We went out Tuesday for dinner and I was having a bourbon when I heard the waitress ask the bartender for a couple Black Labels. I haven't heard anyone order a Carlings Black Label beer in a bar in some 45 to 50 years. Back then that Candian beer was one of my regular drinks. Price was likely a factor as well as the taste. So I had to order one; in fact, I had two, before we moved on down the road. I was surprised to learn they still make it and it tasted just like I remembered it. The price at the bar was $1.00; saying it was a Tuesday special.

And the next place we stopped, we no sooner got seated and a music junky we know played this on jukebox. It seems like its been 50 years since I heard it.

A night for unexpected memories. Kinda neat when that happens. Tonight I picked up a case of Black Label. It will probably give me a big headache!

 

Hey Dave! Remember restaurants that had jukebox selectors at each dining booth? There's a restaurant in San Gabriel, Petrillo's Pizza that had them until the late 1980s. All gone now.

Kinda reminds me of that Twilight Zone episode with William Shatner. Though not a jukebox... interesting concept with touch of nostalgia.

 

Hey Mable Black Label!

Black Label, like many beer brands, is not a uniform product. BL was brewed in Cleveland since the end of prohibition and for decades after the rights were purchased (not licensed) from the original Canadian brewers. The brand name has since changed owners, perhaps more than once. No telling if the Carlings in the UK has any resemblance to the beer in the US but fortunately North American beers are indistinguishable from each other, the labels being the only difference. This has been confirmed by generations of frat boys in blind taste tests. I'll look in the coolers at the local stores and see if it's still sold here. Haven't looked for it so I've no clue. At least it's lager, a step up from water pilsner (although technically a lager).

-- Chuck

 

There was a Carling brewery in Natick not far from where I grew up.
There ads always showed the stream tumbling down the hill in front of the brewery "made on the shores of beautiful Lake Cochituate. "
In reality that "stream" was the thermal effluent from cooling the brewing reactors.
and lake Cochituate was so brown with tannic acid that you couldn't see your feet when you were swimming.

 

Was the waitress' name Mabel?

That was my fathers favorite beer. I remember every other Saturday we would head to the local market with a case of empty bottles and pick up a new ice cold case.

 

Brings back memories of my grandfather. Carlings Black Label in one hand and a Tipparillo in the other.

 

I wasn't sure either but I did find a case of it (the only one left) after a good deal of searching at the local store. $14 for 24!! Got them chill'n now.

 

OMG, I used to smoke those as well when I wasn't smoking Lucky Strikes.

 

Should a gentleman offer a lady a Tiparillo? Hmmm.

 

That was Vincent's biggest hit. He had a very serious car accident which took him out of circulation for a while and he never got back to his early successes. He was considered Elvis's competition. So sad. Black Label was popular in Baltimore. I drank a few in High School.