[Still-life of Four Roses, Glass of Bourbon, in a Hot Air Balloon Basket]

Anton Bruehl

1930s · Photomechanical print · Photographs

Before ascending to the heavens, this glass of whiskey toured the world. In the pages of LIFE and Newsweek, it could be seen surmounting arctic slopes and traveling by train. It sweated deckside on a luxury liner, rode a Ferris wheel, and went sledding. Meticulously staged by the pioneering color photographer Anton Breuhl, such absurd tableaux conjured worldly associations for his client, the mid-tier Kentucky distiller Four Roses. Against all odds, these eye-catching scenarios were not darkroom fabrications; Bruehl constructed them by hand, with the help of miniaturists, set dressers, and a celebrity florist. Testing appetites for novelty, illusion, and abundance—all standbys of twentieth-century advertising—against the limits of good taste, he wagered that this crisp simulacrum would slake your thirst, then melt into hot air.

Artist

Anton Bruehl

Date

1930s

Medium

Photomechanical print

Department

Photographs

Credit line

Ford Motor Company Collection, Gift of Ford Motor Company and John C. Waddell, 1987