In the early days of American soft drinks, the line between refreshing beverage and medicine was a little blurry -- soda was sold at drug stores, and promised healing properties. We've come a long way since then, but here are the stories behind some pop brands that have become a part of pop culture.
Secrets of Classic Drinks
by Steven Stern
In the early days of American soft drinks, the line between refreshing beverage and medicine was a little blurry -- soda was sold at drug stores, and promised healing properties. We've come a long way since then, but here are the stories behind some pop brands that have become a part of pop culture.
Coca Cola
Now sold in more than 200 countries, the world-dominating soft drink got its start in 1886, in Atlanta drug store. Pharmacist John Pemberton introduced the product as a non-alcoholic alternative to popular French patent medicines. Though it lacked alcohol, it got its kick from cocaine; the original formula called for a whopping five ounces of coca leaf per gallon of syrup. The cocaine was nixed in 1903, but today's soft drink still gets it flavor from a stimulant-free coca leaf extract. The exact recipe, of course, is a secret. The original formula is kept in a vault at the SunTrust Bank of Atlanta.
Visit coca-cola.com
Pepsi
Caleb Bradham introduced the number-two cola in 1898, serving it in his pharmacy in New Bern, North Carolina. His customers called it "Brad's drink." As it grew in popularity, he named the beverage Pepsi-Cola, after the pepsin included the original formula. By 1907, Bradham was selling 100,000 gallons of syrup a year. For most of the 30s and 40s, Pepsi kept its place in the soda market by selling 12-ounce bottles for the same price the competitors charged for six. "Twice as Much for a Nickel" was the drink's slogan.
Visit pepsi.com
7-Up
The Uncola debuted with the not-as-catchy name "Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda." Back in 1929, creator Charles Leiper Grigg marketed the drink, which originally contained the mood-stabilizing chemical lithium citrate, as a hangover cure. The story behind the brand name remains a mystery and various theories about the significance of the number seven have been floated. It might refer to the number of ingredients in the drink, the seven-ounce bottle, or perhaps on a cattle brand Grigg noticed. Some have even suggested the number refers to the atomic weight of lithium.
Visit 7-up.com
Dr. Pepper
The US Patent office says that Dr Pepper was served for the first time on December 1, 1885, making the mysteriously-flavored soft drink a year older than Coke. Invented by Charles Alderton, a pharmacist at Morrison's Old Corner Drug Store in Waco, Texas, it went national at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition. When most soft drinks switched to high-fructose corn syrup as a sweetener in the 1980s, a few Dr Pepper bottlers refused to give up on cane sugar -- most famously, the plant in Dublin, Texas. "Dublin Dr Pepper" is highly sought after, but only available in the Dublin area, and at the Dr Pepper museum in Waco.
Visit drpepper.com
Moxie
Four years ago, Moxie was declared the official state soft drink of Maine, after being a part of New England history since 1876. Vermont-born president Calvin Coolidge was a fan, as was Red Sox hero Ted Williams. The strangely bitter soda was originally marketed as a medicine, promising to cure softening of the brain, and promote "spunk."
Visit moxie.info
Cheerwine
The bright red, ultra-sweet, super-carbonated soda has been a favorite in the Carolinas since 1917. Company founder L.D. Peeler originally got the recipe for the cherry-flavored soda from a Saint Louis salesman. The "Nectar of the Tarheels" has found its way into recipes for everything from ice cream to barbecue sauce.
Visit cheerwine.com
Manhattan Special
This dark, sweet espresso-flavored soda actually comes from Brooklyn; it's made in a plant on Manhattan Avenue, in Williamsburg. New York's Italian-American community has been drinking it since 1895, when an immigrant named Michael Garavuso came up with the recipe. After more than a century as a local niche product, the soft drink's makers are now trying to find a wider market. Last year Manhattan Special was sold online for the first time.
Visit manhattanspecial.com
Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray
Famous 20th-century gossip columnist Walter Winchell called it "Jewish Champagne." First made on New York's Lower East Side around the 1870s, this vegetable-flavored soda has long been the chosen accompaniment for towering deli sandwiches. While the drink may originally have been sold as a health tonic, no one is sure who Dr. Brown was, or if even if he really existed.
Visit Cel-Ray on Wikipedia
RC Cola
First introduced as "Chero-Cola" in 1905, this was the first of a line of Royal Crown soft drinks created in Columbus, Georgia. By the 1950s, RC became a Southern staple, the classic match for a marshmallow-filled Moon Pie. Salted peanuts, dropped right into the bottle, are also a popular combination. In 1958, the Royal Crown Company introduced Diet Rite, the first low-calorie cola to hit the market.
Visit rccolainternational.com
