Lager as you like it! Tooth's 'KB' Lager
Artist
Tom Woodman
(1901-1959)
Maker
R B Coleman Signs
Datec 1950
Object number00016940
NamePub painting
MediumOil based paint on glass
DimensionsOverall: 1231 x 720 mm, 16.5 kg
Display Dimensions: 1231 x 720 x 22 mm
Display Dimensions: 1231 x 720 x 22 mm
ClassificationsVisual communication
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionThis poster advertising Tooth's KB Lager features a waterside worker moving a trolley of beer. Advertising posters were affixed to the tiled walls outside Australian pubs and used imagery and slogans to associate liquor products with men at work. It is thought that the poster was commissioned for a waterfront pub, as most waterside workers during the 1950s lived around the wharves on which they worked.HistoryThe concept of the pub as a picture gallery came originally from Sydney portrait painter Jules Henry Roy Rousel. Rousel trained at the Royal Art School in Sydney and at the Slade and Royal Academy schools in London. In the 1920s Rousel took over a sign writing business and in 1929 sketched English statesman, Earl Balfour. Rousel's revolutionary idea was to hang the portrait behind glass on the outside of the Lord Balfour Hotel on the corner of Elizabeth and King Streets. The Balfour portrait caused an immediate sensation, crowds gathering to watch the construction of the glass panels on the hotel.
Rousel saw the potential of pub pictorials providing groups and districts a sense of personal connection with their favorite pubs. From the Tooth's board, Rousel secured a trial batch of pub paintings sporting scenes that included a clear message that Tooth's beer was the 'breakfast of champions'. Rousel was responsible for the development of the pub poster as a popular and iconic addition to the Australian pub. Pub posters became an eye catching and easy way of marketing - with the beach featuring as one of the most popular and iconic subjects. This bold new idea very much took art out of the gloomy cloisters of the galleries and brought it to the people.
Tom Woodman (1901-1959) migrated to Australia from England in 1924. Woodman worked as a commercial artist and theatre set painter in Melbourne before moving to Sydney. Between 1936 and his death, Woodman produced numerous pub paintings and other commissions for Tooth & Co.
Tooth & Co Ltd was established in 1835. In the 1930s, Tooth & Co Ltd embarked on a marketing campaign to give its pubs a modern image. Amongst other steps, this involved decorating pubs with paintings to advertise the beer. The paintings typically showed men at work or playing sport and included references to local industries or sports. Tooth & Co Ltd was incorporated in New South Wales in 1888, and the company was acquired by Carlton & United Breweries in 1983.SignificanceThis poster is a significant representation of waterfront workers due to its association with a waterfront pub. The themes of pub paintings and posters were deliberately chosen to emphasise, reflect and reinforce local interests where the posters were displayed.
