SODABOB
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WOW!
Thanks Roadstar and Shade. Every little bit helps. Even though we have established a general timeline as to when So-Grape and O-So Grape were first bottled and by whom, the history of the various owners over the years is complicated. It seems to have started with Judge & Dolph Ltd who filed for the So-Grape trademark in 1941 - who may have bottled it at that time as well. And then it jumped to the O-So Grape name and trademark in 1946. From that point we start seeing franchise locations all over the country from coast to coast and who knows how many individual bottlers. In other words, it would likely require a great deal of additional research and possibly an entire book in order for us to fully understand what transpired. But since no such book exist that I am aware of, the best I can come up with are the directory listings I posted earlier and couple that with the following - which is where the complicated park kicks in. For starters, I'm not sure who Judge & Dolph were. Even though I have done an extensive search, I'm not sure if Judge and Dolph are last names or first names. There was a Judge and Dolph Drug Co. located in St. Louis, Missouri that was established around 1890. But as far as I know they were not related to Judge & Dolph Ltd. of Chicago. Their names were Charles Judge and Clifford Dolph. I discovered that Dolph passed away in 1918 and Judge passed away in 1925. Hence, I find it hard to believe that the two companies were related. Speaking of the Judge & Dolph of Chicago, I checked the directories from 1930 to 1950 and only found about twenty people with the last name of Judge and only about three people with the last name of Dolph. However, based on their addresses and phone numbers I could not find a clear connection to Judge & Dolph Ltd. It would help if I or someone else could find the first names for the Judge & Dolph of Chicago. Maybe then we can connect some of the missing information. In the meantime here is what I discovered related to the various owners related to both So-Grape and O-So Grape ...
1941 - Judge & Dolph Ltd. (So-Grape)
1943 - Walgreens buys controlling stock of Judge & Dolph Ltd. (So-Grape)
1945 - Walgreens sells controlling stock of Judge & Dolph Ltd. to the Arthur Wirtz Co.
1946 - So-Grape becomes O-So Grape
1946 -- Apparently the Arthur Wirtz Co. owned O-So Grape - but it's not clear for how long.
Some of you are probably surprised to see the names Walgreen and Wirtz in connection with So-Grape and O-So Grape. However, they come up repeatedly in later accounts and various lawsuits. Like I said, it's really complicated.
Bob
Thanks Roadstar and Shade. Every little bit helps. Even though we have established a general timeline as to when So-Grape and O-So Grape were first bottled and by whom, the history of the various owners over the years is complicated. It seems to have started with Judge & Dolph Ltd who filed for the So-Grape trademark in 1941 - who may have bottled it at that time as well. And then it jumped to the O-So Grape name and trademark in 1946. From that point we start seeing franchise locations all over the country from coast to coast and who knows how many individual bottlers. In other words, it would likely require a great deal of additional research and possibly an entire book in order for us to fully understand what transpired. But since no such book exist that I am aware of, the best I can come up with are the directory listings I posted earlier and couple that with the following - which is where the complicated park kicks in. For starters, I'm not sure who Judge & Dolph were. Even though I have done an extensive search, I'm not sure if Judge and Dolph are last names or first names. There was a Judge and Dolph Drug Co. located in St. Louis, Missouri that was established around 1890. But as far as I know they were not related to Judge & Dolph Ltd. of Chicago. Their names were Charles Judge and Clifford Dolph. I discovered that Dolph passed away in 1918 and Judge passed away in 1925. Hence, I find it hard to believe that the two companies were related. Speaking of the Judge & Dolph of Chicago, I checked the directories from 1930 to 1950 and only found about twenty people with the last name of Judge and only about three people with the last name of Dolph. However, based on their addresses and phone numbers I could not find a clear connection to Judge & Dolph Ltd. It would help if I or someone else could find the first names for the Judge & Dolph of Chicago. Maybe then we can connect some of the missing information. In the meantime here is what I discovered related to the various owners related to both So-Grape and O-So Grape ...
1941 - Judge & Dolph Ltd. (So-Grape)
1943 - Walgreens buys controlling stock of Judge & Dolph Ltd. (So-Grape)
1945 - Walgreens sells controlling stock of Judge & Dolph Ltd. to the Arthur Wirtz Co.
1946 - So-Grape becomes O-So Grape
1946 -- Apparently the Arthur Wirtz Co. owned O-So Grape - but it's not clear for how long.
Some of you are probably surprised to see the names Walgreen and Wirtz in connection with So-Grape and O-So Grape. However, they come up repeatedly in later accounts and various lawsuits. Like I said, it's really complicated.
Bob
