Soda Pop Early Days

COLLECTOR INFORMATION
HISTORY- The Early Days of Soda Pop

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THE EARLY DAYS OF SODA POP

THE DISCOVERY OF MINERAL WATERS

The name "SODA" was coined in the early nineteenth century, but the product's true beginnings go back several centuries to biblical times when bubbling waters from natural springs were a much sought after delight.

The first recorded history leading up to our modern soft drinks began with the discovery of natural mineral waters created by the flow of water through rocks and soil where mineral salts are dissolved. The exact date of the discovery by man is unknown, but as early as 400 B C, the Greek physician Hyprocrites wrote a book enticed, "Airs, Waters, and Places".

As the Roman Empire expanded, many of the renowned springs of England, Germany, Belgium, and Italy were touted for their miracle medicinal cures, and promotion of good health. For centuries, early scientists, especially in Europe, attempted duplication of the effervescent quality found in naturally carbonated waters.

Philippus Aureolus Paracelsus, a Swiss Alchemist from the sixteenth century, was the first to record his observations on the characteristics of the natural springs.

In the early seventeenth century, Jean Baptiste Van Helmont, a Belgian physician applied the name "gas" to the vapors from mineral springs. He also identified carbon dioxide from burning wood as identical to the gas from the springs.

In Europe beginning in the late seventeen hundreds, it became fashionable to visit the natural mineral springs to either drink of the "healthful" waters or to bathe in them. The wealthy promoted and gathered at these "watering places" or spas which catered to their needs and their pocketbooks.

EVOLUTION OF THE BOTTLE

The universal container we take for granted, the glass bottle probably had its humble beginnings in Syria about 100 years before Christ when the art of blowing air through a hollow tube into a blob of molten glass forming a hollow vessel was discovered.

Glass is made from a mixture of sand and lime which is slowly heated to a temperature of 2500 degrees Fahrenheit where the ingredients fuse. The early glass blowers would then let the molten glass cool to about 1800 degrees Fahrenheit to achieve the right consistency for blowing into bottles.

Conditions were harsh in the early bottle factories. Heat and grime were always present and production in the typical shop was limited to about 1500 bottles per day by crews of three blowers and three helpers.

Many of the blown bottles produced were varying shades of green and blue (sometimes referred to as aqua). These colors were most prominent because of the iron impurities found in the raw materials.

By purposely adding certain impurities to the raw glass mixture, many bottle color combinations became available to the early bottle makers.

In the early days of mineral waters, the closure of choice was the cork stopper. In order to maintain a proper seal, it was necessary to keep the cork stopper moist. One of the methods used most commonly in Europe was to invert the bottle to keep the liquid in continuous contact with the cork. The bottoms of the bottles were rounded to prevent them from standing upright.

As noted, the early bottles were hand blown and rather crude compared with later machine made bottles The first bottles used for mineral and soda waters were called blob tops, named for the mass of glass used to form the lip on the bottle. Tops were applied in a separate operation during manufacture.

THE MARCH THROUGH TIME... WITH THE BEVERAGE INDUSTRY

1608

Glass blowing to produce bottles introduced to America.

1757

Joseph Black, a Scottish physician that the gas that he called "fixed air" could be extracted from limestone.

1767

An English scientist named Joseph Priestly began experiments to "stimulate the fixed air found in natural waters". In one of his attempts, he used a primitive apparatus to pour water from one vessel to another held near fermenting vats at a local brewery. He found that the water easily absorbed the gas later identified as carbon dioxide, the same modern-day "fizz" that tickles our tonsils in Coca Cola. Priestly published his findings in a paper titled "Directions for Impregnating Water with Fixed Air".

Spas were becoming popular in the New World. The waters of Jackson's Spa in Boston were bottled and sold to satisfy a rapidly growing demand for its therapeutic miracles.

1768

Richard Bewley, an English apothecary, added a small amount of sodium carbonate to water and discovered that it assisted in the water retaining increased amounts of carbon dioxide.

1782

French scientist, Antoine Laurent Lavoisier determined the chemical composition of the carbonic acid gas.

1792

Valentine Seaman, a New York physician published a complete scientific analysis of the water from Saratoga Springs in Upper State New York.

1794

SCHWEPPS opened an artificial mineral water business in Bristol, England.

1800

The waters of a mineral spring near Albany, NY were first bottled commercially.

1806

A Professor at Yale University, Benjamin Sillman was reported to have produced small quantities of artificially carbonated water in New Haven, CT.

1807

It is believed that the first carbonated soft drink was made in Philadelphia, when Dr. Philip Syng Physick, the father of American Surgery, asked a chemist to prepare carbonated water for a patient. Flavor was added to make the drink more palatable. The main problem at the dawn of soda pop was finding a way to add natural juices to carbonated water without fermentation ruining the drink.

1807

Benjamin Stilliman, noted Yale chemist, opened a "soda water" business in New Haven for the sale of seltzers and other effervescent waters in bottles and by the glass.

1809

Joseph Hawkins of Philadelphia was granted the first U.S. patent to bottle soda water. Shortly thereafter, he opened a small bottling plant on Chestnut Street.

1810

Peter Durand from England patented the idea of using a "tin canister" for the preservation of foods.

1813

The siphon was first patented in England by Charles Plinth.

1820

SARATOGA SPRINGS Mineral Water was first bottled and sold.

1823

Sir Humphry Davy and Michael Faraday in England succeeded in liquefying carbon dioxide.

1825

Elias Durand from France was one of the earliest pharmacists to establish a fountain operation in his Philadelphia drug store.

1832

Carbonated beverages did not achieve widespread popularity until John Mathews invented an apparatus for charging water with carbon dioxide gas.

1835

Joseph Hawkins and Elias Durand from Philadelphia are thought to be the first major producers of bottled soda waters.

Charles Lippincot in Philadelphia and John Matthews in New York started the manufacture of soda fountains.

1842

A D Puffer from Boston started the manufacture of soda water bottling apparatus.

1847

William Gee from New York started the manufacture of soda water bottling apparatus.

1850

CANTRELL & COCHRANE bottled ginger ale in Belfast, Ireland, initially for shipment to British troops in India.

There was 64 bottling plants in the United States averaging sales of ten thousand dollars each

1854

G D Dows from Boston started the manufacture of soda water apparatus.

1857

Henry Putman from Cleveland, Ohio invented a wire clamp retainer for cork stoppered bottles. Putman's "better way" was closely followed by John Matthews, Jr's "gravitating stopper.

1859

More than 120 bottling plants were operating in the United States

1860

Gustavus D Dows of Lowell, Massachusetts introduced the use of the ornate marble soda fountain.

Soda Water Processing Equipment

Artificial Mineral Water Bottling Equipment

1861

Ginger Ale was first bottled in the United States by Dows of Boston, Massachusetts.

1863

James W Tufts from Boston started the manufacture of soda water apparatus.

1866

CANTRELL & COCHRANE began exporting ginger ale to the United States from Ireland.

1871

WHITE ROCK BEVERAGES introduced.

The first soda pop trademark was issued for LEMON'S SUPERIOR SPARKLING GINGER ALE.

1873

The ball stoppered bottle closure referred to as the "Codd stopper", was patented in the U.S. by Hiram Codd of England.

1874

Charles de Quillfeldt of New York, patented the "Lightning Stopper".

Ice cream sodas accidentally introduced at a Philadelphia exposition.

1876

Charles E Hires established a root beer extract business. The product was named HIRES ROOT BEER.

1879

Charles G. Hutchinson, the son of a prominent Chicago bottler invented a spring-type internal bottle closure known as the "Hutchinson Stopper" whose popularity during the period made it almost a standard. In fact, so many were used chat the bottles produced during the years to follow are referred to as "Hutchinson Bottles".

1879

Saccharin discovered by Dr Constantine Fahlberg.

512 soda bottling plants were operating in the U S with annual output amounting to $ 4,750,000.

1879

Soda Manufacturing Plants Located in Major U S cities:

17	Baltimore	8	Boston	21	Brooklyn	13	Chicago	11	Cincinnati
4	Cleveland	7	Louisville	6	Milwaukee	8	Newark	7	New Orleans
21	New York City	13	Philadelphia	3	Providence	11	St Louis	3	Washington

1880

Dr W Raydt in Germany built a mechanical air compressor for the liquefaction of carbon dioxide. It could produce up to ten pounds per hour.

There were approximately 575 bottling plants in the nation producing some 260 million bottles of soda water annually.

1880

James Vernor, a Detroit druggist, perfected the formula for a unique ginger ale drink named VERNORS.

1881

Henry Mills from Millis, Massachusetts began the manufacture CLIQUOT CLUB ginger ale and other flavored sodas.

1883

WHITE ROCK of Waukesha, Wisconsin began bottling mineral water.

1885

F M Archer founded the Moxie Nerve Food Company began distribution of MOXIE in Boston.

1885

W.B. Morrison at the "Old Corner Drug Store" in Waco, Texas, developed a distinctively flavored drink at his soda fountain. The name DR PEPPER was inspired by Morrison's love for the daughter of his former employer... you guessed it... his name was Dr. Pepper! DR PEPPER has the honor of being the oldest major soft drink currently sold in America. The DR PEPPER formula was perfected by R S Lazenby, a Waco beverage chemist and bottler.

William Painter, a machine shop foreman, developed the "Loop Seal" bottle closure.

1886

John S Pemberton, an experimental pharmacist standing over an old brass or iron kettle in Atlanta' Georgia, tried over 300 combinations of herbs and spices during a period of over four years before he finally came up with a liquid that tasted in his words "all right". That magic brew was named COCA-COLA, and speculation still exists as to whether the potion was developed as a soft drink or as a "cure all" headache tonic.

1888

Jacob Bauer, a Philadelphia pharmacist organized the Liquid Carbonic acid Manufacturing Company for the manufacture of liquid carbonic acid gas compressed into steel cylinders.

DR PEPPER first sold in a bottle.

1889

Mineral spring water from the mountains of Northern California was bottled as "SHASTA MOUNTAIN SPRING WATER", and later evolved to the Shasta Beverage Company.

1890

John J McLaughlin opened a plant in Toronto, Canada to bottle soda water and sometime later a Belfast style ginger ale.

Practically all glass soda bottles were made by hand. A skilled bottle blower and four assistants could produce 18 dozen bottles in a 14 hour working day.

1892

Asa Candler, Atlanta Druggist, incorporated the COCA-COLA Company.

1892

Hutchinson Stopper

Baltimore Loop Seal

Floating Ball Stopper

The "Cyclone" Stopper

The Crown Seal

William Painter, a Baltimore machine shop operator awarded a patent on the crown-cork bottle seal, an invention chat quickly became a standard for the industry and replaced over a thousand different types of bottle sealing devices in use at the time.

William Painter

1893

The Crystal Bottling Company began bottling HIRES Root Beer. Three million bottles of HIRES Extract was sold in this year.

The trade name, COCA-COLA, was officially registered.

1894

The first bottling of COCA-COLA was done by Joseph Biedenharn in Vicksburg, Mississippi at his Biedenharn Candy Co.

1898

Another pharmacist, Caleb Bradham, developed and marketed a cola drink called "Brad's Drink" in his drug store. Bradham re named his beverage PEPSI-COLA.

1898

BARQ'S Root Beer first sold.

1899

Benjamin Thomas, and Joseph Whitehead from Chattanooga were granted the first franchise rights to the whole United States for COCA-COLA.

1900

The bottling of natural mineral waters peaked in the late 1800's, and by 1900 was being phased out by the increasing use of "Soda Waters". The chronological separation between the bottling of "natural spring waters", and artificially produced "soda waters" is vague at best, and the bottling of each proceeded together for a number of years in the early 1900's. Commercial development of soda water was hastened by several technological breakthroughs.

There were 2763 bottling plants in the United States. Average per capita consumption of soda was 12 bottles annually.

1902

The PEPSI-COLA Company organized.

COCA-COLA first advertised in newspapers.

The American Bottlers' Protective Association endorsed a bottle deposit system.

1903

The PEPSI trademark officially registered.

Another major change in bottling occurred when the first successful automatic bottle blowing machine was put in operation by its inventor, Michael J. Owens, an employee of Libby Glass Company.

1904

The name "CANADA DRY" was given to a pale dry Belfast style ginger ale developed by John McLaughlin and first introduced in America

PEPSI-COLA started bottling in a company-owned plant.

1905

The name "CANADA DRY" was given to a pale dry Belfast style ginger ale developed by John McLaughlin and first introduced in America

PEPSI-COLA started bottling in a company-owned plant.

Claude A Hatcher, a Georgia grocer began bottling a ginger ale and a root beer under the brand name of ROYAL CROWN.

1906

ORANGE CRUSH was introduced by J M Thompson of Chicago.

1909

There were 4916 bottling plants in the United States.

1910

New machines were producing over 57,000 bottles a day, a dramatic improvement over the 1500 bottles per day produced by hand a few years earlier. These automatic bottle machine bottles are sometimes referred to as ABM bottles by collectors to separate them from the "blob-top" and Hutchinson bottle era. One of the primary features of a soda bottle that makes it a collectable of interest is the labeling on the face and bottom of the bottle.

The earliest form of labeling was embossing where raised glass letters and decoration was created as part of the bottle mold. This label was used primarily as a means of getting the bottle returned for refills.

As labeling machines, better glues, and improved printing techniques evolved more bottlers began to use paper labels to identify their soda brands. Not only did this technique reduce cost, but it made the use of bottles more flexible as flavored soda demands increased. Many bottles of this era contained both embossing and paper labels.

Stoppered bottles were still being used by some small American companies as late as the 1920's, but laws restricting their use because they were unsanitary, brought an end to an exciting era in bottling.

Before 1920, most soda bottles were 6 oz, 7 oz, and quart size. 8 oz bottles were introduced in the early 1920's. 9 oz and 10 oz were appeared around 1924. 12 oz bottles were first used in late 1920's. 16 oz bottles became prominent in the late 1950's

1912

Royal Crown's Claude Hatcher developed a new cherry drink, CHERO-COLA, and set up a company under that name.

1915

COCA-COLA introduces its famous hobbleskirt bottle

1916

ORANGE CRUSH introduced a "cloudy orange" drink.

1919

Average per capita consumption of soda was 26 bottles annually.

1920

All cola drinks combined, for the first time, surpassed sales of ginger ale as the most popular soft drink flavor.

There were 5,600 plants producing over four billion bottles of pop and soda water in the United States.

1921

The first CANADA DRY bottling plant was opened in the United States.

1923

Glass manufacturers approved a standard for the crown capped bottles

COCA-COLA introduced the first take-home carton.

1924

The NEHI brand was created by Royal Crown. The story goes that the Chero Cola Company was shown a 9-1/2 ounce bottle for a proposed new drink. The 6-1/2 ounce bottle commonly used at the time looked "knee high" beside the larger bottle, so in 1924, Royal Crown started marketing "NEHI" in a new 9-1/2 ounce bottle.

The DR PEPPER Company started a franchising program for its products.

1928

KOOL-AID powdered drink mixes introduced

1929

The "Un-Cola" was developed by C.I. Grigg in 1929 and called "SEVEN UP"

The can, a universally accepted container for many foods, came tip-toeing into the market place as a substitute for the bottling of beer.

Technicians at the American Can Company, even before prohibition, began toying with the idea of putting beer in a can. As early as 1929, Anheuser-Busch and Pabst experimented with the canning process. Schlitz even proposed a can design that looked like a small barrel.

1930

BIRELEY'S introduced an orange soda drink.

There were 7,646 bottling plants producing more than six billion bottles of soda in the United States.

1932

Equipment for the use of solid gas in carbonated beverage bottling was introduced.

1933

Bottling commenced for MISSION Orange in a distinctive black bottle.

DR PEPPER introduced a paperboard six-pack carton.

1934

ROYAL CROWN COLA introduced by the Nehi Corporation

The bottling industry made first use of Applied Color Label referred to by collectors as ACL or Painted Label Soda Bottles. This baked on coloring on the face of the bottle eventually made bottle embossing and paper labels almost obsolete on glass soda bottles, and created an outstanding collectable.

A much sturdier container than that used for food products was required to withstand the 80 to 90 psi pressure of pasteurization, In contrast to the 25 to 30 psi used in food processing.

The major problem the early researchers were confronted with, however, was not strength, but the can's liner. Several years and most of the early research funds were spent to solve this perplexing problem. Beer has a strong affinity for metal, causing precipitated salts and a foul taste. The brewers called the condition "metal turbidity".

The American Can Company produced the flat or punch top can in 1934. The lining was made from a Union Carbide product called "Vinylite", a plastic product which was trademarked "keglined" on September 25, 1934.

Unlike the bottle, the can could be made in many shapes and designs, and the brewers liked the ability to use the whole can's surface to promote brand recognition.

While the punch top can lent itself to rapid filling, the equipment required was expensive. The Continental Can Company recognizing this limitation to the punch top can developed a new shape they called a "cap sealed" or cone top can. This new can, similar in shape to a bottle, could be used with existing bottle filling lines.

The first design by Continental had a low spout (called low profile cone top) with depressed reinforcing ribs and a flat bottom. It was produced until about 1936. There are no true soda cone top cans of this design, although the Dr Phillips fruit juice can produced by Crown Cork & Seal has a flat bottom and a low profile spout without ridges.

1935

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After American Can Company acquired the "Keglined" trademark in 1934, they were anxious to try their new punch top beverage can in the market place.

They spent three months of intense negotiations with the brewery of Gottfried Krueger of Newark, New Jersey to coax Krueger's Beer into the revolutionary new containers.

Krueger was very apprehensive about the test, but finally choose the outer limits of its distribution area for their product in a can. Richmond, Virginia was the city picked for the test, and on January 24, 1935, the first delivery of Krueger Cream Ale was received and exposed to the beer drinkers of Richmond.

Within a week, 47% of the distributors in Richmond were handling Krueger's canned beer. At the end of a month, no less than 84% of the distributors were handling it. In the next couple of months Krueger jarred the industry by taking large chunks of the business of the "big three" national brewers, Anheuser-Busch, Pabst, and Schlitz.

By June of 1935, Krueger was running at 550% of its pre-can production, and was finally unable to keep up with demand.

It was evident that the consumer liked the can's no-deposit feature as well as their being stackable, non-breakable, and fast cooling.

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The consumers likes were certainly noted by the large breweries. During July of 1935, Pabst began distributing a striking blue and silver can carrying the "Export" label on a punch top can with opening instructions on the back of the label. The cans were first sold in Rockford, Illinois, and then spread southward.

Schlitz, trying to make up its mind about canning beer, suddenly quit wondering and went into action. In September of 1935, they became the first and the only major brewery to use Continental's new spout top can. Schlitz stayed with the cone top can until the early 1950's.

That first year of beer in cans ended with over 200 million cans being sold. Twenty three brewers had begun using cans, with the can company's score being: American Can- 12 brewers, Continental Can- 8 brewers, and National Can- 3 brewers.

The can makers of course were enthusiastic about the future of the can and were optimistically predicting over a billion and a half cans would be sold in 1936.

During the early can era, bottle makers were less than enthusiastic about the prospect of cans eroding their long standing market, and caustic exchanges were common concerning the attributes of bottles versus cans. The "bottle man" would speak of the poor quality and metallic taste of beer in a can, and the "can man" would counter that light was bad for beer, "makes it go skunky". One skeptical brew master reportedly convinced himself of the purity of newly developed can linings by ripping them out of three cans, swallowing, and digesting them with no ill effects.

Pro's and con's abounded in the battle of the bottle versus the can. The standard beer bottle would return to the brewer twenty five times for refilling, the can of course was a one shot, non-returnable container.

With the cost of beer at a whopping $.10, the can proved to be an expensive proposition for the brewers and caused the move to cans by the industry as a whole to be fairly slow. The high cost was partially off-set by the ease of handling and delivery of cans. The cans weighed less than bottles, and a truck could carry 400 cases of cans compared to only 200 cases of bottles. Distribution range could also be increased from about a 30 mile radius of the brewery with returnable bottles, to as much as 400 miles with cans.

Always at the center of the controversy was the lining whose sole function was to keep the beverage away from the can. The glass maker would contend that a reliable lining for beer cans had yet to be devised, and can maker would cite proof of the "glass hard" lining within the cans.

Advertisements of the period reflected the war going on between bottles and cans, and salvo's were fired from both sides as to the merits of their containers.

Owens-Illinois, the largest bottle maker of the time, fought an early battle in 1935 with an entirely new throw-away bottle design called "stubby". Stubby was well received and by the end of 1935, more brewers were using them than were trying cans.

In the late 1930's cans were accounting for only about eight percent of the beverage container market, and by 1941 they had captured only a ten percent share of the business.

The beginning of World War II accomplished a feat that the bottle makers could not... it stopped the production of cans to the domestic market, limiting them to stateside military bases and military units overseas.

1936

The first soda in a can, CLICQUOT CLUB Ginger Ale, was test marketed in a Continental low profile cone top can. Leakage, flavor absorption problems, and difficulty in stacking and handling spelled failure for the initial introduction.

Dairy orange drinks were introduced by dairies industry.

Annual Sales of $230.000.000 reached by the beverage industry

1937

Cyclamate discovered.

DAD'S Old Fashion Root Beer began bottling in Chicago, Illinois.

BIG RED Soda began distribution.

First can introduced by Crown Cork & Seal Company.

1938

COCA-COLA introduced the open-folding carton.

SQUIRT, a grapefruit citrus drink, made its debut.

After opening up the market for beer in cans, attention was directed by the can companies to another area of great potential sales, the canning of soft drinks.

The technical problems in canning soda was similar to those of canning beer. The product was, however, more acidic, and the pressures of the carbonation in soft drinks was somewhat greater.

The first record of canned soda pop was in 1938 by the CLICQUOT CLUB Company of Mills, Massachusetts. Approximately 100,000 cases of ginger ale in a "low profile" wax lined cone top can made by Continental Can Company were distributed. Leak age, flavor absorption problems, and difficulty in stacking and handling halted active consideration of the can as a package for soft drinks for another decade.

The next design by Continental was still low profile, but had raised ribs on the spout and a concave bottom to better resist the pressure from the product. The CLICQUOT CLUB and the DARI SELTZ brands are examples of this design.

The last change by Continental to the cone top can was to replace the low profile spout with a rib-less high profile top. This change was made about 1940, and there are many examples of soda cones with this design.

Three more players choose to join the scramble for the can business before the 1930's decade ended. National Can and Pacific Can produced the punch top can, and Crown Cork & Seal Company purchased the Acme Can Company of Philadelphia, PA in 1936 and produced a high profile three piece cone top can, and a two piece necked can called a "crowntainer". The crowntainer was used extensively for beer, but no soda cans of this design have been found.

Experiments to can COCA-COLA were initiated in the early 1940's at the beginning of World War II. A 16 and a 32 ounce cone top can was considered and test cans were obtained from can manufacturers. The project was abandoned because of the short- age of steel from the war effort.

The cone top can which had started the rise of the metallic container for soda beverages to a lofty position in the industry began loosing ground to the punch top can. As demand grew for soft drinks in cans, filling speed became an important factor.

In light of the changing markets, Continental Can Company, the last major producer of cone top cans, decided to halt promotion and production of the can shaped like a bottle in the late 1950's. Thus ended an interesting and exciting era in soft drink history, and began an interesting and exciting era for soda memorabilia collectors.

1940

GRAPETTE introduced a tasty grape drink in a tiny six ounce bottle.

1941

WW II price ceilings held the price of soft drinks to five cents a bottle.

1945

There were 5824 bottling plants in the United States producing a total volume of 731.2 million cases

1948

Lightweight, non-returnable bottles introduced.

With an improved liner, PEPSI, in conjunction with Continental Can Company, tried promoting their drink in a 12 ounce cone top can at a price of "THREE FOR A QUARTER". Again the lining fail ed, resulting in leaking cans on the grocer's shelves, and the cans proved too expensive compared with returnable bottles.

1949

Average consumption of 158 bottles per capita reached.

Cantrell & Cochrane teamed up with Continental Can Company and introduced its SUPER COOLA line of nine flavors, in an improved 6 and 12 ounce cone top can to the New York and Los Angeles markets.

1950

There were 6,660 plants producing soda in the United States.

1952

Hyman Kirsch was first to capitalize on the diet drink market. NO-CAL BEVERAGE, the first artificially sweetened, low calorie soft drink, was pioneered by the Kirsch Beverage Company of Brooklyn, New York..

1952

Resistance to the use of the can for soft drinks began to crumble by the early 1950's, and in 1953 with the removal of Korean War price controls, the market was ready for the can.

The cone top can as well as the punch top can both began a steady advance on the bottle market to win the pocketbooks of the soda drinking consumer.

The can companies, while doing well with the small fry in the soda industry, needed a break-through with one of the major bottlers, and of course COCA-COLA was the ultimate prize.

COCA-COLA had taken a look at cone top cans before World War II, but had not shown much interest in the product. When ROYAL CROWN began to nibble at COCA-COLA's market share with a major promotions of its product in punch top cans, COCA-COLA's resistance to cans lessened.

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1953

The CAN-O-POP Beverage Company tried root beer in a punch top can for consumption in Southern California.

1954

430 million canned sodas were sold.

The DADS ROOT BEER Company of Chicago, Illinois, canned root beer in 12 and 32 ounce cone top cans for distribution around Chicago.

Four different flavors of BEVRICH were canned for markets in the Eastern United States

CANADA DRY began market testing several flavors in cone top cans in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

WHITE ROCK canned root beer, lemon lime, and black cherry for testing in Los Angeles, California.

The PABST Brewery introduced "Tap-A-Cola" in Syracuse and Rochester, New York.

ROYAL CROWN first produced a cola in a can in 1954, and by 1960 was the largest canner of soft drinks.

1955

FINALLY... COCA- COLA IN A CAN !
"You may be able to put COKE in a can but what comes out isn't COCA-COLA. It's a soft drink, non-toxic, but with a flavor that's as far removed from COCA-COLA as ginger ale is from India Ale" (Business Week, February 12, 1955).

The non-returnable can as a container for COCA-COLA was not completely overlooked by management in the transition from wartime economy in the early 1950's, but they saw many problems with its use and were noticeably apprehensive about public acceptance.

Life-styles were undergoing a radical change due in large part to the magic of television and the desire for more leisure time activities. What's now referred to as the "Package Revolution" also was gathering strength during this era, so with two-thirds of all soft drinks destined for the take-home market, COCA-COLA made its move to cans.

The move was a crawl, not a rush. In 1955, through the COCA-COLA Export Corporation, COKE was put in cans for shipment to Japan and throughout the Pacific for consumption by our military personnel.

1957

Fifteen million cases of canned soda beverages were sold, with production limited to approximately 40 brands. Average consumption of 200 soft drinks per capita reached.

1958

Plastic carriers for king-size bottles was first tried by DR PEPPER.

FANTA introduced by COCA-COLA, its first major marketing in the U.S. of a non-cola soft drink.

1959

Cans were tested in steel plants in Gary, Indiana, and to railroads, steamship companies, and air lines. In September 1959, COCA-COLA launched domestic market tests for canned product in five cities along the eastern seaboard and on the west coast.

The company was still not without misgivings about canning COCA-COLA. The taste was there... but so was the taste of steel. They also thought that only a few of their bottlers would be able to afford their own canning lines. In a business week article appearing on May 21, 1960 a company official was quoted as saying, "Some of our bottlers don't want cans and we have no intention of forcing anybody to take them".

But, the tide was turning in the direction of canned soft drinks. The public enjoyed the convenience and buyers appreciated the handling advantage of the product in cans. Competition was also aware of the new package. ROYAL CROWN had become the largest canner of soft drinks by 1960, and some of the smaller beverage companies were capitalizing on drinks in cans and clamoring for a bigger share of the soft drink market.

1960

There were 68 can-filling lines across the country, producing 820 million punch or flat top cans, mostly the 12 ounce size. 67.9 million cases of soft drinks in cans were sold.

COCA-COLA's independent bottlers finally stopped wondering about cans and started using them. The largest franchised COCA-COLA bottler in the East, Norfolk, Virginia, set up its own canning operation in 1960. In 1962, the Los Angeles bottler became the first COCA-COLA bottler to promote in a "Major Way" the sale of COKE in 12 ounce cans.

1961

Can vending machines introduced.

25 million cases of soda sold in United States.

1962

Plastic carriers for king-size bottles was first tried by COCA-COLA.

The easy-open pull tab opener for aluminum cans first became available.

Crown Cork & Seal developed the first machine capable of filling both cans and bottles.

1963

Reynolds Aluminum introduced the 12 ounce all aluminum beverage can.

1965

Alcoa developed the resealable beverage closure

260 million cases of soda sold in United States.

FRESCA introduced by COCA-COLA

1966

The COCA-COLA company announced a completely new design called "Harlequin" (Small Diamond) for all one way packaging. Store tests had confirmed that the new design on cans was more quickly recognized in retail shelves than competitive can brands.

Introduction of the new can style brought with it a new degree of enthusiasm for the canned product as shown in an excerpt from "The Cola Call Bottler", June 1966:

"In view of the summer sales season coming up for soft drinks in cans, the COCA-COLA Company has provided bottlers a plan guide for a special summer can sales program. It contains ideas to help expand distribution and conduct promotional effort on behalf of all of our products in cans."

"To back up this emphasis on cans, a strong national magazine schedule is being launched. An upbeat magazine add will deliver 34,000,000 consumer impressions in 11 magazines."

1967

Diet drinks had captured 11% of the beverage market.

1970

There were 3,106 bottling plants and 253 canning lines producing soda in the United States.

Plastic beverage bottles first tested in 10 oz size.

1971

Owens-Illinois introduced Plasti-Shield bottles.

1972

Crown Cork & Seal was the first to make two-piece steel cans.

1974

Stay on tabs for cans introduced.

1977

The plastic bottle cap was introduced in the United States.

Packaging costs equaled one and one half times the cost of ingredients is carbonated beverages.

1978

24.8 billion cans of soft drink sold.

A plastic coated, foil lined, fiber board container introduced.

1979

Approximately 2.4 billion gallons of carbonated beverages was sold in cans which amounted to 38% by volume of all soft drinks produced, and the can, just another innovative package for soft drinks, had made its mark.

Cyclamates were banned by FDA because of their link with cancer in lab studies.

1980

841 plants were producing carbonated beverages

1981

The artificial sweetener, Aspartame, began its use in diet beverages.

Continental Can introduced a metal bottle with a resealable plastic closure.

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