From the Archives: Lager Day

Happy Lager Day! During the last half of the nineteenth century, an influx of German immigrants brought lager beer with them to many parts of the United States. The American taste for beer grew steadily during this period, so that by 1890 beer eclipsed in volume other forms of alcohol available to American drinkers. Today, North Carolina is known for a huge variety of beers, but when it comes down to it, what really matters is spending time with friends over a brew. To celebrate Lager Day we’re looking back at some historical pictures of North Carolina pals enjoying a cold one, all around the world.

From Richard F. Johnson Scrapbook, CLDW 52, Cold War Papers, Military Collection, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, N.C.

A photograph of four U.S. Marine Corps servicemen posing together on an unidentified North Carolina beach, some holding cans of beer and cigarettes, while they were stationed at Camp Lejeune, NC, in 1954. Pictured are (left to right) a man named Buck; a man named Bill; Mark Sullivan (known as Sul or Sully); and a man named Hufziger (known as Huf) from Ohio. Photograph taken or collected by Richard F. Johnson of Minerva, Ohio, while he was serving in Casual Company №1, Headquarters and Service Battalion, at Camp Lejeune [circa 1954].

From Robert R. Morrison Jr. Papers, WWII 33, World War II Papers, Military Collection, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, N.C.

Snapshot of U.S. Army soldier Robert R. Morrison Jr. drinking in the Army beer garden of the U.S. Army’s Enlisted Men’s Club in Nurnberg, Germany, in May 1945. Caption on back of photograph reads: “Having a wonderful time! (Oh yeah!) Good beer or magic Coca-Cola, don’t remember which!”

From the Charles A. Farrell Photo Collection, PhC.9, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, NC.

Seven men reading Schlitz beer ads in office. Estimated 1930–1935.

From Margaret L. Arthur Photographs, WWII 132, World War II Papers, Military Collection, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, N.C.

Snapshot of U.S. Army Nurse Corps dietitian 1st Lt. Margaret L. Arthur of Asheville, N.C., drinking a bottle of beer while sitting on a blanket on a beach near a military camp in September 1944 in Papua New Guinea during.

Photo by Albert Barden. From the Albert Barden Collection, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, NC.

Schlitz Beer Bottling, the old fashioned way (note the wooden crates).

From Bennis M. Blue Papers, CLDW 46, Cold War Papers, Military Collection, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, N.C.

Photograph of U.S. Women’s Army Corps Lt. Bennis M. Blue (right), sitting on an Army bed in a barrack room next to an unidentified Army soldier, drinking beers and hanging out in a barrack building at an unidentified U.S. military base.

From Calvert and Pickett Papers, WWII 163, WWII Papers, Military Collection, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, N.C.

Snapshot of a group of U.S. Army soldiers from the 79th Field Artillery Group, sitting down drinking beer from tapped barrels outside somewhere in Europe (possibly in Waldeck, Germany) on Victory in Europe Day (V-E Day), May 8, 1945, during World War II. One of the soldiers is seen holding an oversized glass with beer in it. Photograph was taken while Master Sgt. Luther A. Pickett of Lexington, N.C., was serving in the 79th Field Artillery Group, U.S. Army.