Bertie was an iconic and much-loved cartoon character unique to Ballarat and throughout Central Victoria. But who was Ballarat Bertie?
This post is inspired by an enquiry and interesting discussion with a client who visited the Ballarat Research Hub at Eureka. He had driven past a former shop on the corner of Eyre Street and Lyons Street South in Ballarat when he noticed a mural of Ballarat Bertie. This piqued his interest and he arrived keen to learn more about the former shop and the Ballarat Bitter mural featuring Ballarat Bertie.
In 1926, the Ballarat Brewing Company undertook a major advertising campaign to promote the company and its new beer brand, Ballarat Bitter. O’Brien's Advertising was given a brief to create “a character like Johnny Walker” (1), who featured on the eponymous Scotch whiskey brand. The character they devised was Ballarat Bertie who has been described as “a cellarman at the brewery”. (2) As Keith Deutsher writes, he was “Ballarat Bertie, the little man with a walrus moustache clad in an apron holding up his foaming glass of beer.” (3)
The Bertie label appeared on every bottle of Ballarat Bitter the company produced. The advertising campaign proved to be a tremendous success and Bertie became synonymous not only with the brewing company but also with Ballarat. (4)
During the Second World War, Bertie became the ship mascot of HMAS Ballarat. He is still the mascot of the current HMAS Ballarat and remains a popular symbol with the ship’s company. (5). Also, during the war, the Ballarat Brewing Company exported its beer around the globe to the many locations Australian soldiers were serving. The soldiers with a Ballarat connection were often known as Ballarat Berties. (6)
In 1971, Ballarat Brewing Company was sold to Carlton and Uniting Breweries (CUB). This sale resulted in CUB removing Bertie from the Ballarat Bitter label. Such was the outcry and protests from the people of Ballarat, who by now had a deep affection for Bertie, that CUB reversed its decision and reinstated Bertie on the label.
CUB ceased production of beer at the former site of Ballarat Brewing Company in 1989 and ceased production of Ballarat Bitter in 1991. In 2006 the Foster Group, the parent company of CUB, decided to produce a limited run of Ballarat Bitter with its iconic Bertie label. The demand was so popular that 40 pallets, or 115,000 cans, were sold in three days. (7). The limited release was only made available for sale from hotels and bottle shops around Ballarat. The relaunched beer was made available in cans, not the traditional glass bottles, and the cans became collectors' items. (8)
At the corner of Eyre Street and Lyons Street South, Ballarat, there is a well-known mural of Ballarat Bertie on the side of the former Prices grocery shop, which has been refurbished into apartments. There is also a smaller contemporary mural of Bertie on the side of the Royal Oak Hotel on the corner of South Street and Raglan Street South, Ballarat.
The impact of Ballarat Bertie in Ballarat’s history is best summed up by the Ballarat Revealed website: “the character of Ballarat Bertie and the people of Ballarat’s affection for him lives on today through the mural on the side of the apartment building. This site is an important reminder of Ballarat’s history and a tangible reminder of the little cellarman who proudly held his pint of Ballarat Bitter aloft.” (9)
Simon Jacks
Australiana Research Librarian
Link to article from Royal Australian Navy News. About Bertie becoming HMAS Ballarat mascot. 19 April 2007, p. 18
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/267312878?searchTerm=%22ballarat%20bertie%22
Ballarat Bertie in Verse. Kyabram Free Press and Rodney and Deakin Shire Advocate, 11 June 1953, p.16
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/270306384?searchTerm=%22ballarat%20bertie%22
The apartment for sale advertisement on Real Esate.com in 2019 showing the Bertie mural and description of the building inside.
https://www.realestate.com.au/news/ballarat-bertie-muchloved-beer-mascot-original-mural-for-sale/
FOOTNOTES
(1). Ballarat Revealed. https://ballaratrevealed.com/tour.php?action=view_tour&tour_id=62 Accessed 1 June 2023.
(2). Ballarat Revealed
(3). Keith Deutsher, 'Breweries of Australia: a history', Port Melbourne Vic: Thomas C. Lothian Pty Ltd. 1999. p. 95
(4). Ballarat revealed
(5). 'Ballarat embraces Bertie mascot', Royal Australian Navy News.19 April 2007. p.18
(6). Ballarat Revealed
(7). Ballarat Revealed
(8). 'Cheers to the return of Ballarat’s great icon', Ballarat Courier, November 12, 2006. Online article. Accessed 6 June 2023
(9). Ballarat Revealed
