1940 - 1950 Soft Drinks

Well, I am so old that I still remember going into Dick's Sweet Shoppe and sitting at that long counter and having them make you a cherry coke using syrup and seltzer water.

Dick's also took in soda bottles and as a kid I remember that they used to pile them out back of the shop. We would turn in the empties at the front, get our money and then go around back, grab a handful more from the pile and run back to the front for more change. Once we had enough money we would order a coke (vanilla or cherry) and a cheeseburger and french fries. Somehow now I think that they knew what we were doing.

Sometimes we would go across the street to the candy store. Red shoelace licorice, wax lips, wax bottles full of sugar water, and my favorite, red hot dollars. Red hot dollars were 2 for a penny. Fifty candies for a quarter.

Man, those were the days. ;)
 
In the early 50's I worked at a drug store soda fountain. We made all of the drinks from scratch with syrup, ice and charged water. My favorite was Coke, just the syrup....... nothing else. Did that damage my mind!?? Oh well, now that I'm an older f***, it probably fits right in with this crowd.
Dave
 
I remember Barq's root beer in Phoenix during WWII. We could get it at our little neighborhood grocery store - as I remember, it was a nickel and came in bottles. That was my first taste of root beer, and I loved it. My mom introduced me to root beer floats at a soda fountain not far from where we lived, and next to ice cold beer, it's still my favorite drink.

I also remember a chocolate flavored creme drink - it was non-carbonated; I'm not sure of the maker, but it might have been Nehi, or maybe Bireley's. When my dad and I went out to the desert botanical gardens in Phoenix to take pictures of the flora there in the '50s, a vending machine at the garden's headquarters building had it. I couldn't get it anywhere else, and I'd always make a beeline to that vending machine in the summer. It was great stuff, and tasted like a chocolate shake.

John
 
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arjay said:
Id forgotten about that :-)
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The only reason why I even know about that, is back when I was collecting soft drink collectables (about 16 years ago) I walked into an antique store and saw a box of them. They were $5 each, and I picked out the three I liked most which--being its been 15 or so years since I last looked at them, I think each had some=kind of a Western kind of image on them--like an Indian, or cowboy hat or something of that nature.
 
lawandorder said:
I can still remember to this day, 50 some odd years later how wonderful that first drink of ice cold Coca Cola was.

Wish they were not so bad for you, I could drink a lot of them.
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I cant stand the drink now--since they stopped using sugar. If they went back to pure cane sugar--id drink the stuff like its water.
 
ralph7 said:
"Makes thirst a joy".
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Sad thing is they no longer have that Rootbeer here--nor Frosty's Rootbeer. Frosty's is my all-time favorite Rootbeer.

Though ive never had it--I heard Moxie tastes like Rootbeer.
 
Pop of our youth

I grew up in Ohio where we drank Pop. My father owned a drugstore that had a Coke machine, put in a dime, push down a mechanical flipper and get your bottle of pop. The fountain had been pulled out 5-10 years before he owned the store but while he worked there as a pharmacist. When he sold the store in the early 70's we cleaned out all the old glassware from the soda fountain and used it at home for years. (Forced out of business by Rite Aid) My 1st firearm, a 12ga H&R singleshot, was paid for by collecting pop bottles and getting back the 2cent deposit. I also bought that shotgun by myself at the age of 10yrs(with my parents knowledge), rode my bike to the store, paid for it, $9.99 on sale and rode home very carefully. Pre 1968 don't you know.
 
I once drank a whole giant bottle of Dad's Old Fashioned Root Beer. Broke out in hives... But that was typical of my drinking technique. All of it and lots of it, whatever it was.

Six cent Coke machine? Yessir, put the nickle in first, then the penny, then push the aluminum handle down and clunk out came the six ounce(I think) bottle of Coke. Had one in my grade school "cafeteria", which was just a small shed with some picnic tables where we ate our sack lunches. Most of us used the same sack for weeks at a time, and splitting a coke was common, cause six cents was...well, six cents.

And... I remember the penny pathway on the machine must've not had a magnet, 'cause we were still using some steel pennies from the war. We called them "army pennies".
 
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the ringo kid said:
I cant stand the drink now--since they stopped using sugar. If they went back to pure cane sugar--id drink the stuff like its water.
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H.E.B. sells those Mexican cokes sometimes, they're made with cane sugar. Real different, and the Dr. Peppers from up near waco, wherever the plant is, still uses sugar.
I drink Topo Chico and apple juice mixed 50/50, pretty good.
 
A guy can still order Blenheim Ginger Ale. A few years ago, I bought a couple of cases of the Hot Ginger Ale on line.

In fact, a guy could still put together a pretty extensive lineup of sodas that carry some nostalgia with them:
1. Coca Cola bottled in Mexico.made with cane sugar, not high-fructose corn syrup.
2. Spring Grove Soda Pop, from Spring Grove, MN. Ditto
About Us...
3. Dr Pepper.
4. Squirt
5. Dr Brown's Cel Ray celery tonic (best with a pastrami or corned beef sandwich) and cream soda.
6. Jarritos soda pop from Mexico. My favorite is Tamarindo.
7. The aforementioned Blenheim Hot Ginger Ale.

There are no doubt other regional brands that would suit; this is just what comes readily to mind.
 
My favorite that I can no longer find is Golden Ginger Ale Canada Dry

Golden Ginger Ale
Lotta Cola

and the biggest flop of the 20 century.

New Coke
 
I grew up in Ohio, right along the PA border. I'm not certain how regional it is/was, but we used to buy Cotts ('It's "Cott"s, to be good!', or something very close to that.) I'm not sure what all flavors they made, but we mostly got their Ginger Ale. Also, they made a Mint Ginger Ale, and it was the best beverage when one was sick. My Mother always kept some on hand, and whenever anybody came down with the cold or flu, you always had a glass of ice cold Mint Ginger Ale. It really made you feel much better.

Not exactly in keeping with the theme of "old" sodas, but does any one remember "Clear" Pepsi? It might have only been for sale in test markets, not sure if it ever went mainstream. They claimed it had the same ingredients as regular Pepsi, but nothing added for coloring, and it was clear as water. But, you know our minds seem to be influenced by the color of foods and such, and it tasted significantly different to me. I liked it, but it obviously bombed, because I think I only ever bought one or two 2-liter bottles, and then I never saw or heard of it again.

I always liked Vernors too. I could only ever find it in OH/PA, and I used to buy it to take back up to Upstate NY when I was stationed there.

By and large, I don't have too many memories of drinking soda when I was young, because my parents weren't too keen on it. I believe that's why, to this day, I could live on pizza and Pepsi/Mt. Dew. The only time we had soda to drink in my house (aside from birthdays or some other celebration) was when we ate pizza, which my Mom made herself. I loved those days, because not only did I get to enjoy pizza and soda, but since we only used paper towels as plates, and no silverware, the only dishes that needed to be washed were our drinking glasses, the cookie-sheets the pizzas had been baked on, and the scissors used to cut the pizza. Joy!

Tim
 
gdnagle said:
My favorite that I can no longer find is Golden Ginger Ale Canada Dry

Golden Ginger Ale
Lotta Cola

and the biggest flop of the 20 century.

New Coke
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Canada Dry Ginger Ale is still being made. It is hard to find; our local Sam's Club gets a supply only around Christmastime; they consider it a "seasonal drink." I stocked up this last December with several cartons of it, as the wife and I prefer it as a mixer with bourbon whiskey to anything else. The cans don't say "golden," but I suspect it's pretty much the same stuff as in days of yore. When I was a kid, our next door neighbor worked for Canada Dry, and we drank their ginger ale a lot.

John
 
Vernor's is often drunk hot in these parts. Very nice and warming.

I don't think I've ever heard of "Golden" Canada Dry, but the regular stuff is available everywhere here. Schweppes, which I much prefer, is slightly harder to find but usually can be bought at Kroger.
 
radar1972 said:
As kids, we used to pry the cork out in one piece. Then put the bottle cap on the front of our t-shirt, put the cork back in the cap from the inside of the t-shirt.
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And maybe get a thrassing for your trouble (your good shirt!)
 
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