“Beer: Helping ugly people get laid since 1862”

“Beer: Helping ugly people get laid since 1862” (or “helping ugly people have sex since 1862” or “getting ugly people laid since 1862,” or whatever date) is a popular saying printed on many gift items, such as T-shirts, signs and beer mugs. The saying has been cited in print since at least 2000.
 
Beer can help ugly people have sex if they are intoxicated and wear “beer goggles.”
     
“Beer: Helping white people dance since 1837,” “Bourbon: Making ice taste better since 1783” and “Tequila: Helping people wake up in strangers’ beds since 1521” are similar sayings.
           
“She’s not that ugly.—Jack Daniels” is a related saying.
 
     
Straight Dope Message Board
Decals and Bumper Stickers
Lexicon
05-11-2000, 01:08 AM
(...)
“Beer: helping UGLY people have SEX since 1063.”
 
The Firing Line Forums
TAZ
August 4, 2000, 10:58 AM
Not a bumper sticker and not RKBA, but funny none the less.
Beer: Helping Ugly People Have Sex Since 1869.
       
Google Books
Key West Graffiti
By W.J. Tolien
Buffalo, NY: Thorner Press
2001
Pg. 71:
Beer: Casual sponsor of sex since 1858.
Pg. 73:
Beer—Getting ugly people laid since 1869
 
26 April 2001, The Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica), “Virtually fat-free” by Tony Hendriks, pg. A4, col. 5:
The best thing about alcohol is that for centuries it’s helped ugly people have sex.
 
Google Books
W.C. Privy’s Original Bathroom Companion
Edited by Erin Barrett and Jack Mingo
New York, NY: St. Martin’s Griffin
2003
Pg. 71:
“Beer: Helping ugly people have sex since 3472 B.C.”
 
22 December 2003, Salina (KS) Journal, “Saddam’s lifestyle was all too familiar” by Dale McFeatters (Scripps Howard News Service), pg. A9, col. 3:
True, they’re not exactly dorm favorites like “Beer: Helping Ugly People Have Sex Since 1862,” but Saddam had the right spirit.
     
Google Books
Strange But True: A Novel
By John Searles
New York, NY: HarperCollins
2004
Pg. 13:
The only working stereo in the house is behind Ronnie’s locked bedroom door, along with his maroon and white football uniform, the Canon AE-1 that he got for his last birthday to take pictures for the yearbook, his collection of beer T-shirts that say things like BEER: HELPING UGLY PEOPLE HAVE SEX FOR 2000 YEARS, and a hundred other remnants of a teenage boy’s life.
 
Google Books
The Nerds Survival Guide
By D. J. Barrow
Mallow: Aria Software Ireland
2006
Pg. 119:
I personally haven’t been in the “Beer, helping ugly people have sex since 1862” category but I know plenty who have & regret it.
 
Google Books
1,001 Facts That Will Scare the S#*t Out of You:
The Ultimate Bathroom Reader
By Cary McNeal
Avon, MA: Adams Media
2010
Pg. 60:
Booze: helping ugly people get laid since the dawn of time.