Cheerwine from Asheville, NC

[SODAPOPBOB]

And here's a little bonus to 'cap' off the Statesville story ... Statesville Record & Landmark ~ August 20, 1931

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Morb

It looks like I have hit another dead-end. The main problem is, the Asheville newspapers only go up to 1917. And searching through thousands of editions of newspapers from the surrounding communities is extremely time consuming, which wouldn't be so bad if they produced results, but unfortunately they don't. Searching outside of the box is how I got sidetracked with those other bottlers and the more I looked into it, the deeper and deeper I got drawn into no man's land. But that doesn't mean I'm giving up the search. Instead, I am now searching for any reference I can that might explain why so many Orange Crush bottlers also bottled Cheerwine. At the moment I refuse to believe it was just a coincidence. So now I am looking for things like contracts and agreements that will hopefully shed some light on things. I will try my best to stay focused on Asheville but will likely post whatever I find if it states some form of direct connection between Cheerwine and Orange Crush. If nothing else, I am happy to have been able to provide your thread with the 1952 phone directory.

Later,

Bob

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

I don't know the specifics yet, but I stumbled onto a name whose common denominators are ... 1. Asheville2. Chero-Cola3. Cheerwine The name is ... Chester Brown

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

More Chester Brown ... Somewhere among my jillions of searches I distinctly recall seeing the name Chester Brown in connection with Cheerwine. I remember it because my last name is Brown. I dismissed it at the time because I could not find a town connected with the name. But now I have discovered that Chester Brown's business activities centered around Asheville. There is no question now that he was the owner of the Chero-Cola Bottling in Asheville in the 1920s, but I'm having difficulty placing him in later years other than a scanty/unconfirmed reference connecting him to Nehi in 1946. But it's the Asheville/Cheerwine connection I am currently searching for. I know I saw it somewhere but just can't remember where. If nothing else, at least we know now what the C. B. stands for on the 1917 Asheville map ... 1. 1921 American Bottler2. 19253. 1917 Map

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Meet ... Chester Brown http://toto.lib.unca.edu/findingaids/mss/brown_chester/default_brown_chester.htm

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

I think I'm getting close, but no cigar yet ... Asheville City Directory ~ 1945-1946

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

We better not count our chickens just yet! I spent the past two hours trying to connect Chester Brown with Cheerwine but cannot find the earlier reference I mentioned. I'm finding tons of stuff about Chester, his wife Mary, and their son Chester Jr., except that everything connects them to Nehi and Royal Crown in Asheville but zilch with Cheerwine. Anyhoo, I'll keep looking and will post an update if/when I find anything.

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

I sent an inquiry to the Asheville / Buncombe County public records department. If those guys don't know the answer, then it's possible that no one does! Keep your fingers crossed!

 

[morbious_fod]

Long story short ...

I am temporarily discontinuing my searches for a Cheerwine bottler and/or distributor located in Asheville proper and will be focusing on the following ...

I posted this article earlier but I did not crop or emphasize the part about territories, which I would like to draw your attention to now. Notice in the article where it says that Mr. Nanny had "13 trucks in four counties of his territory." Also be reminded that Mr. Nanny was an Orange Crush bottler who also handled Cheerwine.

I realize this particular bottler's territory did not include Asheville or Buncombe County, but it does suggest to me that bottlers outside of Asheville might have had territories as well and that one of them might have distributed Cheerwine in Asheville. I'm thinking it's also possible that an outside bottler might have had special bottles produced for a particular town and that this might explain the Cheerwine bottle embossed with Asheville, N.C.

It might even be that a nearby Cheerwine Bottling plant produced the bottle and distributed it in their Asheville territory.

Especially notice my numerous uses of the words "might have." But I think it's a possibility worth looking into.

The Gastonia Gazette ~ Gastonia, N.C. ~ October 17, 1950

Indeed bottlers have franchised territories; however, first off Asheville is part of Orange Crush of Asheville's franchise territory. While there are instances where some companies have franchises for sodas which overlap the franchise area of a fellow bottler of their leader brand, they most certainly wouldn't purchase bottles with a town name other than the one they are located in because the whole purpose of that is to get their bottles returned to the bottling plant they came from. Even if they had a warehouse in Asheville, which is highly likely because their leader product Orange Crush already has another franchise operating there, I have never seen an instance where they would put a warehouse location on a bottle.

The usual practice is to keep to your own territory.

 

[morbious_fod]

That being said if Asheville Orange Crush were a branch plant of Orange Crush of Gastonia or any of these others you have mentioned then it is possible, but they were still bottling it in Asheville.

I have a couple of cases in my area where branch plants were established and bottles ordered with the name of the branch plant town on them. Johnson City and Kingsport Coca-Cola, and Seven-Up of Bristol, Kingsport, and Richlands VA.
If you could find that Asheville Orange Crush was a branch plant of one of these others then you might have a leg to stand on with this theory.