Dr Pepper was created by pharmacist Charles Alderton at Morrison's Old Corner Drug Store in Waco, Texas.
To try out his new drink, he first offered it to store owner Wade Morrison, who also liked it. After this, Morrison's customers found out about Charles's new drink and began ordering a "Waco". Charles later gave the formula to Morrison, who named it Dr. Pepper. This name was first used commercially in 1885 and was introduced nationally in the United States at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition as a new type of soft drink, made with 23 flavors.
There are many theories about the origins of the name of the soft drink, one of them is that the name Dr. was chosen to give the impression that the products were healthy.
Another theory is that it´s named after an actual physician, Charles T. Pepper of Rural Retreat, Virginia. Morrison may have named the drink in gratitude to the Doctor Pepper for giving him his first job. However, Milly Walker, Collections Manager of the Dr Pepper Bottling Co. Museum in Dublin, Texas, has stated that US Census records show that a young Morrison lived in Christiansburg, Virginia, 40 miles (64 km) of Rural Retreat, and "there is no evidence that Morrison ever worked for Charles T. Pepper at Rural Retreat".
Another story has it that Morrison named the drink after Charles T. Pepper because the doctor gave Morrison permission to marry his daughter, but the girl was only eight years old at the time Morrison moved to Waco.
Another one is that on the census showing Morrison living in Christiansburg and working as a pharmacy clerk, a Dr. Pepper is recorded on a later page. Since census takers at this time walked door to door, and these census entries are close to each other on the record, it appears that Morrison and this Dr. Pepper lived close to each other.
On the other hand, the Dr Pepper logo stuck out the dot after the abbreviation for Dr until the 1950s when after some debate it was dropped altogether for stylistic and legibility reasons.
It´s worth mentioning that the first advertisements for this soft drink made medical claims saying that it “aids digestion and restores vim, vigor and vitality”.
Like other companies, the formula for Dr Pepper is a trade secret, and the recipe is supposedly kept in two halves in safe deposit boxes at two separate banks in Dallas.
In 2009, Bill Waters discovered an old ledger filled with formulas and recipes while shopping at antique stores in the Texas Panhandle. Various sheets and members hinted that it came from W.B. Morrison & Co. Old Corner Drug Store (the same store where Dr. Pepper was first dedicated in 1885) and the faded letters on the book cover read "Castles Formulas." It´s worth mentioning that John Castles was an associate of Morrison's for a time and worked there in 1880. A recipe in the book titled "Dr Peppers Pepsin Bitters" was of particular interest, with some speculating that it may be an early recipe for Dr Pepper. However, Keurig Dr Pepper insists that it´s not the Dr Pepper formula, but rather a medicinal prescription to aid digestion. The book was put up for auction in May 2009, but no one bought it.
Among other curious facts about Dr Pepper we find that in 1951 he sued Coca-Cola for US$750,000, claiming that nickel Cokes were sold below cost and constituted a restraint on trade.
In 1969, due to Dr Pepper's legal success in being determined a "cola-free" soft drink, then President and CEO W.W. “Foots” Clements was able to convince the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of New York, the world's largest bottler and distributor of Cola-Cola, to bottle and distribute Dr Pepper in the New York metropolitan area.
In 1972, Dr Pepper sued again the Coca-Cola Company for trademark infringement based on a soft drink marketed by Coca-Cola called "Peppo."
Coca-Cola changed the name of its drink to Dr. Pibb, which was also determined to violate the trademark. The soft drink was later renamed Mr. Pibb.
In the early 1980s, Dr Pepper went bankrupt, prompting an investment group to take the company private.
Several years later, in 1995, Coca-Cola attempted to acquire Dr Pepper, but was prevented from doing so by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on the grounds that they had monopoly concerns in the pepper-flavored soft drink category. Around the same time, Seven Up was acquired from Phillip Morris by the same investment company that bailed out Dr Pepper. Following the failure of the Coca-Cola merger, Dr Pepper and Seven Up merged (creating Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc., or DPSU), relinquishing international trademark rights in the process. After the DPSU merger, Coca-Cola got most of the non-US rights to the Dr Pepper name (and PepsiCo got the rights to Seven Up).
Finally, regarding distribution, in the United States, Keurig Dr Pepper doesn´t have a complete network of bottlers and distributors, so the beverage is sometimes bottled under contract by Coca-Cola or Pepsi bottlers. Before Cadbury Schweppes' initial investment converted to purchase, 30% of Dr Pepper/Seven Up products were produced and distributed by Pepsi bottlers and another 30% by Coca-Cola bottlers. The remaining 40% was produced and distributed by independent bottlers (mainly Dr Pepper/Seven Up regional pre-merger bottlers) and the Dr Pepper/Seven Up Bottling Group. Currently, most of the Pepsi and Coca-Cola bottlers that bottle Dr Pepper are owned by PepsiCo and The Coca-Cola Company after the purchase of their major bottlers. This mixed ownership of the brand around the world is due to antitrust regulations that, as we mentioned, prevented Coca-Cola from buying the rights everywhere.
Comments