Coloured Cap Confusion

[bottlebugs]

I was recently driven to find the period correct cap for my growing Pepsi collection.

The colour changes sometimes made sense.

Blue matched the diamond shaped label of the day. It remained the go to colour until
Caleb Bradham went bankrupt in 1923. Sensible, yes?

Orange is a mystery to me. Why did Roy C. Megargel choose orange?

Green was a bit of a no brainer. Pepsi bottles of the mid to late 1920s abandoned the
blue diamond label (except some holdbacks) in favour of stylized aqua green art
deco bottles like Coke's hobble skirt.

Yellow matched the original golden neck foil of the first attempt to reinvent Pepsi by Guth.

So what in heaven's name did orange match?

 

[bottlebugs]

Here's a pretty good answer to my own question...

"On April 2nd 1923, Mr. Miles Otho Minges and brother Mr. Luther Lester Minges both from Statesville, N.C. migrated to Greenville, N.C. and opened the Orange Crush Bottling Company with a capital investment of $18,000.00 in bottling machinery. During the years that followed the Minges became bottlers for NuGrape and Ski Hi in 1926, Cocoa Crush in 1927 and Jumbo Cola in 1934. The Minges were presented the opportunity to purchase the Pepsi-Cola brand after the parent company was rebounding from bankruptcy in 1923. Many years of resurrection pursued for the trademark and it was only after the stock market crash did stability finally come at the hands of two investors Charles G. Guth and Roy C Megargel. The newly formed Pepsi-Cola Company began franchising bottlers down the east coast. Never realizing the potential of the brand, M.O. and L.L. gambled on purchasing the franchise rights for their respective territories in Eastern NC. That purchase also included New Bern, NC, where Pepsi was invented in 1898 by Caleb Bradham. That was when the real legacy began for the Minges family in the Pepsi-Cola business."

"1923–Pepsi-Cola Company is declared bankrupt and its assets are sold to a North Carolina concern, Craven Holding Corporation, for $30,000. Roy C. Megargel, a Wall Street broker, buys the Pepsi trademark, business and good will from Craven Holding Corporation for $35,000, forming the Pepsi-Cola Corporation."

"Pepsi-Cola was created by pharmacist Caleb Bradham, and was officially named as such in marketing in 1898. The company was very successful up until World War I, when sugar rationing lead to Bradham declaring bankruptcy in 1923. The company's recipe was then purchased by Craven Holding Corporation and later in 1931 by Wall Street broker Roy Megargel and Charles Guth."

 

[bottlebugs]

Collection (ca. 1899-2011, undated) documenting the history of Pepsi-Cola in New Bern, N.C.; the involvement of the Minges family in the soft drink business, 1923-1992, in Greenville, Tarboro, and Rocky Mount, N.C.; and the Minges Bottling Group, Inc., of Ayden, N.C. Materials include clippings, correspondence, contracts and financial records, advertising materials, photographic prints and compact discs, printing plates, printed materials, trademark registration certificates, video recordings, ephemera,etc. Digital files document the history of the Minges family of Catawba and Pitt Counties, North Carolina, and the history of the Minges Bottling Group.

---

BIOGRAPHICAL/HISTORICAL INFORMATION​

Miles Otho (M.O.) Minges was born in Catawba County, N.C., in 1894. In 1916, Minges married Myrtle Mae Morrow from Iredell County, N.C. The couple had five sons and one daughter: Maxel Eugene, Forrest Edwin, Ray Donald, Martha Virginia, Hoyt Alvin, and John Franklin II. In 1923, the Minges family moved from Catawba County to Pitt County, N.C. to join his brother, Luther Lester Minges, and his family in starting the soft drink company called the Orange Crush Bottling Company. At the time in Greenville, there were five other soft drink companies in business. Some of the products produced and distributed included Orange Crush, Nu Grape, Pilot-Pale Ginger Ale as well as Silver Nip, Spirit of 76, Cherry Blossoms as well as some beer interests (i.e. Pabst and Krueger Beer.) Also involved as a silent partner was a third brother (and dentist), Dr. Clyde Estes Minges in Rocky Mount, N.C. The brothers' business expanded into other nearby towns, but by the late 1920s, the brothers dissolved their partnership and focused on their own territories.
Minges' distribution business flourished up until the effects of World War I. Most of the postwar downturn was related to rationed supplies and the resulting high price of sugar. So while Pepsi and the Minges franchise continued on, it can be said that the parent company and Minges came out of the Great Depression together, which was basically how long it took to recover to a higher level of profitability. Around this time Pepsi introduced their twelve ounce bottle along with the slogan "Twice as Much for a Nickel, too."
Pepsi was invented circa 1898 by Caleb Bradham, Sr., in nearby New Bern, N.C., when one of Bradham's formulations, known as "Brad's Drink," a combination of carbonated water, sugar, vanilla, rare oils and kola nuts, was renamed "Pepsi-Cola." By 1902, Bradham applied for a trademark and the first Pepsi-Cola Company was formed. In the next few years, Bradham begins to advertise vigorously, and in 1903 (his first official year of operation) alone, he sold nearly 8,000 gallons of syrup.
By the early 1930s, Pepsi-Cola was offering multiple county franchises. M. O. Minges purchased a thirteen-county franchise for $1300. The franchise was based in Greenville, N.C., with a bottling plant. The warehouse was located in Washington, N.C. In 1936, Mr. Minges gave all of his children one-twelfth interest in the company. By 1955, the company was divided into three individual franchises, all managed by second generation family members. These included one in Greenville (John F. Minges II), Kinston (Hoyt A. Minges) and New Bern (Forrest E. Minges). Many other additions and changes in management would come in the next decades, but ownership remained in the Minges family. At the same time, the Minges family gave back greatly to their community through many avenues, as well as supported East Carolina University in Greenville. In their honor, the campus basketball arena was named Minges Coliseum in 1968. M.O. Minges died in 1970, and his wife Myrtle died in 1971.
In 2001, the three companies were merged into one and were headed by two third generation family members, Jeff Minges, President / CEO and Tom Minges, CFO / Chairman. A year later, Minges Bottling Group moved to their current location on Hwy 11 South in Ayden, N.C. In 2004, Miles Minges, fourth generation family member, joined as full time employee, serving in the Business Development. A few years later Miles Minges brother, Landon Minges, joined the family operation. Likewise, Tom Minges daughter Michelle Minges joined the family business along with Chris Craft, who is the son of Ann Bass Smith. The company has diversified by selling Minges Select Coffee and Tea. Also, between 2006 and 2008, Minges Bottling Group formed their own transport company as a subsidiary of the company, as well as Select Vending, LLC. In 2010, Thomas E. Minges, former Chairman and CFO of Minges Bottling Group passed away.


The Craven Holding Corporation consisted of the three Minges Brothers, all Orange
Crush investors. Roy C. Megargel, a Wall Street broker, buys the Pepsi trademark, business and good will from Craven Holding Corporation for $35,000, forming the Pepsi-Cola Corporation."

 

[bottlebugs]

The colour of the orange cap was already being used before Roy C. Megargel, a Wall Street broker, buys the Pepsi trademark, business and good will from Craven Holding Corporation for $35,000, forming the Pepsi-Cola Corporation."

 

[baseballed]

Here's a pretty good answer to my own question...

"On April 2nd 1923, Mr. Miles Otho Minges and brother Mr. Luther Lester Minges both from Statesville, N.C. migrated to Greenville, N.C. and opened the Orange Crush Bottling Company with a capital investment of $18,000.00 in bottling machinery. During the years that followed the Minges became bottlers for NuGrape and Ski Hi in 1926, Cocoa Crush in 1927 and Jumbo Cola in 1934. The Minges were presented the opportunity to purchase the Pepsi-Cola brand after the parent company was rebounding from bankruptcy in 1923. Many years of resurrection pursued for the trademark and it was only after the stock market crash did stability finally come at the hands of two investors Charles G. Guth and Roy C Megargel. The newly formed Pepsi-Cola Company began franchising bottlers down the east coast. Never realizing the potential of the brand, M.O. and L.L. gambled on purchasing the franchise rights for their respective territories in Eastern NC. That purchase also included New Bern, NC, where Pepsi was invented in 1898 by Caleb Bradham. That was when the real legacy began for the Minges family in the Pepsi-Cola business."


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"1923–Pepsi-Cola Company is declared bankrupt and its assets are sold to a North Carolina concern, Craven Holding Corporation, for $30,000. Roy C. Megargel, a Wall Street broker, buys the Pepsi trademark, business and good will from Craven Holding Corporation for $35,000, forming the Pepsi-Cola Corporation."

"Pepsi-Cola was created by pharmacist Caleb Bradham, and was officially named as such in marketing in 1898. The company was very successful up until World War I, when sugar rationing lead to Bradham declaring bankruptcy in 1923. The company's recipe was then purchased by Craven Holding Corporation and later in 1931 by Wall Street broker Roy Megargel and Charles Guth."

I'm a Coca~Cola guy but, your info on this part of the company is very interesting. I'll need to look for the green bottles and Orange caps. Thank you.

 

[bottlebugs]

Thank you BB,

Let me know what you find. If you see a 6 cent KIK cap in your travels let me know!

 

[bottlebugs]

BTW I recently reached out to Pepsi and Pete about a very specific cap and received a very blunt
and millennial (not that there's anything wrong with that) answer. I let them get back to their Taylor
Swift video and vowed not to bother them again.