The carbonated soft drink industry has been largely consolidated into two big players: Coca-Cola and Pepsi. These two brands have absorbed most of the competition, either continuing to market brands like Dr. Pepper and 7Up, or merely letting other brands disappear. Royal Crown continues to battle gamely, a distant third place contender.
But when we grew up, there was a veritable cornucopia of brands of soda. I would stand in front of Moonwink Grocery's chest-type pop machine for several minutes trying to make up my mind as to which beverage to spend my dime on.
My favorite back in the 60's was Grapette. "Thirsty or not!" Grapette was started in Camden, Arkansas in 1939. It became a national seller by the 1950's. I remember it had a really cool bottle with a recessed band around the middle. Grapette was absorbed by rival Nu-Grape in the 70's and disappeared. It's back now as Sam's Grapette in Wal-Mart stores. The flavor is supoosed to be the same, but I guarantee you it's not in those cool bottles any more.
Speaking of Nu-Grape, it too was an option. Founded in Atlanta in 1921, it too disappeared in the recessions of the 70's But you can still obtain it somehow, along with many of the other brands I mention in this piece, at http://www.retrosoda.com/.
Nehi started in 1924. It became so popular that its producers, the Chero-Cola/Union Bottle Works, officially changed their name to the Nehi Corporation. In 1955, they changed their name again to Royal Crown Cola. You could find all sorts of flavors of Nehi all over the country. Radar's favorite was grape, as you know. While RC Cola can still be found everywhere, albeit in an obscure corner of the soft drink section of the supermarket, I haven't seen Nehi since the 70's.
Some disappeared brands were made by the Big Boys. Fanta was Coca-Cola's answer to Nehi, coming in various flavors. Coke's Sprite has survived to our day, Pepsi's Teem has not. Coke also made a diet drink called Like, and another vanished brand called Simba in the 70's.
Speaking of Pepsi, when Mountain Dew was introduced by them in 1965, it was marketed as a hillbilly drink. "It'll tickle yor innards!" was its claim. A rival soon arose, Kickapoo Joy Juice, produced by Monarch Beverages, which still exists. Kickapoo was named after a potent concoction that moonshiners brewed up in the Li'l Abner comic strip. They still make the citrus soda, but only market it overseas. Monarch also produced Bubble Up, Dad's Root Beer, and Moxie, which continues to have a huge NE US following, but which never made it down to Oklahoma.
Another long-gone brand was Whistle, produced by the Vess company. "Thirsty? Just whistle!"
Orange Crush tasted like, well DUH! It achieved tremendous popularity in 1978 when the perennial weakling Denver Broncos made it all the way to the Super Bowl before remembering their weak nature and getting clobbered. I preferred Strawberry Crush myself.
Grapefruit sodas have long been popular. I really loved Squirt. It had a bonzer bottle with a twist in the middle. Canada Dry also made a rival, Wink. Fresca was great, too, before the 1969 ban on cyclamates. That ban nearly drove RC Cola out of business, because the public quit buying its huge generator of revenue, Diet-Rite. RC added a little sugar to make the nasty saccharine taste more palatable, but the public preferred the now-vile-tasting Diet Pepsi and Tab with their zero calories. Tab tried adding a bit of sugar, too, at first, and marketed it with a very politically incorrect "Tab tastes good enough for guys!" Yeesh.
The soft drink concept lost a lot of its charm when returnable bottles were discontinued. In fact, look for an upcoming article on that very subject. In the meantime, imagine you're eight years old, and you have finally made a decision. A frosty cold Mission orange soda is about to withdrawn form the chest, as soon as you maneuver it down the rails towards that coin-operated opening.
Comments (14)
Keep them comin' Love goin' down memory lane
Posted by Phyllis Cate | April 6, 2007 6:37 PM
Posted on April 6, 2007 18:37
I too remember alot of those sodas....still to this day, the ones I splurge on are Orange and Strawberry Crush...I have to fight the kids for them....awesome sodas....
Posted by Tony | April 8, 2007 12:13 AM
Posted on April 8, 2007 00:13
This is my first comment, but it surely won't be the last! The memories come flooding back while reading your blogs. I remember having a refrigerator in the garage of our suburban home and crates of little bottles of coke and chocola. The neighbor kids would come over and we'd always grab a pop out of the garage fridge. Chocola was my favorite. I always loved getting pop out of the machines with the little window in the door you would open and pull the pop out, and how about pop cans with the tab that pulled off, but you had to be careful in the summer that you didn't step on one of those pull tabs! Thanks for the memories! Now I'm off to do some more reminiscing!
Posted by Rhonda | April 11, 2007 7:06 PM
Posted on April 11, 2007 19:06
Hmm...just a bit first about the reused bottles....hard to believe that we sucked on bottles that were in turned sucked on by numerous others....I hope the heat process was mighty strong in the sterlilzation lab...
you saw some bottles with visible wear around the middle, that were prob getting near retirement. I don't want to think of where the bottles I drank from
were previously inserted in. It's simply
one of those "You don't want to know" things, Like how they make sausage or pass bills in Congress, or whatever, man.....
Posted by scott | July 17, 2007 2:27 AM
Posted on July 17, 2007 02:27
I used to love Sun Drop Golden Cola. It came in a green bottle and always had a tag line on it that said As Refreshing As A Cup Of Coffee.
And who can forget Fizzies? Like a flavored alka seltzer that allegedly turned plain tap water into soda. It was lousy but we thought it was a cool concept. Kind of like flavor straws.
Posted by russell | March 18, 2008 6:28 PM
Posted on March 18, 2008 18:28
Yes, I myself remember a lot of the "Pop's" that are mentioned here in this blog. Its a shame that a lot of the younger people will not know the real taste of a lot of them because the corporations have bought up a lot of them and either made formula changes from natural sugar to the other " Crap " High Fructose Corn Syrup or just droped the product all together because it was not making enough of profit for them.
Posted by Joe | April 23, 2008 12:19 AM
Posted on April 23, 2008 00:19
I have one of the old Mountain Dew "hillbilly" bottles laying around. My kids got a kick out of the caricature of the hillbilly getting a hole blown in his hat by the cork from the bottle.
My favorite missing soda is called Pomac. Mom would treat me with a 6 pack once a month or so. I remember it being a kind of Apple Cider/Ginger Ale flavor drink.
Posted by Howie | May 16, 2008 7:13 PM
Posted on May 16, 2008 19:13
I thought I was going crazy, because I am the only one that remembers POMAC!!!! Thank you!!!!
I grew up in Texas and No One Else remembers Pomac AND putting the Candy 'Hot Tamales' in created a cool look and flavor.
Any one remember that?
Posted by Patty | July 16, 2008 4:47 PM
Posted on July 16, 2008 16:47
I remember POMAC soda. I live in western Oklahoma, small town. Only one place had Pomac here. Stop And Shop conv store. Didn't do the tamalie candy deal, but we used to pretend like it was beer. WE WERE PRE TEENS, may around 1969??
Loved tht stuff though.
Johnny
Posted by Johnny | September 2, 2008 7:48 PM
Posted on September 2, 2008 19:48
The local produce stand has Grape Nehi. Anyone remember the soda in the 70's that was rumored to have a small percent of beer or alcohol? Was like a gingerale look and feel.
Posted by mb | September 24, 2008 4:35 PM
Posted on September 24, 2008 16:35
I remember Pomac that we bought in the gas station, tiny town in central Kansas, around 1967 would be my best guess. The mystique among preteens was that it was actually beer, or part beer, or beer-like in some way, so it was a scandal and a thrill to drink it, although we all claimed that it tasted horrid (to assist us in believing in it's forbidden qualities, I think). I can't find anything but heresay about it on the web now. Would love to see the bottle if anyone has one.
Posted by detroitsubway | December 31, 2008 12:33 PM
Posted on December 31, 2008 12:33
When it comes to soda pop, I still cannot get past the fact that in those days we dutifully dragged those empty six-packs with us on our weekly trip to the grocery and swapped them for full six-packs. Recycling glass, effortlessly, without a second thought— and without a middleman. Odd how glass bottles were phased out in favor of non-returnable plastic just as public recycling programs became p.c. and were cranking up.
Posted by NCeddie | January 19, 2009 11:34 AM
Posted on January 19, 2009 11:34
Kicking back an Orange Nehi tonight only $.99 for a 2 litter at the truck stop in Bloomington, IN can also get peach, and strawberry.
Posted by Jay | April 9, 2009 10:43 PM
Posted on April 9, 2009 22:43
Hmmmm! Kickapoo! I thought that was an indian tribe in Oklahoma? Used to know a girl from their who said she was from the kickapoos? How about that Chocolaty drink Yoohoo! I can't believe anyone liked Fresca? Not I said the fly! Their are many regional soft drinks that have come and gone! Their bottles with applied painted labeling are collectable! Crush and Nehi were standards! I liked Canada Dry ginger ale! We can't foget about the local grocery store drinks that were often much cheaper! I wasn't a Pepper fan either! Dad's rootbeer was good! Hires rootbeer! Maybe you ought to do a beers and ales of the past Ron! That's a whole new ballgame their!
Posted by Rivers End | June 9, 2009 11:00 PM
Posted on June 9, 2009 23:00