The Beer of New York
About Rheingold
Rheingold Beer, founded in 1883, is a New York beer that held 35% of the state's beer
market from 1950 to 1960. The Company was sold by the founding Liebman family in
1963. According to the New York Times, "Rheingold Beer was once a top New York
brew guzzled regularly by a loyal cadre of workingmen who would just as soon have eate
n nails as drink another beer maker's suds." At the center of its media campaign was
the "Miss Rheingold" pageant. Beer Drinkers voted each year on the you lady who
would be featured as Miss Rheingold in advertisements. In the 1940s and 1950s in New York,
the selection of Miss Rheingold was as highly anticipated as the race for the White House!
When Nat King Cole became the first major black entertainer to host a television show, advertisers stayed
away - but not Rheingold! Rheingold was the New York regional sponsor Cole's show. As early as 1965, Rheingold
aired television ads featuring African Americans, Puerto Rican and Asian actors, to appeal to its racially diverse customer base.
The Company's headquarters was in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn. Rheingold was the official beer of the New York Mets, and its advertisements included John Wayne, Jackie Robinson and the Marx Brothers.
The label was revived in 1998. According to an October 18, 1999 New York Observer report, The Rheingold Brewing Company LLC bought the brand. When Rheingold re-launched, they revived the Miss Rheingold Pageant. The new Miss Rheingold contestants no longer wore ball gowns and white gloves - they had tattoos.
In 2005, Drinks Americas of Wilton CT purchased Rheingold Brewing and reformulated the product for follow through distribution throughout the US.
© 2010 Drinks Americas Holdings LTD (DKAM) All rights reserved.
Please enjoy Rheingold Beer responsibly.
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IN POPULAR CULTURE
The theme song of Rheingold Beer, applied lyrics to Emil Waldteufel's "Estudiantina Valse" (The Students' Waltz), op. 191, No. 4; it was sung nostalgically by Sophia, Blanche and Dorothy on an episode of The Golden Girls. She commented to her daughter, Dorothy, "Your father was always singing that damn jingle."
Les Paul recorded a very popular radio commercial for Rheingold in 1951.
In the film The Godfather, a Rheingold delivery truck can be
seen in the background while Sonny beats up his brother-in-law Carlo.
In the film Silver Bullet (film), Arnie Westrum is first seen singing a drunken rendition of the Rheingold beer song.
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The title of the novel Ice-Cold in Alex refers to Captain Anson longing for a Rheingold in Alexandria.
The history of the Rheingold Girl contest is recounted in Wally Lamb's The Hour I First Believed (Harper 2008).
In Life on Mars Gene Hunt is seen drinking a Rheingold beer, Green bottle, during one of the scenes
In the Hi Def Jam episode of King of Queens, Doug and his friends are all seen drinking Rheingold while playing poker.
In the movie Just Looking,which takes place in 1955, Rheingold beer and advertisements are shown throughout.
The November, 1954, issue of Mad (#17), has a parody of Miss Rheingold, drawn by Basil Wolverton, where the readers are asked to "Choose Miss Potgold of 1955."
