Dr. Pepper's origins?

[NW Mailing List]

Sam:

 

You are correct the "new" Nehi is bottled in the Dr. Pepper bottling plan in
downtown West Jefferson NC.  DP is still a force in this small community.
The plant is across the street from the fill which used to carry one leg of
the Y.  My understanding is that there was also a short spur at one point to
serve the bottling plant the Mr. Colvard and his family ran.

 

R.D. Williams

 

  _____  

From: nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org
[mailto:nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org] On Behalf Of NW Mailing List
Sent: Tuesday, May 12, 2009 8:38 PM
To: NW Mailing List
Subject: Re: Dr. Pepper's origins?

 

I know I'm a bit late joining this discussion.

 

Concerning the popularity of Dr. Pepper in Roanoke in the 50's, I remember
reading in the Roanoke Times a couple of years ago when the big Dr. Pepper
sign downtown was being renovated that Dr. Pepper's PR folks said that the
company (which I think is owned by Pepsi now) was glad to help fund the
restoration because Roanoke is still the city/area with the highest DP
consumption per capita.  I know I do my part, at least with the diet version
which tastes remarkably like the real thing, IMH0.

 

Also concerning Dr. Pepper being a Southern thing until recent decades, I
remember well my Long Island cousins visiting my family in Farmville in the
50's and being tickled to discover a drink with that funny name.  Of course,
I and my sibs loved to visit New York and watch the reaction whenever we
stopped at a gas station (there were no "convenience stores" in those days)
and asked for a Dr. Pepper.

 

Concerning Royal Crown Cola, that was the Wilson Nehi Bottling Company's
cola drink, so I would guess wherever you found Nehi you found RC and vice
versa.  In later years, RC was bottled by the Royal Crown Bottling Company,
if my memory serves me correctly.  I don't know if Nehi changed the name of
the company or if RC was spun off to go national.  I think Royal Crown Cola
has been available continuously, but until recently I hadn't seen Nehi sodas
for 20 or 30 years.  I assumed the brand went defunct.

 

But, in January 2008 I was in Lansing, NC--yep, the same village that's on
the Virginia Creeper Trail--and found the reincarnated Nehi sodas in the
local grocery store!  I was so elated I bought two, a grape and an orange.
The bottles say "ORIGINAL NEHI" "The Tradition of Taste Since 1924."  The
bottles also say "BOTTLED UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF DR PEPPER/SEVEN UP, INC,
PLANO TX...."  I didn't keep the caps, but I'm sure they said that the
drinks were bottled in West Jefferson, NC!  This really took me back because
when I was growing up Nehi--and Coca-Cola as well--had a bottling plant in
every small town or at least every town I visited in southern Virginia.  The
uncle of one of my friends worked at the one in Farmville (I think it's an
auto parts store now) and I got to visit often.  It was almost magical to
watch those bottles marching along single-file and getting shot full of
those beautiful colored liquids.  And I always got strawberry.

 

I have since found the "new" Nehi's here in Roanoke.  The new bottles are
attractive but it would be nice if they went back to the old Nehi bottles
that I remember as having a king of woven texture raised on the glass.  Oh
well, I'll take what I can get.

 

Sam Putney

  

 

----- Original Message ----- 

From: NW <mailto:nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>  Mailing List 

To: 'NW <mailto:nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>  Mailing List' 

Sent: Tuesday, May 05, 2009 4:53 PM

Subject: RE: Dr. Pepper's origins?

 

We need not forget RC (Royal Crown) Cola..especially if accompanied by a
Moon Pie.  Any true Southerner will understand!

 

I have many Wythe County ancestors going back to the Revolution so I like to
believe it was in Rural Retreat.  I well remember, as a child, my paternal
Grandmother and Great-aunts (from Draper in Pulaski County) telling me that
Dr. Pepper was invented in Rural Retreat.

 

What is the true story of Dr Pepper*

There are a few different versions of how this beverage was conceived and
named. 


>From the Wythe County Bicentennial Book authored by Mary Kegley:


There are varying stories, but most accounts agree that the name was given
to honor Dr. Charles T. Pepper who was said to have concocted the drink. His
clerk at the store, Wade Morrison later went to Waco, Texas where he
reproduced the drink naming it Dr. Pepper. Some say Morrison created the
drink in Texas. After Morrison became the owner of the drug store in Texas,
Charles C. Alderton of New York was hired to handle the soda fountain and
mixed fruit flavors, finally blending the favorite drink now so popular.
Robert Sherman Lazenby (1867-1941) president of DR. Pepper Company for many
years is also credited with perfecting the flavor with a blend of 23 fruit
flavors. The drink was probably introduced to the public on a regular basis
about 1885, was first bottled in 1886. In 1888 it was bottled in Waco, TX by
Artesian Manufacturing and Bottling Company.

Dr. Charles T. Pepper also had a son, Louis or Louie, an optometrist who was
also known as Dr. Pepper. He worked part time in his father's drug store and
also claimed to have developed the formula for the drink.

Another story is that Morrison had romantic aspirations on Dr. Pepper's
daughter. Dr. Pepper was not in favor with the match and that is why
Morrison left for Texas. This story is probably not true because within the
time frame, Dr. Pepper's daughter would only have been around 5 at the time
Morrison left.

 

Ed Painter - Narrows, Va currently living in Russellville, AR.

 

 

 

From: nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org
[mailto:nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org] On Behalf Of NW Mailing List
Sent: Tuesday, May 05, 2009 11:07 AM
To: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org
Subject: Re: Dr. Pepper's origins?

 

I recall Dr. Pepper as being "only a Southern pop" like Nehi. Dr. Pepper's
screen-door icon and roadside signs depicted a clock showing the times to
take a a Dr. Pepper were 10, 2 and 4. I lived in Cleveland, but spent all my
summers in Pulaski County, VA - both Nehi and Dr. Pepper were special
summertime treats for me; they never showed up in Cleveland.

 

John Carnahan

Columbus, OH

 

PS: My Wythe County (Va.) uncle always told me that Rural Retreat was the
cabbage-and-sauerkraut capital of the world, but I don't recall his
mentioning Dr. Pepper. 

 

 


  _____  


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