HIRES ROOT BEER ~ vs ~ VERNOR'S GINGER ALE

[SODABOB]

Cc

I got your PM and will ship your book within the next two days.

I still have a few more copies of the book and if anyone is interested in purchasing one they are on sale for ...

$50 each (Free Shipping)

(When they were first published in 2002 they were priced at $45)

 

[SODABOB]

Continued ...

If this 1876 newspaper article is indeed referring to Charles Hires ...



And James Tufts and Charles Lippincott had the exclusive rights to sell fountain drinks at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial ...

(These two snippets are from the link below)





... then it might be that Charles Hires teamed up with James Tufts and Charles Lippincott and that it might have been in the large soda fountain pavilion outside of the exhibition where Hires Root Beer was dispensed ...

Andrew F Smith 2013 Book ~ Scroll to Pages 303 & 304

https://books.google.com/books?id=o...an history Andrew F Smith online book&f=false




(To be continued)

 

[SODABOB]

The following is from a 2014 article by Clay Latimer ...

http://www.artremiscapital.us/2014/01/success-story-charles-hires-root-beer.html

The drink might have fizzled if Hires hadn't run into a newspaper publisher in 1877.

"I was in the Philadelphia Public Ledger office one day," Hires told Printer's Ink magazine in 1913, "and George W. Childs saw me and led me back into his office. 'Mr. Hires,' he said, 'why don't you advertise that root beer extract of yours?' I told Mr. Childs that I hadn't seriously considered advertising it, and that I hadn't any money to spend for advertising in any event."

And here's a slightly different version of the story from a 1927 issue of the "Printers Ink" magazine ...





Question:

If what they say above is true ... "I have no money to really carry on a consistent campaign" ... and it occurred in 1877, then how was it possible for Charles Hires to afford $6,000 for a lot and $5,000 to $6,000 to construct a soda fountain at the Philadelphia Centennial as the 1876 newspaper article suggest?


(To be continued)

 

[SODABOB]

P.S.

I'm currently researching James Tufts and Charles Lippincott to see if either one of them might have been considered "a successful manufacturer of root beer in Philadelphia" in 1876. All I know at the moment is ...

1. James Tufts was from Boston, Massachusetts and manufactured elaborate soda fountains.

2. Charles Lippincott was from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and ... ???

 

[SODABOB]

For starters ...

If, as the 1876 newspaper article says about there being a problem allowing a "successful root beer manufacturer" to erect a fountain at the 1876 Centennial, and that manufacturer was Charles Lippincott, then how do we explain the following from an official 1876 Centennial catalog?








(To be continued)

 

[SODABOB]

Now let's take another look at the James Tufts' soda fountain pavilion that was located outside the fairgrounds near the Globe Hotel ...

1876 Centennial catalog (1 of 2)



1876 Centennial catalog (2 of 2)



Exterior



Interior



(To be continued)

 

[SODABOB]

I tapped into every resource I could think of and found numerous references about James Tufts' and Charles Lippincott's involvement with soda fountains at the 1876 Centennial, but did I not find a single reference about either one of them being involved with the manufacturer of root beer at any time in their careers. It appears they were primarily involved with the manufacturer of soda fountains and not soda fountain drinks. Its starting to look as if Tufts and Lippincott simply erected the soda fountains at the fair but did not run them. Hence, I can't help but wonder if Charles Hires might have been involved with the Tufts soda fountain pavilion that was located near the Globe Hotel? If so, that would add a certain measure of credence to the 1876 newspaper article, plus explain why I cannot find a single time-period reference that places Charles Hires in the Centennial grounds.

(To be continued)

 

[SODABOB]

In search of ...

Another exterior picture of James Tufts soda water pavilion to see if the words "Hires Root Beer" are painted on it.

 

[hemihampton]

I was going to chose 52 but it was to close to 51.

 

[SODABOB]

I was going to chose 52 but it was to close to 51.

Leon

As you know, if you had chosen the number 52, Cc would still have been the winner. However, if you had chosen the number 50, ...