Ward's Orange Crush by Alco Bottling?

[Canadacan]

Bob Thanks again for posting the catalog...really neat to see the other soda bottles in there too! Really appreciate all your hard work. The best today was you finding that original Ward's Crush with Nevin-Frank Co. ....that answered the most important question did Alco Nevin-Frank Co. bottle Ward's Orange Crush?Another thing I noticed was many of the advertising from 1923 say Ward's on the print but the bottle depicted is not a Ward's bottle.There are no Telephone directories to see if Nevin-Frank Co. just happened to be around a bit earlier than 1921...I wonder why?...was that because of the pandemic that hit Butte in 1918-19?...I could not make out that trade mark registration you posted for 1921...but we have no incorporation date right...so there is a good chance they were there in Butte before 1921.

 

[Canadacan]

Wonder if the same Frank made these Soda cans? LEON.

Leon I'm not sure?...but possible.

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

I agree the proof of the pudding will be determined by the dates on the bottles themselves. In the meantime, its advertisements like the one below, plus other references I've seen, that lead me to believe the transition from paper labels to the patented Orange Crush fully embossed bottle occurred almost overnight. When I search the newspaper archives from 1920 there isn't a single ad or article that mentions anything about Orange Crush's new bottle. But in the 1921 newspapers there are dozens of ads about their new bottle. Notice in the attached ad where it says Orange Crush is "only" available in the crinkly bottle. (So what happened to the paper label bottles?) By the way, all of the original ads use the word "Crinkly" with a 'C' and not "Krinkly" with a 'K' as Michael Rosman does on his website. (just saying) 1. Bottle Patent ~ 19202. Ad from ... The Atlanta Constitution ~ Atlanta, Georgia ~ May 26, 1921

 

[Canadacan]

Yes I agree that's how they advertised it being available in 1921 but just really wonder how much leniency the Crush corporation granted bottlers when it came time to switch? That would be a huge cost to change over bottles right away one would think. There seems to be some overlap with advertising....hey found this just for you!...lol[] [attachment=10945829_1_l.jpg]

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

I was curious about the spelling of Crinkly vs. Krinkly, so I took a little detour and discovered ... 1. The earliest use of Crinkly is found in the 1921 ads 2. There is no use of Krinkly in the 1921 ads 3. The earliest use of Krinkly is found in the 1922 ads 4. Crinkly is used more often than Krinkly until about 1925 5. Starting around 1925 Krinkly is used more often than Crinkly 6. By 1928 Crinkly is seldom used with Krinkly being dominant The majority of the ads appear to have originated from the parent company that were distributed to the various bottlers. The two shown below are identical except for the newspapers / locations they appeared in. It appears the use of Crinkly at the onset in 1921 was intentional and originated from the parent company. I do not know why it gradually morphed into Krinkly, but that too seems to have originated from the parent company and was intentional. [ Attachments ] Identical Ad ~ Different locations ~ Both use Crinkly ~ Except for the locations, I have seen at least a dozen like it, all of which are from 1922. 1. The Daily Republican ~ Monongahela, Pennsylvania ~ August 23, 19222. The Reidsville Review ~ Reidsville, North Carolina ~ August 11, 1922

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Has anyone ever heard of this brand? Neither have I until now. I do not know the date, nor anything else about it except that its from Queensland, Australia ...

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Canadacan: Earlier you mentioned something about directories. This is a page from a 1932 Montana Manufacturers Directory and list several beverage bottlers. Notice the only bottlers of Orange Crush at that time are ... 1. Anaconda 2. Coca Cola, Billings 3. Bozeman Bottling But for Alco / Nevin-Frank, all it shows is ... 1. Alco Beverages 2. Techo Ginger Ale Its highly possible the directory is incomplete and the various bottlers could very well have bottled brands not listed. But I still have to wonder why it shows Orange Crush for some of the bottlers but not for Alco / Nevin-Frank? I'll do some double checking, but as it stands now the earliest date I can find for when Alco / Nevin-Frank bottled Orange Crush is 1937. (That is unless I missed something I forgot about)

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

I'm still checking, but its ads like this that make me question when Nevin-Frank first started bottling Orange Crush. Perhaps this ad only list the brands that were on sale during that particular week, but I still wonder why it doesn't list Orange Crush? Is it possibly because they weren't bottling Orange Crush at the time? By 1935 Orange Crush was well known and you'd think they would list it if they sold it. ??? From ... Montana Butte Standard ~ Butte, Montana ~ June 28, 1935

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Try as I have, I just cannot find a listing that shows Nevin-Frank bottled/sold Orange Crush any earlier than 1937. I am reposting this ad from 1937 to emphasize the numerous uses of the word "new" As we know, Orange Crush made its major debut in 1916, so I'd say there was very little that was new about it 1937, which was 21 years after its 1916 debut. Perhaps I'm mistaken, but to me the wording suggest Orange Crush was new to Nevin-Frank and Butte, Montana and was possibly just introduced into the market area in 1937. Montana Butte Standard ~ Butte, Montana ~ April 30, 1937

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

P.S. Maybe they are talking about a "new" formula for Orange Crush, except I can find no evidence to support that Orange Crush was reformulated in 1937.