Advertising Poster Double Diamond Beer Morris Dancers Terence Larry Parkes

Original vintage advertising poster for Double Diamond beer: We're only here for the beer… it's Double Diamond. Cartoon showing old men wearing funny woman hats racing with bottle of Double Diamond tighten around their legs. Double Diamond was one of the highest selling beers in the United Kingdom in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Morris dance is a form of English folk dance usually accompanied by music. It is based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers, usually wearing bell pads on their shins. Implements such as sticks, swords and handkerchiefs may also be wielded by the dancers. In a small number of dances for one or two people, steps are near and across a pair of clay tobacco pipes laid one across the other on the floor. They clap their sticks, swords, or handkerchiefs together to match with the dance. The earliest known and surviving English written mention of Morris dance is dated to 1448, and records the payment of seven shillings to Morris dancers by the Goldsmiths' Company in London.There are around 150 Morris sides (or teams) in the United States. English expatriates form a larger part of the Morris tradition in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Hong Kong. There are isolated groups in other countries, for example those in Utrecht and Helmond, Netherlands; the Arctic Morris Group of Helsinki, Finland and Stockholm, Sweden; as well as in Cyprus. The world of Morris is organised and supported by three organisations: Morris Ring, Morris Federation and Open Morris. Samuel Allsopp & Sons of Burton upon Trent first brewed Double Diamond in 1876 as an India Pale Ale. Allsopp merged with Ind Coope in 1935. Bottled Double Diamond began to be advertised heavily from 1946, becoming one of four nationally distributed beers by the 1950s. Under reciprocal trading agreements Ind Coope would agree to stock a rival brewer's beer if they replaced their supply of Bass or Worthington with Double Diamond. The keg version was launched in the 1960s. In the 1970s, it was advertised heavily by Ind Coope, especially on TV, with the tagline: "A Double Diamond works wonders". Carlsberg UK discontinued off-trade sales in 2003, although it continues as a keg beer. It has been alleged that small scale production of the bottled variant continues as it is Prince Philip's favourite beer, with Paul Burrell attesting that Philip drank a small bottle nightly. The keg version is currently known as Double Diamond Pale and is 2.8% ABV. Ind Coope Burton Ale (4.5% ABV), a cask conditioned version of bottled Double Diamond first brewed in 1976, is currently produced by Carlsberg UK. Terence "Larry" Parkes (19 November 1927 – 25 June 2003) was an English cartoonist. His work, consisting largely of single drawings featuring an absurdist view of normal life, was published in many magazines and newspapers, particularly Punch and Private Eye. The pen name under which he worked was inspired by actor Larry Parks. Parkes's cartooning style was extremely minimalist. No speech bubbles or captions were used, and he often used a few lines to suggest the outline of some feature, such as an arm or a leg, preferring to concentrate on the main idea of the drawing. Especially in the early part of his career, when cartoonists were expected to produce polished work, he was frequently admonished by his editors to "fill in" his drawings before they would be published. As styles changed in the 1960s and 1970s, his more fluid, off-the-cuff style became his trademark. He was compared to Bill Tidy, both for his particular way of drawing people, and for the speed at which he could work. In later life, he drew a series of cartoons depicting his usual subjects as if they were sculptures by Rodin on display in a gallery. Instead of "Rodin's Thinker" or "Rodin's Kiss" his art-lovers saw sculptures such as "Rodin's Babysitter" and "Rodin's Cleaning Lady". He extended this into parodies of other works of art, such as the Supper at Emmaus, his version being "the presentation of the bill". He also did the cartoon sketches that were used on Carry On film titles, and in the late 1980s provided illustrations for W H Smith's own-label stationery packaging. Fair condition, cracks and creases, tears in margins. Country: UK, year of printing: 1970s, designer: Terence "Larry" Parkes, size (cm): 51x101.5.