Landships II

Well, "dead", "out" and "down" are all possibles, but note the additional word "with" and a sketch of what appears to be a bottle of beer. Is this a tank named after a (unfortunately not very well known) advert for beer?

Gwyn

By the size of the lettering and the center of the tank, how much room for lettering would there be?

"nock - em - "over" ?

K"nock -em - up" -- would mean one thing in England, yet another in Canada --- LOL.

Well, we're assuming "Nock" is just a funky expression of "knock" but, if not, another expression is "Nock 'em up" as in "increase the tally" (from the game of darts - probably from archery originally - definitely not the same as "knock em up" which means either "impregnate" or "arouse from bed by pounding on their door" in Oz-talk at least).

I don't quite see how NOCK-EM-UP would exactly fit in with (presumably) beer advertising but then I'm a product of our politically-correct (sometimes) current form of advertising. Let's not forget that the "Michelin man" is actually called Bibendum and was called that as part of an exhortation to have another drink before getting behind the wheel of your car, an example of the innocence, according to our way of thinking, of the advertising of the fin de siècle era. So, a straightforward advertising appeal to consume beer in quantity - pile up the bottles - would be perfectly in keeping with the times after all is said and done.

-- Edited by Rectalgia on Friday 11th of February 2011 05:37:06 AM

Rectalgia wrote:

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I don't quite see how NOCK-EM-UP would exactly fit in with (presumably) beer advertising

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I can't figure out where it's exactly about but on google you can find some modern connection between Knock-em back and Budweiser, an ad presumably with a line 'knock-em back all the way to Hackensack, buy an ice-cold Bud'.
The Bevo had the same roots, all coming from Anheusser, if I am having it straight.

 

Howdy,

How about a short poetry interlude from John Clare's (1793-1864) work, "Ale":

"White flowering o'er the tankard's crown
Thou boast of every British town
Nicknamed 'old stout' & 'nock em down' -

Old England's glory:
All hail thou stingo of renown
Ale, I adore thee.

Thou down right death to pain & care
Of them I know I've had my share
And most been drove to hell's despair -

When they've distressed me:
But thee I've sought at feast & fair
And thou hast blest me.

And though I love thee best of juices
I'll ne'er go make no vile excuses
For drunkards who thy name abuses -

They're worse then hogs:
When friend with friend each other bruises
Like lugging dogs.

In public house such brutes of men
When e're I chance drop down again
I'll never care to join them then -

Curse on their spite:
I call for half pint to my sen
And let 'em fight.

O ale, O ale, what soul can ken
The wonders thou performs on men
How thou drivst perking up agen -

The drowking heart:
Like majic spell to grief & pain
Is a full quart."

(Lines 1-24 & 61-66)

http://johnclare.blogspot.com/2009/05/ale.html

One wonders if there was a sister tank named "Old Stout".

MarkV


-- Edited by MarkV on Friday 11th of February 2011 02:56:31 PM

I think "Old Stout" was the bar-maid at "The Crack and Thump."

Liked the poem Mark V. Nice touch.

Could be - but fighting men emblazoning a fighting tank with the symbols of a non-alcoholic drink seems a dubious prospect in my view. It is part of the "lore" surrounding the US Prohibition ("Volstead Act") that veterans were somewhat embittered to find that Prohibition has been enacted in their absence. It was a bit more complicated than that in reality but that seems to have been the sentiment, reinforced by the ready access to alcohol the AEF enjoyed in France when off-duty and, presumably, a preponderance of pleasurable encounters those were.

Not sure about the Budweiser "star" - that would be the Budweiser crown? ("The king of bottled beers"). Using that in conjunction with Bevo, except for the sake of irony, seems unlikely to me. At the end of the day I'm not at all sure any hypothetical Bevo tank would have survived contact with its own side. But, who knows?

Here is a contemporary Bevo ad. (And a 1914 Budweiser ad.)

-- Edited by Rectalgia on Tuesday 15th of February 2011 07:03:10 AM