An original Joe Louis Punch sign, it was a popular soft drink launched in 1945 by the All-American Soft Drink Company in Chicago, and later bottled by companies like the Brown Belle Bottling Company. The original signs can be difficult to find, a lot of reproductions out there. Joe Louis Punch was primarily grape-flavored, but other flavors were developed like strawberry, raspberry, orange, lime, ginger-ale and sparkling water. Joe Louis Punch was only on the market for about five years (if that long) beginning in 1945, before it went out of business. Part of the reason may have been that Joe Louis (who was also an investor in it) was too busy doing other things to help promote the sales more after the initial heavy advertising for it. As a promotional stunt he reportedly sent Billy Conn and Tami Mauriello some bottles in September 1946.
It's fascinating, I'm a big soda drinker, always have been, it's delicious, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Mellow Yellow, Mountain Dew, Sunkist, Crush, Fanta, you name it. I would have loved to have tried a bottle of Joe Louis Punch.
It's driving me crazy that I can't find the photo to match up with this card, one of my favorite cards, the 1949 Hokus Pokus - Joe Louis. PSA labels this card as a 1959 issue, I'm not sure what year these were really issued. I know that the image of Louis on this card was taken in 1948 in Earl's Court in London, England, I just can't pin down the exact photo, it's frustrating.
This is one of the coolest items you'll ever see. On October 16th, 2014, Pearl Jam played at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan, and this is one of the official concert posters, which features an image of "The Brown Bomber" in robot armor. The poster was designed by artist Munk One, he depicted the legendary Joe Louis wearing a suit of metallic robotic armor as a creative tribute to Detroit's dual legacy as both the "Motor City" and the birthplace of the RoboCop franchise. These posters are very pricey but they sell like hotcakes and it's not hard to see why, it's just awesome looking.
One of the coolest boxing photos ever, Joe Louis, living up to his nickname "The Brown Bomber", inspects the cockpit of the U.S. Army's first monoplane bomber during a visit to Selfridge Field in Michigan in 1941.
This is really cool, a Ripley's Believe it or Not, Jim Beam advertisement featuring Joe Louis. I had a chance to visit a Ripley's museum in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina in the early 1990s, a really fun experience.
There was also a Wax Museum on the strip in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, in the early 90s that I visited, I love stuff like that, creepy, weird stuff like that. Anyway, here's another one of my favorite photos of Joe Louis, he's sitting in a chair being measured for a wax statue of himself to be displayed at the famous Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum in London, England.
2018 Edward Vela #/50 - Joe Louis. This is my favorite Edward Vela Joe Louis card. It's one hell of an image of Louis to put on a card. This photo was part of a series of photographs taken in 1941 at Greenwood Lake in New York, Joe Louis was using it as his official training camp. He was preparing for major championship bouts, relaxing, and socializing with notable figures like legendary actress and singer Lena Horne.
1962 - The Joe Louis Milk Company. The company was located at 6215 S Prairie Ave in Chicago, Illinois. In the 1960s, he co-owned the Joe Louis Milk Company in Chicago, which supplied milk to local stores and briefly into Chicago schools. The milk brand was one of several entrepreneurial ventures Louis pursued in his post-boxing years. While his dairy company—along with other business ventures like a restaurant, a whiskey label, and an insurance company—eventually went under, the brand remains a fascinating part of his legacy.
Joe Louis had his own whiskey, he launched the Joe Louis Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey in 1952, shortly after his retirement. The original label featured the Joe Louis Distilling Company. To market the brand, bottles were creatively packaged with miniature pairs of boxing gloves. However, the venture was short-lived and production ceased by late 1953. Decades later, the brand was officially revived by new ownership under the name Joe Louis "Champion of Them All" Bourbon. The modern 90-proof bourbon is hand-crafted and gives back to the community, with a portion of the proceeds from every bottle sold supporting organizations like USA Boxing.
It's driving me nuts that I can't find the photo that matches with the 1936 Mitchell & Sons - Gallery of Champions - Joe Louis. It's a legendary card and one of my favorites.
It's a famous image of Louis in 1935, he was in his prime and it appeared in newspapers and publications, here it is on the cover of the French magazine "Match" in 35'. Still, I'd like to find a pure, clear photo of the image.
Joe Louis opened his own famous establishment, The Joe Louis Restaurant & Bar, in September 1946. It was located at 11 West 125th Street in Harlem, New York City. You could actually obtain souvenir photos of Louis from the restaurant for $1.50 and they were issued in an envelope with the restaurant logo on it.
Ok, I've gone about as far as I can go with the photos behind Joe Louis cards, it's a shame that I couldn't find all of the photos to match all of his cards, I gave it all I had. Folks, he's the greatest and most dominant champion in boxing history, in any weight division, and Ring magazine didn't rank him number 1 on their "100 greatest punchers of all-time" list for nothing. Let that sink in, number 1 out of every boxer in history. He earned that ranking because of his mechanical perfection, explosive combinations, and devastating power in both hands. Rather than swinging wildly, he threw deceptively short, highly efficient punches while maintaining textbook balance, allowing him to deliver crushing blows without leaving himself vulnerable. Several core factors elevated Louis into boxing's greatest puncher: Punch-Perfect Mechanics: Every strike Louis threw—whether a jab, cross, hook, or uppercut—was executed with flawless technique. He understood leverage and weight transfer, ensuring every shot carried maximum concussive force. Relentless Combinations: Louis was a master of throwing consecutive, punishing punches. Once he hurt an opponent, he rarely allowed them to recover, unleashing rapid, targeted flurries. Economy of Movement: Unlike sluggers who waste energy on looping power shots, Louis operated with terrifying efficiency. His punches were direct and explosive, allowing him to inflict maximum damage while staying calm and preserving his stamina. Unerring Accuracy: Louis wasted very few punches. His ability to track his opponents and pinpoint openings in their guard meant that almost all his landed strikes carried fight-altering power. Here it is, Joe Louis, punching perfection.
If you study Joe Louis and look at his career and fights, one thing that really jumps out at you is how legitimately scary the guy was. He was one of the most intimidating fighters in boxing history. The way he went about his business inside the ring was unnerving. He was cold as ice. He took his work very seriously, in fact I've never seen a fighter that took it more serious than Louis did. His punching ability, his demeanor, the way he operated, it scared the hell out of opponents. Legendary trainer Ray Arcel once noted that just the looming thought of fighting Louis kept his opponents awake at night and stripped them of their confidence. Louis would meet his opponents in the center of the ring with a cold, blank, "half-smile". Legendary trainer Eddie Futch noted that he looked at adversaries like they were "something good to eat." He would dismantle a guy, and walk back to his corner with no expression, no emotion whatsoever, just a deadpan look on his face, it was quite chilling.
And sometimes you could catch Louis giving his opponent a subtle glance after annihilation. This is one of my favorite boxing photos to look at, it's fascinating, the look on Louis' face as he walks back to his corner. He was a nice guy outside the ring, but once he stepped through those ropes he was a different animal altogether, your complete destruction was all that mattered to him.
Jake LaMotta, nicknamed "The Bronx Bull", is up next. A legendary fighter, he was World Middleweight Champion from 1949 to 1951. He had another nickname that is more infamous, "The Raging Bull", he was called that because of his relentless, charging fighting style in the ring and his volatile, aggressive temperament outside of it. He arguably had the greatest chin in boxing history, you couldn't knock the guy out with a baseball bat. One of the greatest actors of all-time, Roberto DeNiro, famously portrayed him in the 1980 film, "Raging Bull." LaMotta had a fascinating fighting style, he was a quintessential swarmer and slugger. He relied on relentless forward pressure, a crouched stance, and an unbreakable chin. By constantly crowding his opponents, he forced brutal inside brawls where he could wear them down with devastating hooks and body shots. He was a machine who never took a step back. He would stalk opponents, cut off the ring, and trap them on the ropes or in the corners to unleash continuous, punishing combinations. Because he had a granite chin, he would often absorb heavy punches, deliberately "taking one to give two". However, he was also incredibly adept at rolling with punches, minimizing the impact of the hardest blows. He also had a brutal inside game, stepping in close, LaMotta abandoned the bladed stance to square up, giving him maximum leverage to throw vicious left hooks to the liver and nose-shattering uppercuts. He was also a highly cerebral and sometimes deceptive fighter. He would occasionally play possum—acting exhausted or hurt—to bait opponents into overcommitting. Once they threw caution to the wind, he would explode with a sudden, fight-changing counterattack, much like he did with Laurent Dauthuille in 1950, one of the most brutal and famous knockouts in boxing history. But enough about LaMotta, let's look at some of the photos behind his cards. This is one of the rarest cards on this planet, the 1949 Page's Pittsburgh Milk Co. - Jake LaMotta. This set is a carbon copy of the famous 1947 Bond Bread set, except a lot rarer, a lot.
I can't believe that the photo that matches up with this card isn't available anywhere, I'll leave it here in case I run across it. 1951 Topps Ringside - Jake LaMotta.
2011 Topps Allen & Ginter - Code Cards - Jake LaMotta. This is my favorite Jake LaMotta card, it's wicked cool looking, the design looks like aliens made the card, and the image of "The Bronx Bull" is awesome.
Comments
An original Joe Louis Punch sign, it was a popular soft drink launched in 1945 by the All-American Soft Drink Company in Chicago, and later bottled by companies like the Brown Belle Bottling Company. The original signs can be difficult to find, a lot of reproductions out there. Joe Louis Punch was primarily grape-flavored, but other flavors were developed like strawberry, raspberry, orange, lime, ginger-ale and sparkling water. Joe Louis Punch was only on the market for about five years (if that long) beginning in 1945, before it went out of business. Part of the reason may have been that Joe Louis (who was also an investor in it) was too busy doing other things to help promote the sales more after the initial heavy advertising for it. As a promotional stunt he reportedly sent Billy Conn and Tami Mauriello some bottles in September 1946.
An original Joe Louis Punch advertising hanger.
It's fascinating, I'm a big soda drinker, always have been, it's delicious, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Mellow Yellow, Mountain Dew, Sunkist, Crush, Fanta, you name it. I would have loved to have tried a bottle of Joe Louis Punch.
It's driving me crazy that I can't find the photo to match up with this card, one of my favorite cards, the 1949 Hokus Pokus - Joe Louis. PSA labels this card as a 1959 issue, I'm not sure what year these were really issued. I know that the image of Louis on this card was taken in 1948 in Earl's Court in London, England, I just can't pin down the exact photo, it's frustrating.
1936 Detroit Times Sports Stamps - Joe Louis. Missed this match by a damn hair.
Let's take a music break. One of the hardest hitting songs I've ever heard. Just a badass song.
This is one of the coolest items you'll ever see. On October 16th, 2014, Pearl Jam played at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan, and this is one of the official concert posters, which features an image of "The Brown Bomber" in robot armor. The poster was designed by artist Munk One, he depicted the legendary Joe Louis wearing a suit of metallic robotic armor as a creative tribute to Detroit's dual legacy as both the "Motor City" and the birthplace of the RoboCop franchise. These posters are very pricey but they sell like hotcakes and it's not hard to see why, it's just awesome looking.
One of the coolest boxing photos ever, Joe Louis, living up to his nickname "The Brown Bomber", inspects the cockpit of the U.S. Army's first monoplane bomber during a visit to Selfridge Field in Michigan in 1941.
1960 Anglo American Gum - Sports Parade - Joe Louis.
1958 National Sports Council Premium - Joe Louis.
1950 Kiddy's Favourites - Dark Blue - Joe Louis.
2025 Eternal Revelation - World Celebrities Edition - Authentic History Relic - Gold #/10 - Joe Louis. Love this set.
1976 Eddie Sargent - Bicentennial Stamps - Joe Louis.
This is really cool, a Ripley's Believe it or Not, Jim Beam advertisement featuring Joe Louis. I had a chance to visit a Ripley's museum in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina in the early 1990s, a really fun experience.
Another Jim Beam advertisement featuring "The Brown Bomber."
This is the photo of Joe Louis from the image of him in the Jim Beam advertisements.
There was also a Wax Museum on the strip in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, in the early 90s that I visited, I love stuff like that, creepy, weird stuff like that. Anyway, here's another one of my favorite photos of Joe Louis, he's sitting in a chair being measured for a wax statue of himself to be displayed at the famous Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum in London, England.
You know I'm a big horror movie fan and "Friday the 13th" is one of my favorite horror movie franchises.
1948 Chesterfield Cigarettes - Joe Louis.
Let's get a couple of Edward Vela cards in here, he makes some cool looking cards. This is a 2017 Edward Vela #/25 - Joe Louis.
2017 Edward Vela #/25 - Joe Louis. Nice image of Joe Louis wearing the belt he monopolized for almost 12 years.
2018 Edward Vela #/50 - Joe Louis. This is my favorite Edward Vela Joe Louis card. It's one hell of an image of Louis to put on a card. This photo was part of a series of photographs taken in 1941 at Greenwood Lake in New York, Joe Louis was using it as his official training camp. He was preparing for major championship bouts, relaxing, and socializing with notable figures like legendary actress and singer Lena Horne.
1962 - The Joe Louis Milk Company. The company was located at 6215 S Prairie Ave in Chicago, Illinois. In the 1960s, he co-owned the Joe Louis Milk Company in Chicago, which supplied milk to local stores and briefly into Chicago schools. The milk brand was one of several entrepreneurial ventures Louis pursued in his post-boxing years. While his dairy company—along with other business ventures like a restaurant, a whiskey label, and an insurance company—eventually went under, the brand remains a fascinating part of his legacy.
Joe Louis Milk Company cartons, these are extremely rare and hard to find.
These aren't easy to find either.
Joe Louis had his own whiskey, he launched the Joe Louis Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey in 1952, shortly after his retirement. The original label featured the Joe Louis Distilling Company. To market the brand, bottles were creatively packaged with miniature pairs of boxing gloves. However, the venture was short-lived and production ceased by late 1953. Decades later, the brand was officially revived by new ownership under the name Joe Louis "Champion of Them All" Bourbon. The modern 90-proof bourbon is hand-crafted and gives back to the community, with a portion of the proceeds from every bottle sold supporting organizations like USA Boxing.
It's fascinating, the famous PBS series "Antiques Roadshow" featured an original Joe Louis Whiskey bottle signed by Joe Louis himself.
Joe Louis Whiskey today.
ACEO Dr. Pepper Advertising Card - Joe Louis.
It's driving me nuts that I can't find the photo that matches with the 1936 Mitchell & Sons - Gallery of Champions - Joe Louis. It's a legendary card and one of my favorites.
It's a famous image of Louis in 1935, he was in his prime and it appeared in newspapers and publications, here it is on the cover of the French magazine "Match" in 35'. Still, I'd like to find a pure, clear photo of the image.
Joe Louis opened his own famous establishment, The Joe Louis Restaurant & Bar, in September 1946. It was located at 11 West 125th Street in Harlem, New York City. You could actually obtain souvenir photos of Louis from the restaurant for $1.50 and they were issued in an envelope with the restaurant logo on it.
2004 Game Face Game Card - Joe Louis.
1962 Dutch Gum - TEVE Set - Joe Louis/Floyd Patterson.
1950s Svart-Vita - OS Sportserien - Joe Louis/Floyd Patterson.
Ok, I've gone about as far as I can go with the photos behind Joe Louis cards, it's a shame that I couldn't find all of the photos to match all of his cards, I gave it all I had. Folks, he's the greatest and most dominant champion in boxing history, in any weight division, and Ring magazine didn't rank him number 1 on their "100 greatest punchers of all-time" list for nothing. Let that sink in, number 1 out of every boxer in history. He earned that ranking because of his mechanical perfection, explosive combinations, and devastating power in both hands. Rather than swinging wildly, he threw deceptively short, highly efficient punches while maintaining textbook balance, allowing him to deliver crushing blows without leaving himself vulnerable. Several core factors elevated Louis into boxing's greatest puncher: Punch-Perfect Mechanics: Every strike Louis threw—whether a jab, cross, hook, or uppercut—was executed with flawless technique. He understood leverage and weight transfer, ensuring every shot carried maximum concussive force. Relentless Combinations: Louis was a master of throwing consecutive, punishing punches. Once he hurt an opponent, he rarely allowed them to recover, unleashing rapid, targeted flurries. Economy of Movement: Unlike sluggers who waste energy on looping power shots, Louis operated with terrifying efficiency. His punches were direct and explosive, allowing him to inflict maximum damage while staying calm and preserving his stamina. Unerring Accuracy: Louis wasted very few punches. His ability to track his opponents and pinpoint openings in their guard meant that almost all his landed strikes carried fight-altering power. Here it is, Joe Louis, punching perfection.
If you study Joe Louis and look at his career and fights, one thing that really jumps out at you is how legitimately scary the guy was. He was one of the most intimidating fighters in boxing history. The way he went about his business inside the ring was unnerving. He was cold as ice. He took his work very seriously, in fact I've never seen a fighter that took it more serious than Louis did. His punching ability, his demeanor, the way he operated, it scared the hell out of opponents. Legendary trainer Ray Arcel once noted that just the looming thought of fighting Louis kept his opponents awake at night and stripped them of their confidence. Louis would meet his opponents in the center of the ring with a cold, blank, "half-smile". Legendary trainer Eddie Futch noted that he looked at adversaries like they were "something good to eat." He would dismantle a guy, and walk back to his corner with no expression, no emotion whatsoever, just a deadpan look on his face, it was quite chilling.
And sometimes you could catch Louis giving his opponent a subtle glance after annihilation. This is one of my favorite boxing photos to look at, it's fascinating, the look on Louis' face as he walks back to his corner. He was a nice guy outside the ring, but once he stepped through those ropes he was a different animal altogether, your complete destruction was all that mattered to him.
Another epic shot of Louis after the Conn knockout in 41'. Again, the ice cold, unemotional expression on his face is chilling.
Wicked photo of Joe Louis in his prime, that deadpan stare.
One more photo of Joe Louis and I'll move on, this is one of my favorites, sitting in front of the media during his 12-year reign. He was a phenom.
Jake LaMotta, nicknamed "The Bronx Bull", is up next. A legendary fighter, he was World Middleweight Champion from 1949 to 1951. He had another nickname that is more infamous, "The Raging Bull", he was called that because of his relentless, charging fighting style in the ring and his volatile, aggressive temperament outside of it. He arguably had the greatest chin in boxing history, you couldn't knock the guy out with a baseball bat. One of the greatest actors of all-time, Roberto DeNiro, famously portrayed him in the 1980 film, "Raging Bull." LaMotta had a fascinating fighting style, he was a quintessential swarmer and slugger. He relied on relentless forward pressure, a crouched stance, and an unbreakable chin. By constantly crowding his opponents, he forced brutal inside brawls where he could wear them down with devastating hooks and body shots. He was a machine who never took a step back. He would stalk opponents, cut off the ring, and trap them on the ropes or in the corners to unleash continuous, punishing combinations. Because he had a granite chin, he would often absorb heavy punches, deliberately "taking one to give two". However, he was also incredibly adept at rolling with punches, minimizing the impact of the hardest blows. He also had a brutal inside game, stepping in close, LaMotta abandoned the bladed stance to square up, giving him maximum leverage to throw vicious left hooks to the liver and nose-shattering uppercuts. He was also a highly cerebral and sometimes deceptive fighter. He would occasionally play possum—acting exhausted or hurt—to bait opponents into overcommitting. Once they threw caution to the wind, he would explode with a sudden, fight-changing counterattack, much like he did with Laurent Dauthuille in 1950, one of the most brutal and famous knockouts in boxing history. But enough about LaMotta, let's look at some of the photos behind his cards. This is one of the rarest cards on this planet, the 1949 Page's Pittsburgh Milk Co. - Jake LaMotta. This set is a carbon copy of the famous 1947 Bond Bread set, except a lot rarer, a lot.
1948 Leaf Gum - Jake LaMotta. Extremely tough card to find in high grade.
Check out this 1948 Leaf Gum - Jake LaMotta. Just wow, what a unicorn.
1951 Albosport Didasco - Jake La Motta.
I can't believe that the photo that matches up with this card isn't available anywhere, I'll leave it here in case I run across it. 1951 Topps Ringside - Jake LaMotta.
1968 Mira Tuttosport - Regalo Lottery Back - Jack La Motta. They obviously misspelled his first name.
2011 Topps Allen & Ginter - Code Cards - Jake LaMotta. This is my favorite Jake LaMotta card, it's wicked cool looking, the design looks like aliens made the card, and the image of "The Bronx Bull" is awesome.
2008 Donruss Sports Legends - Base- Jake LaMotta.