Barq's Root Beer

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SODAPOPBOB

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P.S.

Here's the copy/pasted article in case the link doesn't work ...



Barq's Heirs Want Stake In Root Beer Co. from Coke


By Evan Weinberger

Law360, New York (September 15, 2010, 7:32 PM ET) -- The Coca-Cola Co. is facing a lawsuit from heirs of the "illegitimate" son of the founder of Barq's Inc., who claim they still own a one-third interest in the root beer maker and want either the return of the interest or compensation.

The estate of Arthur Robinson — son of Jasper Louis, or Jesse, Robinson — is entitled to a one-third interest in Barq's, according to a complaint filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. The claims stem from a 1934 agreement between Edward Charles Edmond Barq Sr., the company's founder, and Jesse Robinson, his son born out of wedlock.

Coca-Cola purchased New Orleans-based Barq's in 1995 for nearly $92 million, the complaint says.

The long history in this case stretches back to the late 1890s, when Edward Barq Sr. formed Barq Brothers Bottling Co. in New Orleans, the complaint says.

In 1897, Edward Barq moved to Biloxi, Miss., with his wife and founded the Biloxi Artesian Bottling Works. While in Biloxi, Barq fathered Jesse Robinson out of wedlock, the complaint says.

Barq's wife allowed him to bring Robinson into the family home but blocked his attempts to formally adopt his son, the complaint says.

Robinson got into the beverage business almost by accident, reportedly winning the Cascade Water Bottling Co. of New Orleans in a poker game on a Mississippi River boat in the 1920s, the complaint says.

Barq encouraged Robinson to transform his plant into a Barq's production facility soon after, where he became instrumental in distributing Barq's root beer and other beverages throughout Louisiana, the complaint says.

In 1934, Barq gave Robinson exclusive rights to use the family formula for soft drinks, including root beer, in all of Louisiana except Washington Parish, as well as the name Barq's, according to the complaint.

Robinson refined the formula for Barq's root beer such that there was a distinct difference between what was sold in Mississippi and what was sold in Louisiana, the complaint says. In 1946, Robinson formed Barq’s Beverages Inc. to exercise his rights in Louisiana.

After Robinson died in 1949, he passed along one half of his company, which held the franchise for Barq's root beer in most of Louisiana, to his wife Marie Vicknair Robinson, with the remaining half divided evenly among his three children, Arthur, Betty and Yula, the complaint says.

When Marie Robinson died in 1979, her half of the property was divided evenly among the three children, according to the complaint.

Arthur Robinson, whose three children launched the suit, became president of Barq's Beverages and he refined the formula for the company's famous root beer, the complaint says. But in 1970, his mother suffered a stroke, and Arthur Robinson was forced to sell his interest in the company to his sisters, who had barred him from entering the factory with police backing and no apparent reason, according to the complaint.

The sale of Arthur Robinson's interest in Barq's, through a series of transactions, are null under Louisiana law, the complaint says, meaning he and his heirs are still entitled to now a one-third interest in the company.

Two New Orleans attorneys purchased the Mississippi branch of Barq's in 1976 and in 1988 bought Barq's Beverages for nearly $5 million after losing a copyright lawsuit to the Robinson family's company, the complaint says.

The unified company adopted the Louisiana root beer formula developed by Arthur Robinson as the one used for production, the complaint says.

Arthur Robinson died in 1996.

It is unclear from the complaint whether Arthur Robinson's estate is pursuing one-third of the unified Barq's or one-third of Barq's Beverages, but the difference could mean a steep price for Coca-Cola.

Counsel for both the Robinson estate and Coca-Cola could not be reached for comment.

The Robinson estate is represented by The Kramer Law Firm.

No counsel information was immediately available for Coca-Cola.

The case is Robinson v. Coca-Cola Co., case number 10-cv-03060, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
 

SODAPOPBOB

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Follow up ...

Coke Wins - 2011



Coke Wins Dismissal Of Suit Over Barq's Stake


By Martin Bricketto

Law360, New York (January 7, 2011, 5:50 PM ET) -- The Coca-Cola Co. has won the toss of a contract suit brought by the heirs of the founder of Barq's Inc., who claimed they were owed compensation for an existing ownership stake in the root beer company.

In a ruling on Wednesday, Judge Carl Barbier of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana dismissed the suit brought by the estate of Arthur Robinson — son of Jasper "Jesse" Louis Robinson — with prejudice at the plaintiff's cost.

The estate had contended that the sale of Arthur Robinson's interest in Barq's, through a series of transactions, was null under Louisiana law. He died in 1996.

An attorney for Coca-Cola, David Patron of Phelps Dunbar LLP, said Friday that the judge essentially adopted the company's arguments that the agreements in which Arthur Robinson transferred his interest in the Barq's companies were valid and secondly, even if those agreements were null, that Coca-Cola was immune from liability as a good-faith, third-party purchaser.

As indicated by Patron, Coca-Cola argued in its November motion seeking dismissal that Arthur Robinson unequivocally sold his interest in Barq's decades ago.

Coca-Cola, which acquired Barq's in 1995, said his family's ownership interest in the manufacture and sale of Barq's products in Louisiana ended more than 22 years ago, and the last contract in which Arthur Robinson disposed of his final interests in Barq’s Beverages Inc., a related company, was in 1980.

“It was not until the plaintiff was faced with an insolvent estate that these untimely claims were manufactured as a last gasp attempt to cash in [again],” the company said in its motion.

An attorney for the estate could not be immediately reached for comment Friday.

The tangled corporate and family histories in the case stretch back to the late 1890s when Edward Charles Edmond Barq Sr., the company's founder, formed Barq Brothers Bottling Co. in New Orleans, according to the complaint filed in September.

In 1897, Barq moved to Biloxi, Miss., with his wife and founded the Biloxi Artesian Bottling Works. While in Biloxi, Barq fathered Jesse Robinson out of wedlock, the complaint said.

Robinson got into the beverage business almost by accident, reportedly winning the Cascade Water Bottling Co. of New Orleans in a poker game on a Mississippi River boat in the 1920s, it said.

Barq then encouraged Robinson to transform his plant into a Barq's production facility soon after, the complaint said.

In 1934, Barq gave Robinson exclusive rights to use the family formula for soft drinks, including root beer, in nearly all of Louisiana, as well as the name Barq's, according to the complaint.

Robinson refined the formula for Barq's root beer such that there was a distinct difference between what was sold in Mississippi and what was sold in Louisiana, the complaint said. In 1946, Robinson formed Barq’s Beverages Inc. to exercise his rights in Louisiana.

After Robinson died in 1949, he passed along half of his company, which held the franchise for Barq's root beer in most of Louisiana, to his wife Marie Vicknair Robinson, with the remaining half divided evenly among his three children, Arthur, Betty and Yula, according to the complaint

When Marie Robinson died in 1979, her half of the property was divided evenly among the three children, the complaint said.

Arthur Robinson, whose three children launched the suit, became president of Barq's Beverages and he refined the formula for the company's famous root beer, the complaint says. But in 1970, his mother suffered a stroke, and he was forced to sell his interest in the company to his sisters, according to the complaint.

Two New Orleans attorneys then purchased the Mississippi branch of Barq's in 1976 and in 1988 bought Barq's Beverages for nearly $5 million, the complaint said.

The Robinson estate is represented by The Kramer Law Firm PA.

Coca-Cola is represented by Phelps Dunbar.

The case is Robinson v. Coca-Cola Co., case number 10-cv-03060, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
 

Bass Assassin

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Wow, I disappear for a few days and come back and find all this information! Fantastic work Bob, many many thanks for providing this arsenal of knowledge. I had been thinking to myself I never see any early Barq's bottles and couldn't understand why. Like you I truly believe some of those early bottles must be rare. Great work and I can't wait to see what else you come up with. I bet an early ice cold Barq's would taste pretty good right about now
 

SODAPOPBOB

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Bass

Thanks

My main focus has developed into a search for anything related to Barq Brothers Bottling. There is ample information available about Barq's Root Beer and everything related to it since about 1900, but almost nothing about Barq Brothers Bottling. I find this strange because it was established in 1890, which was a full ten years before Barq's Root Beer got going. You'd think there would be something other than a handful of newspaper articles, especially when you take into account the Barq brothers won a gold medal at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair for their Sparkling Orangine drink. Even if they used generic, unembossed Hutchinson bottles for Orangine and other brands, surely there must be some paper labels out there somewhere. I plan to continue searching a little longer, but starting to think I'm going to strike out. If/when a Barq Brothers item is ever found, I believe it will one of the rarest soda pop collectibles known.
 

SODAPOPBOB

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This newspaper article was published while the 1893 Chicago World's Fair was open. The women it refers to was Marie Barq, who was Edward Barq's wife. Notice where it says ...

"Every bottle bears a certificate of purity, ..."

From ...

The Meridional ~ Abbeville, Louisiana ~ August 5, 1893

[ Cropped into two sections ]

Barq Orangine The Meridional Abbeville, Louisiana August 5, 1893 (2).jpg

Barq Orangine The Meridional Abbeville, Louisiana August 5, 1893.jpg
 

SODAPOPBOB

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P.S.

The 1893 article I just posted was published before the fair ended and before Orangine received the gold medal as the best beverage at the fair.
 

SODAPOPBOB

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P.S. - P.S.

The 1893 article says the woman [Marie Barq] set up her stand on ...

"the veranda of the Louisiana State Building"

The Louisiana State Building is located at B-11 on this map of the fair ...

World's Fair 1893 Chicago.jpg
 

SODAPOPBOB

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This is an original picture of the Louisiana State Building at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. Barely visible on the right side of the porch is Marie Barq's Sparkling Orangine booth.

Barq Louisiana State Building 1893 Chicago World's Fair (2).jpg

This cropped image is from different original photo where you can see a portion of Marie Barq's booth. Notice on the canvas roof where you can see a portion of the words ...

Sparkling Orangine

(Note: If/when I find a better close up, I will post it. This is the best I can find at the moment)

Barq Louisiana State Building Orangine 1893 World's Fair.jpg

This link is to an eBay print of the Louisiana State Building where you can mouse-zoom and see the Sparkling Orangine booth on the right side of the porch ...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1893-Chicag...635077?hash=item464ba23fc5:g:tuAAAOSwJQdW~xXd
 

SODAPOPBOB

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Here's the link where I found the second image I posted. It has a zoom feature that allows a clear close up of the Sparkling Orangine booth. However, for some reason saving images from it is a little tricky. Perhaps someone else will have better luck with it than I have. Please share the image(s) with us if you are successful - Thanks!

http://gildedage.lib.niu.edu/islandora/object/niu-gildedage:19990
 

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