Walter Ruby called "the gin king" in a 1934 advertisement
We already knew from his Carioca Rum advertising copy that Walter Ruby sometimes referenced himself as a public face of American Spirits liquor brands. Here's a delightful new example that just turned up courtesy of Newspapers.com.
It is a page from The New York Daily News, April 25, 1934 with a small one-column ad tucked away at the bottom of the page.
The headline reads, "Paul Yawitz says:". Yawitz was a columnist for the NY Daily Mirror who was later a Hollywood screenwriter. Apparently what follows is a quote from a Yawitz column.
"The third Martini at the Ambassador Bar inspired Walter Ruby, the gin king, to chirp: 'You know, the taxi driver is N.Y.'s greatest paradox. He is the only man you tip after he's risked your life.'"
And then comes the commercial message to "try Royal Box Dry Gin."
I've looked for more information on Royal Box gin to confirm that it was an American Spirits brand. That would confirm that the bon-vivant Walter Ruby in the ad is the same Walter Ruby who was American Spirits' advertising manager.
The only thing that turned up about the gin brand on a first search was this eBay item for a promotional matchbook for Royal Box Dry Gin. It doesn't show a company name on it, but everything about it is consistent with Walter's marketing approach that he also employed with Carioca Rum.
Not least that he cultivated a public image as the witty, urbane man about town.
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