Fiesta and Pearl Brewery: 1968

Fiesta 1968 program front and back covers.

Fiesta and Pearl Brewery: 1963

Fiesta and Pearl Brewery: 1958

In honor for Fiesta week, here's another example of the close relationship between Fiesta and beer: the 1958 Fiesta program's front and back covers.

Drink responsibly this Fiesta Week!!

Fiesta and Pearl Brewery: 1956

1956 Fiesta program, front and back covers.

Fiesta and Pearl Brewery: 1954

In honor of Fiesta week and the most popular Fiesta beverage, beer, we will feature a different bit of Fiesta & beer nostalgia everyday this week. It seems that throughout the 1950's, 60's and 70's Pearl Beer was the primary sponsor of the Fiesta programs, because each year's Fiesta program from that era features a big Pearl Beer back-cover ad.

Enjoy these blasts from the past, and please enjoy Fiesta 2009 responsibly!!

Fiesta Programs, Then and Now

Here is just a sampling of the material in the Texana/Genealogy Dept.'s Fiesta archival collection. Take a glimpse at the evolution of the Fiesta program over the years and share your favorite memories from Fiesta.

Facebook beat us to the punch

The purpose of this blog is to collect stories and memories from San Antonio's past. The San Antonio Public Library's Texana/Genealogy Dept. has a wealth of local historical material, including oral histories and personal journals, but we want more! We want to hear what you remember about your San Antonio childhood or about your favorite trip to the Riverwalk if you're not a native.


Well, it seems we are not alone in our desire to gather these anecdotes and stories. We just discovered a Facebook group devoted to the very same thing.
"Classic San Antonio:1950-1999" is an online group forum started and maintained by John C. Harrison and Pete Elias.
From their site:

"Here is where people can share thoughts and memories of SA and the many facets
that make up this wonderful and diverse city. If the subject relates to SA,
feel free to share it here. Discussions may relate to a variety of subjects
such as Playland Park, HemisFair, Captain Gus, the Hertzberg Circus Museum,
Wonderland Mall, Joe "Godfather" Anthony, the BIG snow of '85 or the Spurs
first championship in '99. With that kind of history, it's nice to have a
home online where we can visit and reminisce. So, if you ever took a school
field trip to the Butter Krust bakery, celebrated a birthday at Kiddie Park
or been hardware shopping at Handy Dan then this is the group for you.Please
feel free to post as many SA-related photos and videos as possible here.
Personal photos are also welcomed. Let's try to make this group THE on-line
home for 20th Century SA history."

http://www.facebook.com/posted.php?id=65016292019&start=20&hash=b530291b4c29ac188c5e50e13a75675d#/group.php?gid=65016292019

Follow the link above to scroll through the hundreds of old photos and videos group members have uploaded. If you grew up in San Antonio during the "Classic" era, you owe it to yourself to take this trip down memory lane. Albert Flores' Color the Weather and the old VIA bus ads were two blasts-from-the-past that tickled me today as I went through some of the videos.

Enjoy! But don't forget to return here to share your newly-stirred memories with us!