Heineken's Exhibits Attract
Thousands at Trade Shows
A Real St. Nicholas Party
The party can now begin. The dining
room, with as many chairs around the
table as guests are expected, in the scene
of action. The "surprises" are placed in
a large covered basket or gaily deco
rated grocery box, and hidden some
where in the house. In Holland, each
guest finds his intials in candy at his or
her place at table. In America, some
other attractive place indication can be
substituted. Scissors and a large waste-
paper basket for the wrappings should
be handy. Traditional candies and
cookies form the centerpiece.
At some Dutch parties St. Nick and
Peter, both in traditional costume, are
invited to appear in person to deliver a
serious word of encouragement or dis
approval to each member of the group.
However, this is not necessary; one can
have as much fun without these two il
lustrious personages and they might
even confuse American children accus-
-tomed to Santa Claus. This is how Hol
landers celebrate the eve of St. Nicholas'
birthday if he is too busy to be present:
The guests arrive and they are taken
to the table. As soon as they are seated,
the door bell rings loudly and insist
ently, the door opens slightly, and a
black hand (a black gloved hand of
somebody who is in on the secret)
throws a lot of tiny candies into the
room, for which the children make a
dive; then the door slams. The hostess
goes to the hall or to the front porch and
gives vociferous vent to her surprise
Peter was there and he left a basket full
of presents!
Now the fun begins. One present
should be unwrapped at a time, the
whole party watching while the often
times embarrassed recipient reads his
or her poem aloud. This continues until
every single present is unwrapped and
wery poem read. The fun is guaranteed
and the hostess will have given a real
St. Nicholas party which is typically,
traditionally and completely Dutch.
(Continued from Page 2)
In close coordination with our Chicago and New York organizations, we installed
Heineken's exhibits at the National Beer Wholesalers Association Convention in Chicago
on October 17th, the Holiday Packaging Show in New York on October 18th and the
National Hotel Exposition, also in New York, on October 2nd.
The 22nd Annual National Beer Wholesalers Association Convention was held this
year at the Palmer House in Chicago where we, once again, had the opportunity to greet
our many Heineken's distributors from all parts of the country. The most popular discussion
at this Convention was the outstanding progress of Heineken's sales this year. A big attraction
at our exhibit was the giant Heineken's bottle which we had redecorated with the new
Heineken's labels. We also displayed all of our Heineken's point-of-sale including the new
"Silent Salesman."
The Holiday Packaging Show in New York attracted many thousands of retailers, both
on-premise and off-premise, from Connecticut through Maryland. It was most gratifying to
learn of the increased popularity of Heineken's as a gift item. Many of the retailers have
told us how they plan to sell a gift-wrapped case of Heineken's for holiday givings. This is
a new trend which could easily account for much additional business. We are planning to
develop an attractive gift-wrapped arrangement for Heineken's Beer, to be ready for next
year's merchandising. We also heard many encouraging remarks about our new Heineken's
coasters and, of course, about the success of the Heineken's "Silent Salesman."
The National Hotel Exposition which was again held at the New York Coliseum was
attended by hundreds of thousands of visitors representing retail outlets of every type, from
the finest hotels to the simplest bars and road stands. Our exhibit was in every sense of the
word, a show stopper. The newly painted giant Heineken's windmill identified our booth
to the many hotel men, club managers and restauranteurs who crowded the New York
Coliseum for the most heavily attended hotel exposition that we can ever remember.
We greeted very many friends, met many new ones and compared notes with many
of the other trades people in a gesture of good fellowship and public relations. We strongly
believe that the- National Hotel Exposition is a most outstanding Convention which we
would not want to miss under any circumstances.