I have good news to share.
I am now reviewing the book manuscript.
I plan to edit and rewrite. Not sure how long that will take me.
The new working title is: Pabst Best Tonic: Selling Alcohol as Medicine.
Update on the Book
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Level of Alcohol in Pabst Tonic
Writing a Couple More Chapters
I am adding a couple of chapters to the book.
For that I read several books on the history of beer.
Another topic I tackled in the reading was the connection between health and beer. This meant a bit of history since many historians claim that we have records of beer dating back to the early Egyptian culture.
Also, the link between Pabst “The Best” Tonic and patent medicines cannot be avoided. Thus I needed to read something about the popular nineteenth century patent medicines.
A book I just finished today is The Great American Fraud: The Patent Medicine Evil, written in 1905.
The book tells the story of how most patent medicine companies at that time sold harmful remedies for just about any illness.
The companies had newspapers in the palm of their hands. If any newspaper story ran critical of the patent medicines, the companies threatened to end a lucrative advertising contract with the paper.
The patent medicine companies advertized more than any other industry in newspapers, both dailies and weeklies. So the papers depended on their advertising money.
Have Good News
In November of 2019 Ohio University Press offered me a contract for my new book All about Flowers: James Vick’s Nineteeth Century Seed Company.
So you can see that at the moment I am busy with work related to the release of this book.
Ohio assures me the book will be out this Fall.
Here is Vick’s seed catalog from 1873. Beautiful chromolithography just like Pabst used as well. [below]
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana
Collection No. 60
Seed Industry and Trade
Box 17, Folder “Vick’s, James, Illustrated Catalogues
“Vick’s Illustrated Floral Guide for 1873”
One link to the Pabst book and this garden history book on James Vick is that the time period is the same, late Victorian. Also the setting is the same, America at that time.
Update on the Book
Current Status of the Book
This is to let you know that I hope to be back on track with the Pabst book this Fall.
I am reading material that I might add to the book. Lots of great stuff to learn about as background. Great fun.
I will keep you informed as I move along.
The Book Is Alive and Well
It has been a long time since I wrote anything on this blog.
I just want you to know that I am writing another book, so the Pabst Tonic book has taken a bit of a back seat at the moment.
Down the line I certainly intend to publish the Pabst book. I think you would enjoy reading it.
Update on the Book
It has been a while since I have been here on this blog.
I have completed the Pabst Tonic manuscript. It is, however, too short in word count for a traditional publisher.
At the moment I do not know what I will do or what step I will take to come out with a book, which is my goal.
The title for the book is If You Advertise it, People Will Buy it: The Pabst Brewery’s Early Campaign
To Sell Alcohol as Medicine.
If you have any ideas on where or how to publish the book, please contact me.
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Prospecus Sent to Publisher
Happy news to report.
Today I sent the University of Wisconsin Press a Prospectus on the book. They have expressed interest in publishing the book.
Now I just wait to see if the Press wants the full manuscript and illustrations.
Will keep you posted on how things progress.
New Book Details New England’s History of Beer Making
I like to read about the history of beer.
Recently I finished the book by Lauren Clark called Crafty Bastards: Beer in New England from the Mayflower to Modern Day.
Since Colonial time in New England, people drank beer because it was a safe beverage and considered healthy.
When A. Cressy Morrison, the Pabst Advertising Manager from 1887 to 1897, conducted ad campaigns for Pabst Extract, his message centered on the health benefits of the drink.
People drank beer even in the late nineteenth century because it was healthy.
So, in one sense, Cressy’s message made sense to people who wanted a beverage, even one with alcohol, that would benefit them.
An Update on the book
The last few weeks I have spent editing the ten chapters.
This past week I decided on the number of illustrations and chose each of them. They will give the reader a sense of the topic or issue I am writing about in a particular chapter. The captions will be finished soon.
The most exciting news, however, is that I have a new working title. Here it is:
If You Advertise It ,
People will Buy It:
Pabst Brewery’s Early Campaign
to Sell Alcohol as Medicine
What do you think?