Vernors Ginger Ale 150th B-Day

[hemihampton]

Side Story close up. LEON.

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Next question ...

When was Vernor's Ginger Ale first bottled?

1. First extract bottle date? 1887

2. First carbonated bottle date? 1897

I still need to do some additional searching, but as it stands now the earliest dates I can find are added in red to the above ...

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Leon

Its not so much that I'm trying to rewrite history as it is to shed some light on the subject for others to reference in the future. I'm not sure who or when someone started using the 1866 date, but as near as I can determine it was the Vernors themselves. The only docu-mented account I can find for James Vernor from 1866 are those that state he and Charles L'Hommedieu became members of the Michigan druggist society in 1866. Specifically in August of 1866.

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

P.S.

I don't save every account I find, but I do recall one account where James Vernor Jr. and James Vernor III both said in their own words that neither of them fully accepted all of their father's and grandfather's claims about the early days of the company. I'll go back and see if I can find those accounts, and then post them.

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Some new directory dates ...


1864-1865 Detroit Directory

No James Vernor ~ He was still involved with the Civil War at the time. Benjamin Vernor was James' brother who was an insurance agent.






1866-1867 Detroit Directory

James Vernor & Charles L'Hommedieu ~ drugs retail, 219 Woodward Avenue

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Here's James Vernor's Civil War record, showing he mustered out on July 1, 1865 ...


Name: James Vernor

Residence: Detroit, Michigan

Age at Enlistment: 19

Enlistment Date: 14 Aug 1862

Rank at enlistment: Hospl Steward

Enlistment Place: Detroit, Michigan

State Served: Michigan

Was POW?: Yes

Survived the War?: Yes

Service Record:

Enlisted in Company S, Michigan 4th Cavalry Regiment on 29 Aug 1862. Promoted to Full 2nd Lieutenant on 20 Sep 1864. Mustered out on 01 Jul 1865 at Nashville, TN.

Birth Date: 1843

Death Place: Grosse Isle, Michigan 1927

Sources: Record of Service of Michigan Volunteers 1861-65 Union Blue: History of MOLLUS

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

I still need to do some additional searching, but as it stands now the earliest dates I can find are added in red to the above ...

Based on the most reliable sources I can find, it appears that James Vernor bottled his carbonated ginger ale for the first time in ...

1896

Which apparently was a crown finish bottle as there are no examples or records to support that he ever used a Hutchinson type bottle.

 

[hemihampton]

I read somewhere that some of his first carbonated bottles from that time frame were not crown top but porcelin stopper or rubber lightning stopper. Not sure if thats true, I have not seen any. LEON.

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Even Keith Wunderlich, who is supposed to be the most advanced Vernor's collector in the United States and possibly the world, says ...

"There are conflicting stories about how the ginger ale first began. The most popular story, and one found frequently in the Vernor's Company's own literature, says that Vernor began experimenting with a formula for ginger ale prior to leaving for the Civil War. Upon returning from the war, he opened a wooden cask of his extract and found the taste he had been hoping to discover. The secret combination of ingredients, along with the four years of aging in wooden casks during the Civil War, perfected his ginger ale. Another story says he began experimenting with his formula after returning from the war."

http://vernorsclub.weebly.com/vernors-history.html

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

These Google Books snippets are the first and only accounts I have found that appear to have gotten at least half of it right. Its from a 1966 book titled ...

"Historical Sketches of Chemistry in Michigan"

Notice where it says ...

In 1866, James S. Vernor, a Civil War veteran, and partner Charles L'Hommedieu, druggist at 219 Woodward Avenue, first served ginger ale in their drug store.






Notes:

I'm still not convinced of the 1866 date, but I am convinced the original address was 219 Woodward and not 235 Woodward. Now I'm wondering if the Vernors used the 235 Woodward Avenue address in their recollections and historical accounts so they wouldn't have to include Charles L'Hommedieu and share credit with him for the birth of Vernor's Ginger Ale?