It’s one my favorite times of the year! It’s Oktoberfest time in Germany and in North America! I love getting dressed up in my dirndl, listening to a good Polka band and having fun with friends in big Oktoberfest halls. It’s truly a good way to start the Fall season.

For today’s post, I wanted to show off some of the wonderful vintage Oktoberfest Posters I have found while scouring the web.

Vintage Oktoberfest Posters

Lets begin our journey with Trans-Canada Airlines featuring an illustration of a German man in lederhosen holding a beer stein.

When I mentioned works of art, I was speaking of the next three images in particular. Not only are they fantastic to look at but also feature some of the history of the festival as well. Here is what you will see:

• The grilled fish on a stick (Steckerlfisch) is a very popular meal at the Munich Oktoberfest
• The Monk. Munich around 1100’s was founded by Monks and ‘Munichen’ literally means, ‘Founded by Monks’
• Beer. Around 1818 the festival began to be more centered around beer and even installed rules (must be brewed in the city limits and have a minimum of 6% alcohol by volume)
• Radishes, Pretzels & Heart cookie. A culinary delight
• The Horse. For the inaugural Oktoberfest, a horse race in the presence of the entire royal family was the central activity of the event. It was this race – not the beer that the festival has become known for – that was the initial tradition that was repeated yearly as a celebration of Bavarian heritage in Munich. The races were cancelled in the 1960s (source).

1955 advertisement for Oktoberfest.

1957 advertisement for Oktoberfest in Munich.

1952 Oktoberfest advertisement.

Lowenbrau beer’s lion gets in on the festival fun.

Further Reading: Let’s Have A Beer! Vintage Beer Advertising

Hacker-Pschorr Brau Munchen (there is the horse again).

Carnival rides and games are also a big part of Oktoberfest as seen in the poster below from 1954.

An integral part of the festivities..the Chicken Dance! As cheekily noted in our next poster from 1962.

Belgium sure likes their Oktoberfest as seen in another Wieze poster this time from the 1970s.

Lastly, we are going to go way back into the image vault with this beautiful 1905 postcard.

Now for some fun! One of my favorite songs ‘Sierra Madre’ being sung with sparklers in Munich.

Question Time: Will you be celebrating Oktoberfest season or is the beer and polka music not your idea of fun?

Want to read more about my love of Oktoberfest season, check out my other posts:

• Vintage German Hat Pins
• Vintage Inn goes to Oktoberfest –Vintage Photos & Vintage Dirndls
• Vintage Dirndl Fashion Illustrations

September 2024 Update: I have created a fun Oktoberfest playlist on Spotify that is perfect for your next fest party. Enjoy!

Happy Festival Season!

Liz