There is very little reason to not believe that Jimmy Carter isn’t an admirable diplomat. He will be the first to tell you that he personally didn’t launch a bomb during his presidency. The safety and wellbeing of his nation was what came first. Many may disagree about his time in office, whether it be his handling of economics or international events, but he always struck you as someone who was genuinely nice. He was transparent, humbled by his actions, and admitting whenever he was wrong. He’s such a nice Baptist man that one of his few controversies in his 1976 campaign involved telling Playboy Magazine that he had committed adultery in his heart. He hadn’t actually performed an extramarital affair. He was just tempted.
Which makes it interesting that another major tool of his campaign was The Carter Family. It wasn’t just his wife Rosalyn or his daughter Amy. His mother Lillian would often appear on The Tonight Show and talk to Johnny Carson about how she was quitting smoking. She was a hoot, symbolizing the folksy behavior of a Southern family who had strong moral values. After all, Jimmy was sold as a peanut farmer. He knew the importance of hard work because prior to his time as governor, he made a successful business. He was the inspirational man who had just enough professionalism and bashfulness that you felt like you could trust him.
Which is fun because while the whole Carter Family feels worthy of their own biographies for being such upstanding citizens, there is one in particular who makes for an interesting glitch in the matrix. Jimmy symbolized what hard work could do. He was the embodiment of The American Dream. Meanwhile, there was his brother Billy. While no means an awful person, he was antithetical to his brother’s success in such a fascinating way. He would openly claim “I got a red neck, white socks, and Blue Ribbon beer.”
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Oh sure, who’s to say that Billy wasn’t representative of a similar American Dream? Because of Jimmy’s rise to the presidency, he was given a cultural platform that many would envy. Whereas Amy faded into the background, Billy was always there promoting the idea that he never met a beer that he didn’t drink. He was a gas station owner who represented a just as essential side of the southern coin. He worked hard, even if he didn’t have the academic chops of Jimmy. It made the president easier to see as sympathetic, more appreciative of the common man’s struggle, even as they teamed up with a failing beer plant to launch his own beer.
Before doing research, there were only two things that I really knew about Billy Carter on top of his lineage. The first was that Jimmy gave Billy ownership of his peanut farm upon becoming president only to have him run it into bankruptcy within those four years. The other was that he created a drink called Billy Beer. It feels mythic today, a punchline of some bygone era that simultaneously made me think it was a big sensation or one of the most triumphant failures of the era. Maybe it was both. After all, Billy was a colorful character who had his own “Billygate” when he had suspicious relations with Libya.
I want to say straight up that I have never drunk a drop of Billy Beer. It’s not some majestic product that has continued to prosper, serving as a lasting memory to Billy’s joys in life. If anything, its status now as novelty makes it closer to what he symbolizes to The American Narrative. Nobody entirely knows what made him so special, and yet you couldn’t help but love his desire to promote his own alcoholism at every turn. He worked hard to convince the world that he was a drunken master, and I guess he succeeded with this aluminum monument.
Things kicked off in 1977 when Billy was approached by The Falls City Brewing Company. They loved what they saw in his behavior, noticing that he was also an official spokesperson for Peanut Lolita. He was a Good Ol’ Boy, and it felt like a perfect time to hop on the bandwagon. Then again, Falls City was a regional brewing company with its own financial problems. The idea was brilliant, but the question was that given the current success of The Carter Family, would they be able to match the supply and demand?
At first, the idea sold itself. Who wouldn’t want to have a drink from the president’s brother? In some ways, the only way to promise that this would last for decades was if Carter formed his own dynasty. It seemed curious to think about how it would survive otherwise, especially with someone who had only been on the national stage for a few years, even then as a secondary figure in history. He was important, but Billy Beer needed to be that much of a knock-out that it would be one of The Carter Administration’s finest achievements. It was going to launch in a year that brought along Star Wars (1977). Was it going to launch a franchise of seasonal flavors, changing up the can’s iconography when Christmas rolled around as Billy held a drink in a Santa hat?
To be totally honest, Billy Beer has one of the more attractive and timeless looks that a beer can could have. It never existed in any other form than a 12 ounce can that proudly displayed the name Billy in bright blue letters. Underneath was its own personal stamp, which found a signed message from Billy himself that stated:
“I had this beer brewed up just for me. I think it’s the best I ever tasted. And I’ve tasted a lot. I think you’ll like it, too.”
Take it from Billy, who unconsciously seemed to promote Pabst Blue Ribbon just as much from how often he talked about it. He knew what good beer was as if he made it his personal mission to Anthony Bourdain around the world, sampling every beer and giving his approval rating. On the one hand, it was concerning that anyone would have that strong of a pallet for beer. Then again, having someone with a strong sense of taste would be trustworthy. His southern humbleness makes the signed message all the more memorable. He doesn’t enforce the idea of greatness. He “thinks” you’ll like it. That’s like slipping a can across the table, telling you to take a sip.
Again, Falls City was a regional brewery and thus couldn’t compete with national attention. They were very successful at first from everyone even vaguely curious to see what this was about. However, things got a bit out of hand almost immediately when it was revealed that the man who “thinks” Billy Beer is great was maybe not as great as he made it out to be.
Oh sure, he towed the party line at public events when having to sell Billy Beer to the masses. The issue was that after a few drinks he was more likely to share his opinion. Like many consumers, he was quick to point out that the taste wasn’t all that good. He personally still preferred to drink Pabst Blue Ribbon. It was the type of career-ending marketing that could keep a regional distributor from rising to the next level. If the most popular alcoholic in America couldn’t drink it, then why should those seeking a brief respite from their work weeks?
I love Billy Carter and his admiration for following his dreams. It’s all a bit wonky, given that he also had a model pick-up truck that you could assemble. However, he kept trying to find ways to put his own kooky spin on being a Carter. He’s your lovable brother who wasn’t really ever able to be the shining star in the family. He did good in the world and deserved everything he received. This wasn’t some sleazy shyster, even if the legacy of Billy Beer in the decades since have ranged from a forgotten knickknack to a glorious punchline.
Billy Beer didn’t end up being the Star Wars of beer, but it did have an interesting second life as this useless can of beer. Once it was discontinued, manufacturers destroying leftovers by the millions, it became part of the glorious black market, fetching thousands of dollars for a 12-pack. Why? It was for the novelty of it all. Who wouldn’t want to place it on the mantle and admire the joys of a bygone era? It was a time when southern humbleness was the wave of the nation, and it was perfectly distilled in a can of agreeably bad alcohol.
It looks like we’re living in a Golden Age for Billy Beer consumerists. If you hop over to E-Bay, you no longer have to shill out thousands for a can. Now you can average one for under $10. That’s a decent markdown from his novel “Redneck Power: The Wit and Wisdom of Billy Carter,” which is roughly $850 on Amazon right now. Though if you want something even better, there’s also Billy Beer shirts that you can get on Etsy and Redbubble for under $30. Yes, the era may be over but you can show your support in any way you want.
So please, feel free to buy me personally a Billy Beer shirt in men’s XL or XXL (the latter preferred). It would be a great way to feel less guilt during this holiday season as you think about what to get your favorite internet writer. I’ve given you months of quality reading material. The least you can do is buy me a drink, or a shirt for a drink. I’m not expecting you to get me the book… at least not until it’s significantly marked down.
Anyways, as another election year comes to a close I am reminded about the value not only of the candidate but of the people directly in their lives. While I think it’s important to judge the actions of the president (and nobody else), it’s interesting to see how those in their lives think of them, what they contribute to the world. From what I gather, The Carter Family may be one of the sweetest presidential families of the 20th century. They feel like they’d welcome you to a barbecue during Independence Day and ask how your day’s going. While Jimmy would be more academic and catching you up to date on family events, Billy would budge in and make an offhand remark. Everyone would laugh, and by then the weenies would be done.
I’m not sure if I have a soft spot for Billy Beer or recognize it as a joke of a failure. Whatever the case may be, I have an affection for that era of politics because it felt like a genuine effort for the common man to make a world of difference. Whatever failures you can argue happened, you cannot call Carter a failure as a person. He tried and admitted his faults. He is an endearing leader who continues to try and make the world a better place. Billy’s way involved giving the world a beer to drink in harmony. Given how things are going, that sounds downright decent.
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