Established in 1938, California’s Wine Advisory Board set out to challenge the widespread attitude—a holdover from the rhetoric of Prohibition—that wine was like all alcoholic beverages and consumed only by those wishing to get drunk. The Board organized various campaigns to convey a different message: that wine could be a positive addition to the American table. Ads and booklets produced during the 1950s and ‘60s reflected this effort, with slogans that encouraged consumers to embrace wine as part of an all-American meal. The Board also commissioned a series of colorful posters in the 1960s to promote California and its reinvigorated wine industry.
This poster produced in the 1960s was one in the “California, Wine Land of America” series based on original artwork by Amado Gonzalez, a Mexican-born artist who taught at San Francisco’s City College. Featuring symbols of the wine industry—bottles of red and white wine, grapes, and rolling vineyards—it also depicts a hand-operated grape press of the kind used by home winemakers and small producers. A figure of Bacchus is shown operating the press with great athletic effort.
