The Vintage Magic Yeast Owl Ad Story

The Vintage Magic Yeast Owl Ad story goes back to the early 1900s. Also in this post, an original root beer recipe (only a little fermented).

When our family was home for Christmas over the 25th of December, my son decided we needed Bundaberg Ginger Beer in our repertoire of Holiday specialties.

He couldn’t find any in the grocery stores, so he ordered it shipped through Walmart. It got here the next morning, and some in this family enjoyed our first taste of this great ginger beer that is like none other. I must hasten to assure you that it is non-alcoholic (well, less than 1%), and thus, kid-friendly.

I was expecting the dark brown of root beer, but the coloring was more like ginger ale. Although we didn’t know it until we popped the special cap and poured it into our glasses. (Here’s how to open Bundaberg Ginger Beer: Turn the amber bottles upside down, then back upright, and then tap the cap and pull the plastic tab covering the metal bottle cap. If you don’t follow the directions, beware! If you do it correctly, the cap gives a really satisfying pop when it opens.

I shared directions to open the bottle because ginger beer contains yeast, and of course I had to research the why of yeast in this particular brand of root bee. And came across the vintage ad for Magic Yeast. The ad that features an owl, and owls are our theme this week! We’ve got all kinds of owl stuff coming along, starting with this post.

The Story Behind the Vintage Magic Yeast Owl Ad

The company who manufactured Magic Yeast was the Northwestern Yeast Company out of Chicago. Magic Yeast was the name brand of choice around the second World War. It was touted as a cure all for practically anything that ailed a person. They recommended breaking a yeast cake over your cereal in the morning, or to spread it with butter and jam and eat it like a cracker! But please don’t try this at home. A yeast cake could actually be very bad for your health!

An article I found says that “in the 13th century, people in England observed that those who could afford to drink fermented drinks were often healthier than the poor who had to drink unclean water. The reasons were unknown at the time, but involved both the fact that boiling the water is a step in brewing and that the alcohol might slow the growth of any pathogens that find their way in.

At the same time, children (and women, who were thought to be delicate) couldn’t be expected to drink beer all day without certain, possibly hilarious, but entirely undesirable side-effects. Probably singing.” yesterdish.com

So companies began to make “small beer” of which root beer and ginger beer are the “smallest.” This means they have little to no alcohol content and probably won’t make you sing.

Use Magic Yeast to make “owl” right root beer.

No one seems to know, however, why they chose an owl to represent Magic Yeast.

Perhaps because owls are wise, so you’d be wise to use Magic Yeast?

Not sure if Magic Yeast is still on the market, but any yeast will work for this vintage root beer recipe:

Delicious Root Beer

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cake Yeast Foam (2 1/4 teaspoons granular yeast)
• 1 quart lukewarm water
• 4 lbs. sugar
• 1 (3-oz.) bottle Root Beer Extract
• 5 gals. pure fresh water, slightly lukewarm

Soak 1 cake Yeast Form 1/2 hour in 1 qt. lukewarm water. Place in crock 4 lbs. sugar, one 3-oz. bottle Root Beer Extract and and 4-1/2 gals. lukewarm water. Strain soaked yeast thru cheesecloth. Rinse yeast left on cloth thoroughly with 1 qt. of water. Throw away solid particles. Add dissolved yeast and rinsing water to mixture in crock. Mix well and bottle at once. Fasten corks securely. Keep in warm place 6 days. Cool. Store in cold place. To be “ready” in less than 6 days, use 2 or 3 cakes of yeast and let stand 3 or 4 days before cooling.

Enjoy trying this recipe for root beer using yeast…

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