quote:

ORIGINAL: shoshani

I definitely think that Dr. Pepper's Pepsin Bitters later evolved into Dr Pepper, for two reasons.

One, the original labels for Dr. Pepper's Phos-Ferrates boast "Wheat, Iron, and Pepsin". The Pepsin Bitters formula does contain pepsin, specifically pepsin manufactured by John Wyeth & Bro., who pioneered the extraction and preparation of pepsin from hog stomachs in the mid-19th century. To have added iron and some sort of wheat extract would have been trivial; Google Books is chock full of formularies from the late 19th and early 20th century that show how to do just that. Pepsin was a big thing back then.

The other reason is an ad I stumbled upon in American Bottler from March 15, 1907. Google Books digitized this from the New York Public Library, but part of the original page is missing. The ad is apparently in response to an attack publisher William Keller made in the National Bottler's Gazette in February, 1907. That publication is not online and I've not been able to find hard copies, but R. S. Lazenby took out this very testy full page ad in American Bottler in which he not only calls Keller a skunk and an ass, he answers Keller's charges by saying that Dr Pepper started as a medicinal preparation, but as its popularity as a beverage increased the medicinal elements were removed, and the Artesian Bottling & Mfg. Co. had not called it "Phos-Ferrates" or touted wheat iron and pepsin for nine years (eg, since 1898).

In trying to find a better copy of this ad (which I am attaching to this post), I did find that Keller sued American Bottler for libel in the state courts of New York for this ad, and won.

quote:

ORIGINAL: celerycola

The label pictured in the ad says "Phos Ferrates"