Brief history of 7Up

In the village of Price's Branch, Missouri, a Mr Charles Leiper Grigg invented a popular orange drink in 1920 called Howdy. He launched his company as The Howdy Corporation. In order to improve it he marketed another drink in 1929 under the name of “Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda,” it was originally formulated with lithium citrate as one of its active ingredients.

The beverage was a caramel-colored, lithiated lemon-lime soda, which he placed as a drink with a "flavor wallop" to market alongside Howdy Orange drink. The sales were bad. At the same time, more than 600 lemon-lime soft drinks were already in the marketplace.

Grigg spent more than two years testing eleven different formulas of lemon-flavored drinks. He settled on one that fulfilled his criteria, being both refreshing and thirst quenching - the drink recognized today as 7UP.

Acknowledging the success of the 7UP trademark, in 1936, C. L. Grigg changed the Corporation’s name from The Howdy Corporation to The Seven-Up Company. By the late 1940s, 7UP had become the third best-selling soft drink in the world.

The company was took over by Westinghouse in 1969 and in June 1978, Philip Morris acquired The Seven Up Company. In early 1987, Cherry 7UP and Diet 7UP were introduced. The target market was young people and it was instant success across the country.

In 1986, investment firm Hicks and Hass bought The Seven Up Company before the latter merged with Dr Pepper in 1988. The Dr Pepper Snapple Group was spun off from Cadbury Schweppes in 2008; it merged with Keurig Green Mountain in 2018 to form Keurig Dr Pepper. Now the rights to the brand of 7UP are held by Keurig Dr Pepper.
Brief history of 7Up

History of American whiskey

Whiskey making has a long history in the United States. Even President George Washington owned a whiskey distillery.

American Whiskey was first produced in the states of Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania in eastern United States around late 18th century and was originally a predominately rye-based spirit.

Back then, Pennsylvania was dominated by Irish, Scottish, but also German settlers. While the Irish and Scottish brought their knowledge of whisk(e)y production, the Germans were experts in growing and processing rye.

People quickly realized that rye gave the whiskey a spicy character. The drink was so popular that it was soon shipped to the most remote corners of the country.

In the early days of American whiskey making, many distillers were farmers who also produced and sold whiskey as a source of additional income.

In 1791, Alexander Hamilton, the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, in an effort to generate revenue, established a 25% tax on whiskey distillers. The majority of distillers operated small production facilities and the federal tax was greatly opposed. This opposition became known as “The Whiskey Rebellion” when it was necessary for the federal government to send troops to enforce the tax.

During the second half of the 19th century, thanks to distilling and railroad improvements, a number of brands developed dedicated followings and built impressive facilities.

Over time whiskey was being produced in a number of states, including Tennessee which produced the famous Jack Daniel’s brand. The popularity of whiskey grew over the years and reached its heyday in the 1950s in the U.S., but soon the drink lost popularity and sales declined.
History of American whiskey

History of carbonated softdrink in United States

The first carbonated beverage was provided by nature and dates back to antiquity, when the first carbonated natural mineral waters were discovered. Owing to their purported therapeutic properties, they were used for bathing by the ancient Greeks and Romans and not for drinking.

In 1767, Joseph Priestley, British chemist was credited for infusing water with carbon dioxide to make carbonated water.

In 1806, Benjamin Silliman of Yale University and Philip Physick of University Pennsylvania were among those who began to market similar artificially carbonated waters in the United States.

Carbonated beverages have been growing in popularity as a favorite American beverage since the 1800s. In 1819, Samuel Fahnestock patented the first soda fountain.

Surprisingly it took until 1832 for carbonated soft drinks to become widespread throughout the United States.

This took place soon after John Mathews created a machine for manufacturing carbonated water and then mass manufactured this machine for sale to soda fountain owners.

In the late 1800s, entrepreneurs began selling flavored carbonated beverages with added caffeine.

Dr Pepper, created in 1885 by two pharmacists in Waco, was sold as ‘tonic, brain food’ and exhilarant.’ The following year, John Pemberton introduced the first Coca-Cola drink in 1886. During World War II Coca-Cola was shipped to American forces wherever they were posted. The habit of drinking Coca-Cola stayed with them even after they returned home.

Carbonated soft drinks are no longer the unique products of pharmacies and soft drinks definitely no longer marketed as health tonics,.

Until 1980s, soft drinks were sweetened with refined cane sugar or corn syrup. Since 1978, the consumption of carbonated beverages has tripled from males between the ages of twelve and twenty nine.
History of carbonated softdrink in United States

Instant tea in United States history

During the early 20th century, tearooms became common in many large cities in the United States. These were largely owned, operated and frequented by women, who saw these establishments as good alternatives to the saloons when men mainly congregated.

However, these tearooms went out of fashion and largely disappeared during the 1920s. Tea reemerged as an important beverage after World War II, Lipton introduced the four-sided tea bag in 1952, and instant tea came out five years later.

Advances in processing technology allowed the development of instant tea, which was first produced in England in 1940, with commercial production in the United States beginning in 1950.

The demand in the United States is for instant teas soluble in cold water, because it is iced tea which is the real basis for the success of instant tea in that country. Production and consumption in the United States is greater than in the rest of the world.

The methods used for instant tea production have been protected by patents, and the patents published up to 1969 have been reviewed in 1977. The United States has now become the world’s second largest importer of tea. By the 1990s, almost one hundred million tons were being used each year in teabags or processed into instant tea.

Instant tea in United States history

 

1st commercial bottled carbonated water in United States

Carbonated waters were imported into the USA from the UK prior to 1800. In 1807, Henry Thompson of Tottenham, Middlesex, was granted a British patent for impregnating water with gas.

The first commercial production is attributed to Benjamin Silliman, who was professor of chemistry at Yale College.

Benjamin Silliman had seen carbonated waters in his travels to England and had met Joseph Priestly who had emigrated to the USA.

In partnership with Mr Twinning, he started bottling and selling carbonated water under pressure locally in New Haven, Connecticut in 1807.

In 1809, they purchased costly soda-making equipotent and opened two retail soda-water outlets one at the City Hotel and the other at the Tontine Coffee House.

Silliman manufactured his carbolated water in the cellar, from where iron tubes led upstairs to a decorated manual pump from which customers could be served.

Within a fairly short time, soda water became a popular beverage. Cold soda water was sold everywhere and was in inexpensive enough for most people to joy.

In the late 19th century a druggist invented a flavored soda by adding an extract from the African kola nut. Coca-cola was invented in 1886 by a pharmacist, John Pemberton.
1st commercial bottled carbonated water in United States