduction to the
Eartha Kitt
Eartha Mae Kitt (née Keith; January 17, 1927 – December 25, 2008) was an American singer and actress. She was known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 recordings of "C'est si bon" and the Christmas novelty song "Santa Baby" ...
song "I Wanna Be Evil", she sings, "I was made Miss Rheingold though I never touch beer".
The band 33 on the Needle from
Alton, Illinois
Alton ( ) is a city on the Mississippi River in Madison County, Illinois, United States, about north of St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 25,676 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is a part of the River Bend (Illinois), Riv ...
, released the song "Rheingold Girl" on their 2017 album ''Sounds Across the Midnight Sky''.
In an episode of
The Golden Girls
''The Golden Girls'' is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris that aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning seven seasons. The show's ensemble cast stars Beatrice Arthur, Betty ...
, Sophia recalled that Rheingold was the favorite beer of her late husband, Salvatore. She, Dorothy, and Blanche then sang the Rheingold jingle. (Season 7, episode 24 "
Home Again, Rose: Part 2")
In literature
In the
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...
novel,
Carrie, the rough greaser Billy Nolan (along with his friends) are mentioned to have drunk Rheingold beer instead of Budweiser which was popular with “frat boys”.
[ King, Stephen. Carrie. 1974. Vintage Books, 2024. ]
References
External links
*
"The Originators of Rheingold Beer," by Rolf HofmannA classic Rheingold advertisement, featuring dancing beers – clip 31 at 00:09:030 in the archiveRheingold's "Little Old New York" at the 1964/1965 NY World's Fair – Featured at nywf64.com
{{New York Mets
Beer brewing companies based in New York City
Food and drink companies established in 1883
New York Mets
American beer brands