You already know that Dr Pepper has a unique, spicy taste, but did you know that the history of the company is just as crunchy and interesting?
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Like many beloved soft drinks, Dr. Pepper a product of experiments in a pharmacy.Charles Alderton, a pharmacist at Morrison's Old Corner Drug Store in Waco, Texas, enjoyed experimenting with the flavored syrups at the store's soda fountain. Rather than simply accept the standard fruit flavors available at the time, in 1885 Alderton mixed and matched flavors until he created a unique drink that customers loved.
2. THERE MAY BE AN ACTUAL DR. PEPPER.
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Once Alderton perfected his new brew, it needed a name. Customers initially called the drink "a Waco," but Alderton boss Wade Morrison felt the elixir needed a catchier name. Morrison named the drink Dr. Pepper in a nod to a Dr. Charles T. Pepper, whom he claimed had been a colleague in Rural Retreat, Virginia, in his younger years. In one telling of this story, Morrison had left Virginia for Texas after an affair with Dr. Pepper's daughter fell flat, but signs point to this romantic origin storymost urban legend.
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Texas' favorite soft drink shot into the national consciousnessWorld Exhibition 1904in St. Louis. As Dr. Pepper Museum notes, the drink along with the ice cream cone, hamburger and hot dog made their first big splash at the event.
4. LEGALLY IT IS NOT A co*ke.
For much of Dr Pepper's history, the drink was a regional delicacy limited to the South and Southwest. Coca-Cola and Pepsi had used their example in the Dr. case. Pepper to build nationwide networks of independent bottlers who had exclusive franchise contracts to make colas from their respective syrups. Dr. Pepper simply couldn't penetrate new markets with the deck stacked so squarely against it.
In 1963 it all changedfederal courtdetermined that Dr. Pepper's unique flavor prevented it from being a "cola product," which meant bottlers Dr. Pepper without jeopardizing their exclusive agreements with Coca-Cola and Pepsi. By the end of the decade, Dr. Pepper available from coast to coast.
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A fantastic 1975D-magazine profileby Woodrow Wilson “Foots” Clements, the executive who took Dr Pepper national, shares Coca-Cola's response to the newcomer's growth. In June 1972, Coca-Cola announced that Mr. PiBB, his internal response to Dr. Pepper. The article features a classic nod between the two brands, with a Coca-Cola spokesperson dismissing any similarity by saying, "I haven't tasted Dr Pepper myself, so I wouldn't know how similar Mr. PiBB is. I I don't think so. was intended to compete with Dr Pepper - as far as I know, Coca-Cola just felt there was a market for this type of soft drink."
Clements, in turn, countered that Coca-Cola's efforts had actually boosted sales of Dr Pepper. The director crowed, “I don't think they'd like to hear me say this in Atlanta, but Mr. PiBB has only stimulated the taste for Dr Pepper. In fact, we've noticed that every time they stop giving them away in major campaigns, their market share drops dramatically."
6. THERE IS NO PERIOD IN THE NAME.
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The name may have been named after a doctor, but the correct spelling of the name is 'Dr. Pepper' and not 'Dr. Pepper'. The company dropped the period from its name in the 1950s as part of aredesignof the company logo. Most sources suggest that the updated logowas easier to readwithout the punctuation, and Dr. Pepper was reborn.
A cold Dr. Peper may be heavenly on a warm day, but very few families gather around their Christmas trees for a cold drink in December. In the 60's Dr. Peppertried to boost holiday salesby marketing hot Dr Pepper with lemon as a festive alternative drink for winter gatherings. The ads found some traction in the South, but as you probably noticed, the hot Dr Pepper didn't make for a festive day. Still, hot Dr Pepper had its devotees. In the 70's Foots Clementssaid severaljournalists that he saw three or four handsome Dr. Peppers in the morning and half a dozen cold bottles every afternoon.
8. THE ORIGINAL RECIPE MAY BE RELEASED IN 2009.
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Six years ago, manuscript collector from OklahomaBill Waterspaid $200 for an old store book at an antique store in Texas. Entries in the ledger referred to Morrisons Old Corner Drug Store, examples of Charles Anderton's handwriting and a curious recipe for "D Peppers Pepsin Bitters", mixed from mandrake root and syrup. A spokesperson for the Dr Pepper Snapple Group suggested the notes were likely a recipe for a bitter digestive aid rather than a soft drink, but the historic findwent to auctionas the original formula for the beloved soft drink. The participants in the auction agreed on: the itemnot picked upminimum reserve price of $25,000.
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Will there ever be a real Dr. Charles T. Pepper in Virginia is still a point of contention, but one town in Virginia prefers to drink a cold Dr. Pepper then engages in fact checking. Roanoke has been Dr Pepperslargest metro marketeast of the Mississippi, and in 1957 the city became "Dr. Pepper, capital of the worldPepper's Daughter may or may not have been true, but the local romance resonated with Roanoke's soda drinkers and was prominently featured in promotions around the region. .
10. A SPECIAL VARIANT DISAPPEARED IN 2012.
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A bottling plant in Dublin, Texas has been making and bottling Dr Pepper for 121 years. In 2012 it was Dublin Bottling Worksthe smallest bottler in the countryand also the most unusual. The "Dublin Dr Pepper" was still made with cane sugar, years after the rest of the country had switched to high fructose corn syrup. It was also sold in special retro bottles. After a year-long legal dispute over distribution territories and labeling, the Dr Pepper Snapple Group purchased the franchise rights to the territory in 2012 and shut down Dublin Dr Pepper. The news wasn't all bad for the product's fans, though: Dr Pepper Snapple Group agreed to continue making real sugar Dr Pepper for this region of Texas.
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If you need to inject some Dr Pepper on your next road trip, Waco is the place to goand the museumdedicated to the original drink, including its creation and iconic advertising campaigns such as 1977's "Be a Pepper."
