Last week was a VERY big week for Dr Pepper. It just surpassed Pepsi to become the 2nd most popular soda in America, behind Coca-Cola! It’s actually the oldest major soft drink in America, older than both Coke and Pepsi. It was invented by a pharmacist in Waco, Texas in the 1880s and first served in 1885. The pharmacist, Charles Alderton, worked at a drug store that also had a soda fountain. He noticed their customers were getting bored of traditional flavors, so he started experimenting and eventually came up with a combination of 23 flavors. It was first sold on December 1, 1885. Alderton gave the formula to the drugstore’s owner, Wade Morrison. He gave it the name Dr Pepper, but the origins of the name are unclear. One theory is that including “Dr” in the name made it sound healthy. Another commonly cited theory is that it was named for Dr. Charles T. Pepper, who gave Morrison his first job. However, according to the Dr Pepper Bottling Museum, there’s no evidence that Morrison ever worked for Dr. Pepper, and they’ve collected more than a dozen stories about how the drink got its name. Dr Pepper was introduced to 20 million people at the St. Louis World Fair in 1904. The recipe for Dr Pepper is a closely guarded trade secret, though since the 1930s there’s been a persistent rumor that it contains prune juice! Although Dr Pepper is similar to cola, the Food and Drug Administration classifies it as a “pepper soda”. Thanks to this ruling in 1963, Dr Pepper was able to be bottled and distributed nationally. Learn more here.
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