California Sunshine
09-25-2004, 01:08 AM
Dr Pepper contains no prune juice -- never has; never will.
The oldest Dr Pepper bottling facility in the world is located in Dublin, Texas. In fact, in June each year, Dublin usually renames itself Dr Pepper, Texas, for a one-week period to commemorate the opening of that plant in 1891. The Dublin plant, incidentally, is the only place that is still licensed to make Dr Pepper with the original formula; that is, Dr Pepper containing cane sugar, rather than the high-fructose corn syrup that virtually the entire soft drink industry switched to in the 1970's. If you want to get your hands on some original Dr Pepper, and you're not lucky enough to live within the Dublin plant's distribution area (roughly within a 50-mile radius of Dublin), you can visit the plant and buy it, you can order it by telephone from Old Doc's Soda Shop at 1-888-398-10-2-4, or 1-254-445-3939, or you can order it from the Old Doc's Soda Shop web site at www.drpep.com.
There is no period after the "Dr" in Dr Pepper, and there hasn't been since 1950 when the company adopted a new slanted block-style font. The lower case "r" was formed by a slanted line with a dot at the upper right. When combined with a period, the whole thing looked like Di:Pepper, which just wouldn't do. They solved the problem by dropping the period.
Dr Pepper contains 39.6 milligrams of caffeine in every 12 ounce can, which amounts to just a little more than Pepsi (37.2mg), and somewhat less than Coca-Cola (45.6mg).
Dr Pepper is owned by Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc., a subsidiary of the Cadbury PLC.
There are two Dr Pepper museums, one in Waco:
The Dr Pepper Museum and Free Enterprise Institute
300 South 5th Street
Waco, Texas 76701
877-DPGIFTS (toll free); 254-757-2433
www.drpeppermuseum.com
and
Old Doc's Soda Shop
105 E. Elm
Dublin, Texas 76446
888-398-1024 (toll free); 254-445-3939
www.drpep.com
And finally, since this is the internet, treat yourself to a visit to the official Dr Pepper web site at www.drpepper.com. They've gone to a great deal of trouble and expense to give you a show, and it's worth seeing.
A History of Dr Pepper, the World's Oldest Major Soft Drink
Dr Pepper Company is the oldest major manufacturer of soft drink concentrates and syrups in the United States. It is America's unique flavor and was created, manufactured and sold beginning in 1885 in the Central Texas town of Waco.
Dr Pepper is a “native Texan,” originating at Morrison's Old Corner Drug Store. It is the oldest of the major brand soft drinks in America. Like its flavor, the origin of Dr Pepper is out-of-the-ordinary. Charles Alderton, a young pharmacist working at Morrison's store, is believed to be the inventor of the now famous drink. Alderton spent most of his time mixing up medicine for the people of Waco, but in his spare time he liked to serve carbonated drinks at the soda fountain. He liked the way the drug store smelled, with all of the fruit syrup flavor smells mixing together in the air. He decided to to create a drink that tasted like that smell. He kept a journal, and after numerous experiments he finally hit upon a mixture of fruit syrups that he liked.
To test his new drink, he first offered it to store owner Morrison, who also found it to his liking. After repeated sample testing by the two, Alderton was ready to offer his new drink to some of the fountain customers. They liked it as well. Other patrons at Morrison's soda fountain soon learned of Alderton's new drink and began ordering it by asking him to shoot them a "Waco."
Morrison is credited with naming the drink "Dr Pepper" (the period was dropped in the 1950s). Unfortunately, the origin for the name is unclear. The Museum has collected over a dozen different stories on how the drink became known as Dr Pepper.
Dr Pepper gained such widespread consumer favor that other soda fountain operators in Waco began buying the syrup from Morrison and serving it. This soon presented a problem for Alderton and Morrison. They could no longer produce enough at their fountain to supply the demand.
Robert S. Lazenby, a young beverage chemist, had also tasted the new drink and he, too, was impressed. Alderton, the inventor, was primarily interested in pharmacy work and had no designs on the drink. He suggested that Morrison and Lazenby develop it further.
Morrison and Lazenby were impressed with the growth of Dr Pepper. In 1891, they formed a new firm, the Artesian Mfg. & Bottling Company, which later became Dr Pepper Company. Lazenby and his son-in-law, J.B. O'Hara moved the company from Waco to Dallas in 1923.
In 1904, Lazenby and O'Hara introduced Dr Pepper to almost 20 million people attending the 1904 World's Fair Exposition in St. Louis. The exposition was the setting for more than one major product debut. Hamburgers and frankfurters were first served on buns at the exposition, and the ice cream cone was introduced.
From 1910 to 1914, Dr Pepper was identified with the slogan, "King of Beverages." "Old Doc," a typical country doctor character with monocle and top hat, became the Dr Pepper trademark character in the 1920s and 1930s. During that era, research was discovered proving that sugar provided energy and that the average person experiences a letdown during the normal day at 10:30a.m., 2:30p.m. and 4:30p.m. A contest was held for the creation of an ad using this new information. The winner of the ad campaign came up with the famous advertising slogan, "Drink a bite to eat at 10, 2, and 4." Dr Pepper's slogan in the 1950s was "the friendly Pepper-Upper," which led the brand into the 1960s when it became associated with rock and roll music and on Dick Clark's American Bandstand TV show.
With changing times came changing slogans. To broaden its appeal across the nation, Dr Pepper hailed itself as "the most misunderstood soft drink," and then in the 1970s became "the most original soft drink ever in the whole wide world." In 1977, Dr Pepper advertising was marked by the famous "Be a Pepper" campaign, and today Dr Pepper's slogan is "Be You."
The oldest Dr Pepper bottling facility in the world is located in Dublin, Texas. In fact, in June each year, Dublin usually renames itself Dr Pepper, Texas, for a one-week period to commemorate the opening of that plant in 1891. The Dublin plant, incidentally, is the only place that is still licensed to make Dr Pepper with the original formula; that is, Dr Pepper containing cane sugar, rather than the high-fructose corn syrup that virtually the entire soft drink industry switched to in the 1970's. If you want to get your hands on some original Dr Pepper, and you're not lucky enough to live within the Dublin plant's distribution area (roughly within a 50-mile radius of Dublin), you can visit the plant and buy it, you can order it by telephone from Old Doc's Soda Shop at 1-888-398-10-2-4, or 1-254-445-3939, or you can order it from the Old Doc's Soda Shop web site at www.drpep.com.
There is no period after the "Dr" in Dr Pepper, and there hasn't been since 1950 when the company adopted a new slanted block-style font. The lower case "r" was formed by a slanted line with a dot at the upper right. When combined with a period, the whole thing looked like Di:Pepper, which just wouldn't do. They solved the problem by dropping the period.
Dr Pepper contains 39.6 milligrams of caffeine in every 12 ounce can, which amounts to just a little more than Pepsi (37.2mg), and somewhat less than Coca-Cola (45.6mg).
Dr Pepper is owned by Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc., a subsidiary of the Cadbury PLC.
There are two Dr Pepper museums, one in Waco:
The Dr Pepper Museum and Free Enterprise Institute
300 South 5th Street
Waco, Texas 76701
877-DPGIFTS (toll free); 254-757-2433
www.drpeppermuseum.com
and
Old Doc's Soda Shop
105 E. Elm
Dublin, Texas 76446
888-398-1024 (toll free); 254-445-3939
www.drpep.com
And finally, since this is the internet, treat yourself to a visit to the official Dr Pepper web site at www.drpepper.com. They've gone to a great deal of trouble and expense to give you a show, and it's worth seeing.
A History of Dr Pepper, the World's Oldest Major Soft Drink
Dr Pepper Company is the oldest major manufacturer of soft drink concentrates and syrups in the United States. It is America's unique flavor and was created, manufactured and sold beginning in 1885 in the Central Texas town of Waco.
Dr Pepper is a “native Texan,” originating at Morrison's Old Corner Drug Store. It is the oldest of the major brand soft drinks in America. Like its flavor, the origin of Dr Pepper is out-of-the-ordinary. Charles Alderton, a young pharmacist working at Morrison's store, is believed to be the inventor of the now famous drink. Alderton spent most of his time mixing up medicine for the people of Waco, but in his spare time he liked to serve carbonated drinks at the soda fountain. He liked the way the drug store smelled, with all of the fruit syrup flavor smells mixing together in the air. He decided to to create a drink that tasted like that smell. He kept a journal, and after numerous experiments he finally hit upon a mixture of fruit syrups that he liked.
To test his new drink, he first offered it to store owner Morrison, who also found it to his liking. After repeated sample testing by the two, Alderton was ready to offer his new drink to some of the fountain customers. They liked it as well. Other patrons at Morrison's soda fountain soon learned of Alderton's new drink and began ordering it by asking him to shoot them a "Waco."
Morrison is credited with naming the drink "Dr Pepper" (the period was dropped in the 1950s). Unfortunately, the origin for the name is unclear. The Museum has collected over a dozen different stories on how the drink became known as Dr Pepper.
Dr Pepper gained such widespread consumer favor that other soda fountain operators in Waco began buying the syrup from Morrison and serving it. This soon presented a problem for Alderton and Morrison. They could no longer produce enough at their fountain to supply the demand.
Robert S. Lazenby, a young beverage chemist, had also tasted the new drink and he, too, was impressed. Alderton, the inventor, was primarily interested in pharmacy work and had no designs on the drink. He suggested that Morrison and Lazenby develop it further.
Morrison and Lazenby were impressed with the growth of Dr Pepper. In 1891, they formed a new firm, the Artesian Mfg. & Bottling Company, which later became Dr Pepper Company. Lazenby and his son-in-law, J.B. O'Hara moved the company from Waco to Dallas in 1923.
In 1904, Lazenby and O'Hara introduced Dr Pepper to almost 20 million people attending the 1904 World's Fair Exposition in St. Louis. The exposition was the setting for more than one major product debut. Hamburgers and frankfurters were first served on buns at the exposition, and the ice cream cone was introduced.
From 1910 to 1914, Dr Pepper was identified with the slogan, "King of Beverages." "Old Doc," a typical country doctor character with monocle and top hat, became the Dr Pepper trademark character in the 1920s and 1930s. During that era, research was discovered proving that sugar provided energy and that the average person experiences a letdown during the normal day at 10:30a.m., 2:30p.m. and 4:30p.m. A contest was held for the creation of an ad using this new information. The winner of the ad campaign came up with the famous advertising slogan, "Drink a bite to eat at 10, 2, and 4." Dr Pepper's slogan in the 1950s was "the friendly Pepper-Upper," which led the brand into the 1960s when it became associated with rock and roll music and on Dick Clark's American Bandstand TV show.
With changing times came changing slogans. To broaden its appeal across the nation, Dr Pepper hailed itself as "the most misunderstood soft drink," and then in the 1970s became "the most original soft drink ever in the whole wide world." In 1977, Dr Pepper advertising was marked by the famous "Be a Pepper" campaign, and today Dr Pepper's slogan is "Be You."