GOLDEN, COLO.- A stunning display of 50 rare and vintage beer signs and advertisements is the focus of Golden History Museums’ Calendar Girls to Cowboys: The Art of Selling Coors exhibit, which opened October 11, 2014, at the Golden History Center, 923 10th St. in Golden.

Despite an aversion to advertising or a degree in marketing, Adolph Coors, Sr., founder of Golden’s famous brewery, knew how to sell his beer. He believed that the quality of his product should speak for itself. Even though demand exceeded supply, the Coors Brewing Company still put its name out there—on everything from newspaper ads to beer trays, matchbooks, and signs. Coors released its first illustrated ads in 1893 in the form of calendars with pictorials of beautiful women.

Calendar Girls to Cowboys also profiles Coors’ first and second ad men, goes behind the ubiquitous waterfall campaign, and seeks the inspiration for the Coors Cowboy Collectors Series of Western American Art by Gordon Snidow.

The gallery is designed to evoke a tavern, complete with pool table and a special nod to one of Golden’s favorite watering holes, the Goosetown Tavern which graced the corner of 10th and Vasquez Streets from 1873 until 1998. While there’s no beer on tap, guests are free to get reacquainted with “America’s Fine Light Beer” and shoot some eight-ball.

Golden History Museums connects people to the history of Golden, Colorado through innovative exhibits, dynamic programs and historic collections, and strives to foster a sense of place and build community by being the leading source for local history.