EARLY ROYAL CROWN GINGER ALE PAPER LABEL

[SODAPOPBOB]

This thread is a spin-off of the following, earlier threads, whose member names and start dates I have included ...
dbv1919 ~ Started in May of 2014
https://www.antique-bottles.net/forum/Oldest-ACL-Royal-Crown-Cola-Bottle-m650674.aspx

Morbious_fod ~ Started in October of 2014
https://www.antique-bottles.net/forum/Earliest-ACL-Royal-Crown-Cola-redux-m663404.aspx

iggyworf ~ Started in February of 2015
https://www.antique-bottles.net/forum/RC-Cola-m671684.aspx


The most detailed information about this Royal Crown Ginger Ale label can be found on the last several pages of iggyworf's thread. I recently acquired the label, along with two others just like it, on eBay and paid $15.00 for all three. I'm only keeping the one pictured here and will be sending the other two to members dbv1919 and iggyworf.

It is my hope with this new thread to research the label further and possibly find a specific date when it was used. I have a lot if information to share but for the time being just wanted to get this thread going and will add to it as time and my research findings allow. If anyone has specific information pertaining to this label, please feel free to share it with us. All I can tell you about it at the moment is that I consider it extremely rare and it and the other two are the only one's like it that I have ever seen. As far as I know this label has never been available on the collector's market before and there are no pictures of it in any books I am aware of. It's original and not a reproduction!

I'll be back!

Sodapopbob

[ Attachments ]

1. Front of label (Measures 4 1/2" inches long x 3" inches wide)
2. Back of label (Thin paper with front bleed-through)

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Please bare with me - there is actually a method to my madness ... ( I just hope all of this copy/pasting doesn't get scrambled ) The following link is to one of the most comprehensive Royal Crown histories I'm aware of. I've copy/pasted a couple of paragraphs from it. If I'm reading it right, it leads me to believe Royal Crown Ginger Ale was first bottled by the Hatcher Grocery Company. The part that's still a little confusing, of which I'm not sure about the date, is where it says ... "Royal Crown Ginger Ale Trademark: a pretty queen wearing a crown." ~ * ~ (I invite others to read the document and see what you come up with) RC Cola Gets Start in Basement Contributed By: Christine Thacker - June 20, 2007 By Bill Winn Guest Columnist Http://files.usgwarchives.net/Ga/muscogee/photos/hatcher13430gph.txt "From the basement of the Hatcher Grocery Company, then located on Eleventh Street between Broadway and Front Avenue, came the first bona fide Columbus Soft drink creation to achieve status - Royal Crown Ginger Ale." ~ * ~ "Claud Hatcher decided the Union Bottling Works must produce a cola. So he got busy. The result was a carbonated beverage called Chero Cola. Chero Cola caught on fast. In a short time it was the spearhead beverage of The Union Bottling Works. Young Hatcher, who had proven to be a master at organizing promotion ever since he created his first Royal Crown Ginger Ale Trademark: a pretty queen wearing a crown, decided the firm should bear the name of this new cola beverage. Chero Cola Company was organized in 1912. Chero Cola's first board of directors consisted of Claud A. Hatcher, Lucious A. Hatcher, William A. Anthony, C. G. Anthony. C. A. Sears, Dewitt Pickett, John Shields and Walter Davidson. Claud Hatcher was president; W. A. Anthony, treasurer and C. A. Sears, secretary."


~ * ~

Here's another history site where we find similar information ...


http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/54/Royal-Crown-Company-Inc.html

"The first soft drink Hatcher created was named Royal Crown Ginger Ale, and its success opened the Hatchers' eyes to the opportunities available in the soft drink market. In 1905, father and son made their commitment to the soft drink market officially by reorganizing Hatcher Grocery Co. as Union Bottling Works and concentrating wholly on producing Royal Crown Ginger Ale."


~ * ~


Most of the Royal Crown histories provide us with the following timeline ...

(All of which were located in Columbus, Georgia)

1901 - Cole-Hatcher-Hampton Grocery Company
1903 - Hatcher Grocery Company
1905 - Union Bottling Works
1912 - Chero-Cola Company
1925 - Nehi Bottling Company
1959 - Royal Crown Cola Company

 

[MichaelFla]

Does anybody have a green ACL Royal Crown Ginger Ale? The reason I ask is that a painter named McClelland Barclay painted the picture here before he went missing in 1943. I don't collect ACLs, but neither no I remember ever seeing one of these. So I was just curious if anybody else had.

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Because the link to the following information and instructions is one of those super long one's, I will be posting the link on the next post. It involves a publication titled ... The Bulletin of the North Carolina State Board of Agriculture Raleigh, North Carolina January, 1903 ... and pertains to various manufactures who were tested for artificial additives in their products. 1. Notice on Page 30 where it list Royal Crown Ginger Ale next to test number 16762. Scroll to Page 31 - Notice the test samples were collected on September 16, 1902 I'm not sure yet if my paper label is directly connected to these test, but it is the earliest confirmed date I am aware of for Royal Crown Ginger Ale, which in this example is 1902. I'm currently researching ... McManus, Short & Company ~ Charlotte, North Carolina (Who were the bottlers/manufactures)

 

[iggyworf]

Bob, the first link doesn't seem to work. The 2nd does.Michael, I looked at that before also and wondered about it. Nothing clear on the bottle can be seen in the painting. I wonder if it is just a generic bottle he painted. I am going to a local soda advertising show this Sun. I will be looking for Royal Crown stuff(as well as others) for sure. It's mostly a Coca Cola show but other brands as well.

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Link to 1902 Testing - Opens on Page 30 - Also scroll to Page 31 See test numbers 1676 https://books.google.com/books?id=MS0gAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA30&dq=royal+crown+ginger+ale+McManus+Short+Company&hl=en&sa=X&ei=35TsVOKlF5KxogTim4GoDw&ved=0CDwQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=royal%20crown%20ginger%20ale%20McManus%20Short%20Company&f=false

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

iggy Here's the link again. It should work this time. It is one of the best Royal Crown histories I'm aware of ... http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/muscogee/photos/hatcher13430gph.txt

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Just for the record ... The 1902 Testing also involved Royal Crown ... 1. Wine Punch 2. Sarsaparilla 3. Strawberry

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Does anybody have a green ACL Royal Crown Ginger Ale? The reason I ask is that a painter named McClelland Barclay painted the picture here before he went missing in 1943. I don't collect ACLs, but neither no I remember ever seeing one of these. So I was just curious if anybody else had.

Michael Thanks for the contribution. I have never seen an ACL but will keep my eyes peeled during the course of my ongoing research. However, I do know that Royal Crown Ginger Ale bottles with paper labels were produced well into the 1930s and 1940s. I own this paper label which I have been able to date to 1932 and is from San Mateo, California.

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

~ Question of the Day ~ Is it possible "our" Royal Crown Ginger Ale paper labels date to ... 1902 ?