Bass Beer was the answer to the million pound question on Who Wants to be a Millionaire? recently. The question was regarding which logo was described in Joyce’s Ulyesses and featured in Manet and Picasso paintings. A further clue was that it had been in use since 1876. I didn’t know it from the four options presented but he had a 50/50 left and the other option was Coca Cola which I was reasonably sure was first produced in the 1880s. Famous Grouse and Stella Artois were the other options.
The company supposedly had an employee queue overnight to ensure that theirs was the first trade mark ever registered when the relevant Act came into force on New Year’s Day 1876.