Anyone know the history of O-So Grape Soda or the company

[SODABOB]

These newspaper ads may not tell the whole story but they might tell some of it ...

1307 S Pulaski Road - Chicago, Illinois

1938 thru 1944 = Uncle Sam Beverage Co.
1945 thru 1947 = So-Grape Bottling Co.
1948 thru 19?? = O-So Grape Bottling Co.

Next question ...

Did the Uncle Sam Beverage Co. also bottle So-Grape prior to 1945?

eBay date unknown ...

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Bob

 

[SODABOB]

1307 S Pulaski Road - Google Earth 2022

 

[SODABOB]

In search of this original document ...

 

[SODABOB]

I can't open the snippet or find a similar document so I guess we will have to settle with the attached image. Other than putting together some type of timeline - which I will do tomorrow - this should about do it for me. I think we have found enough to tell most of the story about So-Grape and O-So Grape which makes me O-So Happy. In other words, I'm pretty much giving up on this and crying "Uncle"

Bob

 

[SODABOB]

Uncle Sam Beverage Co. / Chicago, Illinois / Date unknown / Rare

 

[SODABOB]

I'm working on the So-Grape and O-So Grape timeline that I will post later but want to present the possibility that So-Grape started out as a fountain drink in 1941-42 but wasn't bottled until later. This particular ad is from 1942.

Bob

 

[SODABOB]

Date unknown but likely extremely rare ...

 

[SODABOB]

The following timeline was compiled according to Directory listings. Please note that Directory listings are not 100% reliable because some listings are automatically carried over from one year to another. A lot of businesses paid for their subscriptions in advance. So it was up to the business to notify the directory publishers if they relocated or changed anything. If they did make some changes but didn't notify the publisher then the listing would appear as it did in the previous directory. However, even with that said I believe the following timeline is probably accurate enough to give us a good idea of what transpired between 1941 and 1950. Also note that I can not explain why some of the listings for the same year show two different locations and two different phone numbers. Even though I have not tried to figure those out, it's possible that one listing is for the bottling plant and the other listing is for a seperate office or possibly a residence. The rest of the story is likely to be found on the bottles themselves and whatever dates they might show. Hopefully the timeline and the accompanying directory snippets will give us some clues.

Starting with the 1941 So-Grape Trademark - Judge & Dolph Ltd. Even though it uses the words "Bottled" "Beverage(s)" and "Concentrate" that doesn't necessarily mean 7 Oz bottles. It could be referring to concentrate or syrup bottles - which are also connected to beverages - such as those offered at soda fountains. We need to find more of the Judge & Dolph 7 Oz bottles to be sure.

Everything that follows is from Chicago directories. Like I said above, I won't get into the addresses or phone numbers. It's confusing enough without getting into that.

Directories ...

1941 - Judge & Dolph Wholesale Liquors (No other listing for them)
1942 - Judge & Dolph (Beverages but that's all)
1943 - Judge & Dolph So-Grape (Earliest listing for So-Grape)
1944 - Judge & Dolph So-Grape
1945 - Judge & Dolph So-Grape
1946 - So-Grape and O-So Grape (Earliest listing for O-So Grape)
1947 - O-So Grape (So-Grape no longer listed)
1947 - O-So Grape
1948 - Chicago So-Grape (Earliest listing to use the word Chicago)
1949 - I could not find a 1949 Directory (yet)
1950 - O-So Grape Co.

That's it for now - We need to do more research and find more bottles to connect all of this together.

Bob

 

[SODABOB]

Here's two more (I must have reached the max in my last post)

Bob

 

[SODABOB]

Even though this is pure speculation, based on the directory listings I'm thinking this bottle dates between 1941 and 1945. If we can find more examples of it we might know for sure. The key is ...

Judge & Dolph Ltd.

Bob