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Charles C. Alderton worked as a pharmacist for W. B. Morrison in
Morrison's Old Corner Drug Store in Waco, Texas. In 1885, he
invented a new drink formula which became very popular with Morrison's
customers. Morrison bought the formula from the young man and
named it "Dr. Pepper", possibly after Dr. Charles Pepper, a former
employer of Morrison's in Virginia. Morrison then sold the
formula to Robert S. Lazenby.
![](images/CircleA-bott1.jpg) |
![CircleA-greenlabel.JPG (21190 bytes)](images/CircleA-greenlabel_small.JPG) |
![CircleA-2.jpg (22758 bytes)](images/CircleA-2_small.jpg) |
![CircleA-1.jpg (22449 bytes)](images/CircleA-1_small.jpg) |
![CircleA-redlabel.jpg (19289 bytes)](images/CircleA-redlabel_small.jpg) |
Circle A Sparkling Beverages
Dr Pepper Bottling Co
Sacramento, California |
Circle A
Sparkling
Beverages
9oz |
Circle A
Sparkling Beverages
"Since 1903"
9oz, G-939, '58 |
Circle A
Brand Beverages
Dr. Pepper Bottling Co
7oz, Coeburn, VA |
Circle A
Brand
Beverages
Charlotte, NC
10oz |
Lazenby, also a beverage chemist, had
founded the Circle "A" Bottling Company in 1884 to bottle
his invention, Circle A Ginger Ale. He added "Dr. Pepper's
Phos-Ferrates"
to the line as early as 1885 and incorporated the firm as the Artesian
Manufacturing & Bottling Works in 1891 with Lazenby and Morrison
among the original eight stockholders. Early on, the words
" Phos-Ferrates"
were dropped and the product became known simply as "Dr.
Pepper".
The corporation renamed the firm The Dr. Pepper Company in 1902 to
reflect the growing sales and popularity of the drink. The
Artesian Manufacturing & Bottling Company, however, remained the
parent company. The original corporation declared bankruptcy in
1923, and new financial backers reincorporated the Dr. Pepper Company
under Colorado law in Dallas, Texas. In 1940, the corporation
disbanded Circle A Ginger Ale to concentrate on Dr. Pepper
exclusively.
Dr. Pepper has had several distinctive
changes in trademarks. Around 1905, the term "Phos-Ferrates"
was dropped in favor of a Dr. Pepper logo with a tail sweeping back
from the final "r" enclosing the words, "King of
Beverages". The company changed the lettering style in 1913
and included the words, "Liquid Sunshine". Following
the 1923 reorganization, Dr. Pepper bottles were standardized for the
first time and replaced the old slogans with "Good for Life"
in the tail. Four years later (1926), the company added the
venerable 10-2-4 clock. During World War II, Dr. Pepper was
advertised as a good between-meal snack, using expressions such as the
"liquid bite" or "Drink a bite to eat at 10, 2 and 4
o'clock." A major change appeared in 1950 with the use of
slanted block (italicized) letters which involved dropping the period
after the "r" in Dr. The company introduced bounce
letters (the third "p" was "bounced" up slightly)
in 1958 and later changed to a broader-based italicized typestyle.
In 1981, Dr Pepper branched out with the
purchase of the soft drink division of Welch Foods Company including
the popular Welch's Grape Juice. The acquisition of the Canada
Dry Corporation followed in 1982. A final, major uniting
occurred in 1988 when Dr Pepper and Seven Up merged to form Dr
Pepper/Seven-Up Companies, Inc. The final purchase occurred in
1995 when Cadbury Beverages acquired Dr Pepper/Seven-Up.
The Dr. Pepper Company has given the collector a wealth of interesting items to collect. A number of early serving trays and at least eight different Vienna Art Plates were produced.
Early syrup urns and dispensers are rare, as are syrup bottles. A wide range of embossed bottles are very collectible, with paper label bottles being very rare.
Briefly (1954-55), Dr Pepper used a transition bottle with a clock
face in red and white ACL on the bottle neck. The rest of the
bottle contained debossed advertising. These bottles are
extremely rare. In June, 1955, the company introduced the first
bottles entirely decorated with enameled labels. These Georgia
Green containers showed a white bottle cap on both shoulder and body
front. A red slanted bar stretched across the cap with the words
Dr Pepper in white slanted block letters and ® under the third
"P." Above the bar was printed 10 drink 2 in red, with
4 below the bar. These bottles were used between 1955 and 1960
but, like their predecessor, are extremely rare and may never have
actually seen use. The mid 50s brought a 6.5oz and 10oz cone top can as well as a 12oz flat
top can.
- First: Dr Pepper. 6ox."Good for Life" "10-2-4" Embossed. Marion VA.
- Second: Dr Pepper. 8oz. 50 Dr Pepper Racing. Inaugural Season 1998.
- Third: Dr Pepper. 8oz "Celebrates 101 Dalmatians"
- Fourth: DP SODA. Embossed. Dr. Pepper Bottling Co. Coeburn VA.>
- Fifth: D P B C bottle. 6.5oz Dr Pepper Bottling Company,
Indianapolis, Ind.>
- Middle: Different Circle A ACL bottles, with their
descriptions.>
- Bottom Left: Dr. Pepper change tray, one of a set of four
animals.
<Click to enlarge>>
Not Pictured: Dr Pepper. 8oz. XII Championship Alamo Dome San Antonio TX Dec 6 1997
Not Pictured: Dr Pepper. 8oz. "Cherokee Strip Stampede PRCA Rodeo" 4th Anniversary Sept 1994 Enid OK
Not Pictured: Dr Pepper. 8oz. "Imperial Sugar" Dr Pepper Since 1901 (?) Dublin TX
![](https://www.angelfire.com/tn/traderz/images/smDP2.jpg)
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![DrPepperNDNR.jpg (16999 bytes)](images/DrPepperNDNR_small.jpg)
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Left:
Dr. Pepper
6oz ND/NR
"1505"; "1566"
"1505
Right: Embossed bottles, as described above.
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![Dr Pepper embossed bottle](images/dp02.jpg)
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Date |
Description |
1891 ca. 1907 |
Blob-top, round bottom, embossed. |
1900-1910 |
Crown finish, round bottom. |
1907-1912 |
Crown finish, machine-made, "King of
Beverages", also "Thief" bottle |
1923-1924 |
Crown finish, colorless, embossed, "Good for
Life", three-handed clock |
ca. 1930 |
Colorless, debossed, "Good for Life",
three-handed clock |
1950 |
Georgia green, debossed, slant blocked letters, no
'period' after "Dr" and no hands on clock |
1954-1955 |
Same, with ACL clock face on neck of bottle |
1955 |
ACL, bottle cap design, slant block letters |
1955 |
ACL, clock design, no bottle cap design, slant
block letters |
1960-1961 |
ACL, bounced lettering with third "P"
bounced up |
1971 |
ACL, broad block letters in oval, no clock |
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