ATTENTION! FORUM MEMBER squirtbob ~ EARLY SQUIRT BOTTLING NEWSPAPER ADS

[SODAPOPBOB]

Bob Regarding one of the wooden crates you posted a picture of ... Compare the wording on the crate to the wording in this ad from ... The Manitowoc Herald-Times ~ Manitowoc, Wisconsin ~ September 2, 1938 1. Crate2. Ad

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

P.S. Bob I'm trying my best to make sense of the bottle timeline and wondering about your comments on Page 1 Post #11 where you said ... " Also it mentions how it can be used as "a drink a mixer". That market concept became prominent in late 1939 and into 1940." So does the 1938 article where it uses the words "Refresher - Mixer - Alkalizer" change anything and possibly date the use of the word "Mixer" earlier than 1939? Or am I confused, as usual, as to what year the word "Mixer" was first introduced?

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

This post shows the back of the earliest bottle. It corresponds to the black script bottle on the left side of the first picture and was also found on the earliest 1939 red script bottle. No evidence of contents are shown anywhere on the bottle or the cap, which was likely blue. Notice that it's "different" which is in line with it being a new drink. Also it mentions how it can be used as "a drink a mixer". That market concept became prominent in late 1939 and into 1940.

Bob Here's your entire quote ... I realize now that you did say the word "Mixer" was on the back of the black-script bottle which you believe might be a 1938 bottle. So I guess I just answered my own question (I think) and that the word "Mixer" was used right from the get-go in 1938.

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Hey, Bob

Well, it wasn't a total bust. I may not have found you any 1938 Squirt bottles, but at least you have a couple of more locations to look for, two of which might even be the first Squirt bottlers in the country. Hopefully by the time this topic pops up again you will be telling us that you found one each of the Manitowoc and Menasha bottles. I'm confident they are out there somewhere but it might take some scrounging around to locate them. But if anybody can do it, I'm sure you can.

So this pretty much wraps things up for me. I have searched the newspaper archives from one end to another, plus some Google searches, and it doesn't appear I'm going to find anything else from 1938 that I haven't already posted. But if I do find anything else, I will be sure and post it on this thread, which you should get a notification about. Please do the same if you find anything, especially if its one of those elusive, hard to find and extremely rare 1938 Squirt bottles.

Last but not least, I thought you would enjoy a couple of more ads from 1939.

From ...

1. Alton Evening Telegraph ~ Alton, Illinois ~ February 9, 1939
2. The Kokomo Tribune ~ Kokomo, Indiana ~ December 29, 1939


Later, alligator

Bob

 

[CreekWalker]

As usual, excellent information you two! Thanks!

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

CreekWalker Thanks for the acknowledgement - mucho appreciated. ~ * ~
I almost forgot about Squirt's mascot, "Little Squirt," and thought this discussion would not be complete without at least a brief mention of him.

According to the U.S. Patent Office document pictured below, we see ...

1. Application ~ October 31, 1941 ~ Serial No. 448,308

and ...

2. The trade-mark has been used continuously and applied to goods in the applicant's business since October 14, 1941.

This clearly indicates October 14, 1941 as being the earliest date we are likely to find Little Squirt's first appearance. And when we look at the Squirt magazine ads on Gono.com that depict Little Squirt, we see one from 1941 that shows ...

Reg. Pend. U.S. Pat. Off. / Registration Pending U.S. Patent Office

http://www.gono.com/museum2003/museum%20collect%20info/squirt/squirt.htm

Because of the word "Pending" in the magazine ad, I don't argue that it appeared sometime between October 14, 1941 and December 31, 1941.

However, I was unable to find a single newspaper ad/article from 1941 that depicted Little Squirt. The earliest one I could find for him was dated January 16, 1942. I even looked to see if I could find some kind of official introduction article about him, but never did come across one. He simply shows up out of nowhere in January of 1942 and then dominates almost every Squirt ad from then on. The newspaper ads depicting Little Squirt start slow at first but by mid-spring of 1942 they show up in force and reach a peak in almost every newspaper in the country by the summer of 1942.

The "Like Grapefruit? You'll Love Squirt" ads, such as the one pictured on the following page, were the most popular and most used ads in 1942 nationwide. There were variations of the ad but they always used the same "Like Grapefruit?" heading.



1. Trade-Mark Application ~ 1941

2. Magazine Ad ~ Gono.com ~ 1941

3. Altoona Tribune ~ Altoona, Pennsylvania ~ January 16, 1942 (Earliest "Little Squirt" ad I could find in a newspaper)

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

4. Ironwood Daily Globe ~ Ironwood, Michigan ~ April 14, 1942 This is one variation of the "Like Grapefruit? You'll Love Squirt " ads I spoke of which dominated the newspapers throughout 1942. Many of them, like the one shown here, were almost 1/4 page advertisements.

 

[squirtbob]

Bob,Once again you've found some great ads. I noted that the one from Indiana in 1939 mentions that you could "drink it for breakfast". This actually became a part of the advertising on the back of the bottles in 1941. That's also when they began saying the drink was "tart sweet" and "in the public eye".

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Bob Thanks. Here's another ad I think you will enjoy.
I thought I would include this particular ad because it has some information that wasn't on the similar one I posted earlier.

It's almost identical to the January 16, 1942 ad I posted earlier, and is by the same Squirt distributor, but this one is dated February 13, 1942. Notice the imagery on this one is clearer and just to the right of Little Squirt you can make out the words Trade Mark. No doubt this was also on the January ad but was smudged out. This tells us that sometime between October of 1941, when the Little Squirt trademark was applied for, and January of 1942, the trademark image was finally approved.

I especially like where it says ... "the sparkling fruit drink that's sweeping the country"

Also notice where it says Squirt was in 44 states at the time.

At the very top is .... S - S - S - S - S - S - S - S - S - S - P
Apparently this is the sound made when uncapping a carbonated bottle.

From ...

Altoona Tribune ~ Altoona, Pennsylvania ~ February 13, 1942

 

[squirtbob]

Bob, Since you do such great detective work, when you have a chance please see if you can find any early information from these Illinois towns. Joliet, Peoria and Quincy.