My book centers on A. Cressy Morrison, the advertising manager at the Pabst Brewery from 1887 until 1897.

He came  to take the job at Pabst when he was in his mid-twenties.

With both his writing skills and his passion for chemistry, he was able to write persuasive material at the Brewery to promote the Best Tonic.

1894 illustration from the booklet Fiftieth Anniversary: Pabst Milwaukee [courtesy of Milwaukee County Historical]

The office employed several workers who were needed to respond to the large correspondence the office conducted.

Cressy wrote the Secret booklets, which were pamplets filled with jokes and stories, and lots of testimony from customers about the Best Tonic. Over 1,000,000 Secret booklets were distributed annually.  .

Cressy  promoted the Pabst medicinal beverage in many ways, and with various campaigns.

He wrote: “The Best Tonic is a malt extract…It is a food…If your druggist does not keep the ‘Best’ Tonic, write to us.”

And write they did, simply at this address:  Pabst Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wis.

The mail landed in Cressy’s office.

Change for any business demands new ways of doing something.

Late nineteenth century advertising underwent a revolution when in 1893 Frank Munsey (1854-1925) decided to sell his magazine Munsey’s Magazine for ten cents a copy and three dollars for a year’s subscription.  The circulation increased, and so did the advertising rate.

Though advertising became increasingly important, some companies resisted spending money on ads.

Munsey’s magazine of 1894. Notice the new subcription rates.

Thomas Cochran in his book The Pabst Brewing Company gives some insight into how companies of that time viewed advertising.  He wrote: “Joseph R. Kathrens [A. Cressy Morrison’s successor at Pabst] started at $175 a month [in 1897], and, naturally, was not regarded as an important senior department head of the company. Advertising managers were in a hard spot in all companies in the latter nineties.  Advertising mediums and practices were growing at a rate that business executives could scarcely appreciate.  Campaigns that appeared daring from the standpoint of a few years earlier might, in truth, be small scale, and behind the times.”

Yet Pabst continued to spend more money on advertising its Malt Extract, the Best Tonic, than any other Pabst product.

Both Cressy and Kathrens may have wanted to advertize more, but they worked in an environment that did not appreciate modern advertising.