Castlemaine XXXX's mascot is Mr Fourex - a jovial cartoon man in a suit with a boater hat, who features on the City side of the Fourex Brewery at Milton, Queensland and has been used in advertising since 1924. [1] [2] [3] He was the face of XXXX advertising campaigns until 1967 and afterwards remained featured on bottles and packaging. [3] He was used for a billboard campaign in 2005, [3] and a limited edition XXXX Gold can in 2019 as part of a "retro campaign". [4]
The true identity for the inspiration behind the cartoon remains a mystery. [5] [6] Mr Fourex is sometimes said to be modelled after Paddy Fitzgerald, a former director of the company, [3] however Mr Fourex had been conceived in 1924, and Fitzgerald started with XXXX only in circa 1933. [7] A second theory is that the cartoon is modelled on a well-known dwarf who sold newspapers in the inner city suburb of Fortitude Valley in the late 1920s. [3]
He was included in the 2004 List of Queensland Heritage Icons established by the National Trust of Queensland. [5]
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Castlemaine Perkins is a brewery at 185 Milton Road, Milton, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is a wholly owned entity of the Japanese-controlled Lion company. Operations began in 1878 and continue today. Castlemaine Perkins is the home of the XXXX beer brand.
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Nicholas Fitzgerald was an Australian brewer, company director and politician. He was co-founder of the Castlemaine brewery in Melbourne, chairman of directors of the Castlemaine Brewery Company (Melbourne) and a member of the Victorian Legislative Council from 1864 until 1907.
Edward Fitzgerald was an Australian brewer and solicitor. He was the founder of the Castlemaine Brewery, which went on to have significant operations in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.
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Hon. Patrick Perkins, J. P.,, nicknamed Paddy Perkins, was a brewer and politician in colonial Queensland. He was a Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly and, later, a Member of the Queensland Legislative Council.
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Castlemaine Brewery Company (Melbourne) Ltd was a major brewer in Victoria, Australia, from 1885 until its amalgamation into the new Carlton and United Breweries in 1907.
The Castlemaine Brewery was an Australian brewery and brewing company established in 1857 by Edward Fitzgerald. He was joined in the business by his brother Nicholas Fitzgerald in 1859, after which the firm spread rapidly, opening breweries in Melbourne, Newcastle, Sydney and Brisbane, along with smaller breweries at Daylesford and Newbridge. The breweries, though all originating from the same brothers, were either established or later floated as separate companies with distinct histories thereafter, even though the brothers retained a stake in them.