Tennent's Penny Set (1976-1981)

 

This month let’s look at a set from the late 1970s that was very popular at the time, the Penny set from Tennent's in Scotland.

Tennent Girls

Tennent’s began filling cans in 1936. They used conetops and sold only to ship’s stores. They stopped using cans for World War Two, filling their remaining conetops for the last time in 1946 after the war. It wasn’t until 1954 that they began using cans again, this time a flat top. Tennent’s began exporting a 12 oz size in 1955 and developed a 16 oz size for pubs to sell as a carry-out can. They printed a picture of two glasses of beer on the back of the can to show what was inside. (the smaller can, like Penny’s here, have just one glass). To adore the front of the can the brewery began using photos of first Scotland, and then England. Starting in 1959 they changed the scenes in 1960, then again in 1961 and 1962. In 1964 they began using photos of housewives with recipes on the can (using their beer). Not all the recipes were a success.

In 1965 they issued the first “Ann” series with a pretty model. Some of the first Ann series were for export only. In 1969 Tennent’s issued cans with new models. These sets were known as “Lager Lovelies” while cans for the export market were known as “Tennent’s Girls.” Generally, the photos tended to be a bit tamer than the Penny can, though not by much and not always.

Penny

Penny’s set copied the “a day in the life of” theme that the Ann series used initially. The photo session was described this way in Lager Lovelies.

Although Metal Box have continued to manufacture and print almost all Tennent’s cans, the choice of what goes on them and the provision of the photographs became entirely Tennent’s initiative and responsibility. Not that this has been undertaken without a certain among of enjoyment on occasion.

The first Tennent’s Girls adorned the export Lager cans for eight years without even matching the interest that Ann had aroused. Perhaps to revert to a series of pictures of one girl at different times of the day was the answer after all? From hundreds of pictures, a London model was selected, and a photographer was commissioned. Three of Tennent’s managers went down to watch. Penny proved to be a very pretty girl and a co-operative model. Fortified by a good lunch and obviously feeling in his element, one of the Tennent’s representatives entered enthusiastically into the role of assistant director: “can ye no’ just push out your front oot more, Penny?” “Perhaps a wee bit more thigh in this one.”

Penny was issued in 333ML and 15.5 oz cans and sold only overseas, although a smaller version of “Penny at night” was sold on British railways and airlines. The photos were not without controversy. New York State fined Tennent’s $5,000 for the sexy design. They were replaced by updated designs with new girls in 1981 and there were different “Lager Lovelies” that were issued in Britain starting in 1977. But the Penny set was the one that I remember being the one collectors seemed to pay the most attention to: not surprisingly especially by teenage boys.

The Penny set was issued in both straight steel and crimped steel. They are all pretty common, although the 333ml cans are more common than the larger size.

Sources

The best source for the Tennent's sets is Lager Lovelies: The Story Behind the Glamour by Charles Schofield and Antony Kamm. (Glasgow, Richard Drew Publishing, 1984).