compiled by Christopher Flaherty from various sources
version 3.51 January 31, 2005
List of Questions:
Prologue: About the FAQ
a. What's a FAQ?
b. Where can I find the latest version of this FAQ?
c. What are the sources for this FAQ?
d. What changes have been made to this FAQ?
e. Why did you put this FAQ together?
f. How can I contribute to/make suggestions/submit corrections to this FAQ?
Section 1: History and Trivia
1.1 Who invented Dr Pepper?
1.2 Is Dr Pepper older than Coca-Cola?
1.3 Was there ever really a person called Dr. Pepper?
1.4 Is there now a town named Dr Pepper?
1.5 What's the connection between the Beatles and Dr Pepper?
1.6 What's the connection between the JFK assassination and Dr Pepper?
1.7 What's the connection between the MLK assassination and Dr Pepper?
1.8 Did Dr Pepper put out a can with a patriotic scene of the Empire State Building that left out "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance?
1.9 What’s the connection between Hillary Clinton and Dr Pepper?
1.10 Who are some other celebrities who like Dr Pepper?
Section 2: The Drink, and How To Get It
2.1 Does Dr Pepper contain prune juice?
2.2 Okay, so what's in Dr Pepper?
2.3 What's the recipe for Hot Dr Pepper?
2.4 What Dr Pepper imitations exist, and where can you find them?
2.5 What's the difference between Dr Pepper made with Imperial Cane Sugar, and Dr Pepper made with high fructose corn syrup?
2.6 How can I get some cane sugar Dr Pepper?
2.7 How can I get some caffeine-free Dr Pepper?
2.8 What's this "Red Fusion" drink I've heard about?
Section 3: Ads, Merchandise, Museums, and Literature
3.1 Why drink Dr Pepper at 10 o'clock, 2 o'clock, and 4 o'clock?
3.2 What happened to the period after "Dr" in Dr Pepper?
3.3 Who owns Dr Pepper? I heard it was owned by Coke/Pepsi/7-Up/etc.?
3.4 Is there a Dr Pepper museum?
3.5 Where can I buy Dr Pepper merchandise?
3.6 Where can I find this Dr Pepper collectible? Who can I contact to have this antique Dr Pepper item looked at?
3.7 What books have been written about Dr Pepper?
3.8 How can I contact The Dr Pepper Company?
And now, the questions with the answers:
FAQ stands for Frequently Asked Questions, and there are several of them that pop up in alt.fan.dr-pepper all the time.
b. Where can I find the latest version of this FAQ?
This FAQ is posted to alt.fan.dr-pepper, alt.answers, and news.answers as often as it may be necessary (at least once every three months). The latest version can always be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.freenewyork.net/dpfaq.html. The following mirror sites (or, more accurately, mirror sites for the newsgroup postings of the FAQ) also exist:
http://www.cs.uu.nl/wais/html/na-dir/drink/dr-pepper.html
http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet-faqs/bygroup/alt/fan/dr-pepper/_drink:dr-pepper.html
http://src.doc.ic.ac.uk/usenet/news.answers/alt.fan.dr-pepper/
http://ftp.eu.net/ftp/documents/faq/drink/dr-pepper
http://ftp.lth.se/cgi-bin/gfaq?drink%2fdr-pepper.gz
http://www.landfield.com/faqs/drink/dr-pepper/
http://omicron.felk.cvut.cz/FAQ/articles/a3839.html (version 1.14 was found here in 2001!)
http://www.pasteur.fr/infosci/FAQ/drink/dr-pepper
http://faqs.jmas.co.jp/FAQs/drink/dr-pepper
http://www.xphys.tuwien.ac.at/scott/faqs/by-newsgroup/18010
http://unix.unb.ca/faq/faq.cgi?643213+alt.fan.dr-pepper
http://ftp.univ-lyon1.fr/faq/by-newsgroup/alt/alt.fan.dr-pepper/drink-dr-pepper
http://ftp.yars.free.net/pub/doc/FAQ/alt/fan/dr-pepper/ (this site has links to versions going back to 1.02)
http://sunsite.org.uk/public/usenet/news-faqs/alt.fan.dr-pepper/ (this site has versions going back to 2.11)
http://www.bookcase.com/library/faq/archive/drink/dr-pepper.html
http://faq.etc.pt/cgi-bin/gunzipfaq?/var/web/faq.etc.pt/htdocs/faqs/drink/dr-pepper.gz
ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-group/alt.fan.dr-pepper/
As of November 12, 1998, a link to this FAQ can be found on Yahoo! in the Home : Society and Culture : Food and Drink : Drinks and Drinking : Dr Pepper category (as opposed to the more corporate Home : Business and Economy : Companies : Beverages : Soft Drinks : Dr Pepper category). It took a while, but hey--what's five months between friends? Anyway, there was an additional happy side effect to the Yahoo! listing besides increased traffic, but I'll elaborate on that in question 2.4, so stay tuned.
c. What are the sources for this FAQ?
This particular FAQ was first put together in its present form by Christopher Flaherty. A smaller FAQ was previously compiled by Max Arbogast. Major web site sources include pepper.doc, Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc., the corporate Dr Pepper site, The Dublin Dr Pepper Plant, and the Dr Pepper Museum and Free Enterprise Institute of Waco, Texas. Many old posts to alt.fan.dr-pepper were retrieved via DejaNews, so thanks to them also. Other sources are also quoted and attributed throughout the FAQ.
d. What changes have been made to this FAQ?
The chronology of this particular FAQ's development is as follows:
November 8, 1997 -- Version 0.001: First preliminary version; questions only. Did not include answers. Not distributed.
June 2, 1998 -- Version 0.002: Included answers to questions as well as a chart listing 38 DP clones. Not distributed.
June 15, 1998 -- Version 0.003: Eliminated chart/list of DP clones. Expanded and renumbered questions and answers. Not distributed.
June 28, 1998 -- Version 0.004: Included personal comment about book availability in my hometown. Limited distribution through email for proofreading and corrections. First HTML version created.
June 30, 1998 -- Version 0.005: Corrected number of flavors in answer to question 2.2. HTML publication only.
July 2, 1998 -- Version 1.00: First plain-text version created. First submission to alt.fan.dr-pepper, alt.answers, and news.answers newsgroups.
July 7, 1998 -- Version 1.01: Added information about Houston Collector's Club (question 3.6) and ingredients in UK Dr Pepper (question 2.2).
August 6, 1998 -- Version 1.02: FAQ approved for posting to alt.answers and news.answers newsgroups. Specified posting frequency in question b. Modified question 1.3 and one other question ("Who started the prune juice rumor?" - eliminated in version 2.00) to address the "love story" rumor.
September 27, 1998 -- Version 1.03: Added two more sites to question 2.4.
September 29, 1998 -- Version 1.04: Corrected stock symbol for Cadbury Schweppes (question 3.3). Not distributed.
October 2, 1998 -- Version 1.1: Added new question about the Beatles (question 1.5) and rearranged the others.
October 12, 1998 -- Version 1.11: Added another site to question 2.4 and META tags to HTML version.
October 28, 1998 -- Version 1.12: Added ingredients of Australian and Canadian versions of Dr Pepper (question 2.2).
November 7, 1998 -- Version 1.13: Added list of "mirror sites" to question b. Corrected name and address of source of Canadian ingredients (question 2.2). Added information about year of origin and distribution of Mr. Pibb (question 2.4).
November 14, 1998 -- Version 1.14: Added information about Yahoo! link (question b); updated URL of Mr. Pibb site, updated name of Wouldn't you like to be a Pepper too... site (formerly known as Impostors, Pretenders, and Frauds), and added information about new Yahoo! category (all question 2.4).
January 31, 1999 -- Version 2.00: Added ingredients for Diet Dr Pepper to question 2.2. Eliminated the question "Who started the prune juice rumor?" Added international distribution information to question 3.3. Added information about eBay to questions 3.5 and 3.6.
February 20, 1999 -- Version 2.01: Added more information about flavors and changed one email address in question 2.2. Added more information about Hot Dr Pepper to question 2.3. HTML publication only.
February 23, 1999 -- Version 2.02: Added facts about Cooking With Dr Pepper to question 3.7.
March 4, 1999 -- Version 2.03: Added more information about Cooking With Dr Pepper to question 3.7. Added more contact information to question 3.8.
April 4, 1999 -- Version 2.04: Added information about catalogue from Dr Pepper Museum in Waco, Texas (question 3.5). Added information about potential new clone from Coca-Cola (questions 2.4 & 3.3) and corrected release year of Mr. Pibb (question 2.4). Added note about 25-case limit on sales of cane sugar Dr Pepper (question 2.6). Revised book information and availability in question 3.7.
April 22, 1999 -- Version 2.05: Added information about caffeine content to question 2.2. Revised addresses in questions 2.6 and 3.4. Added soda jerk lingo to question 3.2. Added toll-free Museum number to question 3.5.
May 2, 1999 -- Version 2.06: Corrected bad HTML code in first link to question 1.5. HTML version only.
June 12, 1999 -- Version 2.1: Added 3 more "mirror" sites to question b. Added information about Straight Dope Online article to question e. Corrected bad HTML code in question 2.5. Added new question about caffeine-free Dr Pepper (question 2.7) and rearranged the others. Negligible change to question 3.7.
July 9, 1999 -- Version 2.11: Added extra disclaimers to question e. Added more flavor information to question 2.2. Added three more "clone" sites to question 2.4. Changed wording of question 2.7 to match its wording in the list of questions, and made small grammatical correction in question 2.7's answer.
August 23, 1999 -- Version 2.12: Added info about prune juice rumor to question 2.1. Reformatted part of question 2.2. Added 6 more "clone" sites and information about dmoz.org to question 2.4. Added phone number for Bottling company to question 2.6. Added fax numbers for museums to question 3.4.
November 13, 1999 -- Version 2.2: Slight changes to descriptions of versions 1.02 and 2.00 in question d. Added new question about the JFK Assassination (question 1.6) and reformatted the others. Added publishing information to question 3.2. Slight HTML correction in question 3.8. Tiny revisions to questions 2.4 and 3.7.
February 12, 2000 -- Version 2.21: Slight change to question b (re: Yahoo! link). Added info about web site stats to question e. Modified question 1.6 for clarity. Added notice of Bill Kloster's death to question 2.2. Added links to two new clone sites; updated information about potential Coca-Cola knock-off, total number of clones, and link to Dr Kenton's Generic Dr Peppers, all in question 2.4.
April 6, 2000 -- Version 2.3: Moved question f from the big list to the prologue. Added more stats about Bill Kloster to question 2.2. Corrected population status of New York City (it is indeed "the largest city in the United States") in question 2.7.
July 8, 2000 -- Version 2.31: Expanded original name of 7-Up in question 1.2. Revised info for ordering caffeine-free Dr Pepper in question 2.7. Revised contact info for Cookbook in question 3.7. Added more contact information to question 3.8.
January 9, 2001 -- Version 2.32: Added more mirror sites to question b. Added additional web site mentions and revised web site stats in question e. Added more info about prune juice rumor to question 2.1. Changed address and email contact info for Caffeine FAQ and added more ingredient and caffeine info in question 2.2. Revised clone site info and added another site in question 2.4. Added new location for cane sugar availability to question 2.6. Slight revision in question 2.7.
January 16, 2001 -- Version 2.33: Added another location and made correction to question 2.6.
February 4, 2001 -- Version 2.34: Made dates in the FAQ Y2K compatible (better late than never). Revised information about the town Dr Pepper, Texas, in question 1.4. Revised history of Mr. Pibb, added new Pibb site, changed web addresses for Wouldn't you like to be a Pepper too . . ., Not Quite What The Doctor Ordered, The Dr Pepper "Clone" Page, Dr Kenton's Generic Dr Peppers, and The Van Gogh-Goghs' page, removed Generic Dr Pepper Clones, and revised info for The Authoritative Doctor Soda Page in question 2.4. Added annotation to question 3.3. Changed URL for Dr Pepper Museum catalogue in question 3.5. Revised web site info in question 3.6. Not distributed.
February 20, 2001 -- Version 2.4: Revised name and web address of the Dublin Dr Pepper Plant/Old Doc's Soda Shop throughout entire document. Added another mirror site to question b. Added Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc. as a source in question c. Added more information to question 2.1. Added info for ordering cane sugar Dr Pepper on-line to question 2.6. Added more information about caffeine-free Dr Pepper availability to question 2.7. Revised average amount of items available on eBay, and name of its site in questions 3.5 & 3.6. Revised web site info again in question 3.6. Revised contact information in question 3.8. Not distributed.
March 9, 2001 -- Version 2.41: Slight grammar correction in question 2.6. Added more information about caffeine-free Dr Pepper to question 2.7. Added more information about ordering Cooking With Dr Pepper to question 3.7.
May 11, 2001 -- Version 2.42: Added information about cane sugar Dr Pepper availability at Love & War in Texas to question 2.6.
July 23, 2001 -- Version 2.43: Revised web site stats in question e. Added ingredients for Dietetic Dr Pepper, and information about cyclamates, saccharin, and phenylketonurics to question 2.2. Revised web site address for ordering cane sugar Dr Pepper in question 2.6.
January 22, 2002 -- Version 2.44: Corrected bad HTML in question d. Changed source for "love story" rumor in question 1.3.
April 23, 2002 -- Version 2.45: Added "Site du Jour of the Day" citation and updated web site stats in question e. Added Urban Legends Reference Pages info to question 2.1. Added more caffeine-free DP availability info to question 2.7. Updated web address for contacting Dr Pepper company in question 3.8.
July 23, 2002 -- Version 2.46: Updated web address for Waco Dr Pepper Museum's catalogue in question 3.5.
October 22, 2002 -- Version 3.00: Changed numbering system of questions, organizing them into three categories (four, if you count the questions about the FAQ itself), as opposed to one big list. Revised questions to reflect new numbers. Modified descriptions of versions 2.00 and 2.3 in question d. Added questions 1.7 ("What's the connection between the MLK assassination and Dr Pepper?"), 1.8 ("Did Dr Pepper put out a can with a patriotic scene of the Empire State Building that left out 'under God' from the Pledge of Allegiance?"), and 2.8 ("What's this 'Red Fusion' drink I've heard about?"). Added Urban Legends Reference Pages web site to text of question 2.1. Updated saccharin info in question 2.2.
December 2, 2002 -- Version 3.01: Added Austin Chronicle citation and Dublin Dr Pepper Bottling Co. Museum note to question e. Rewrote answer to question 1.3 to incorporate new info about Wade Morrison. Added William F. Pepper’s degree to question 1.7. Updated contact information for museums in question 3.4. Updated info in question 3.5.
March 9, 2003 -- Version 3.10: Updated question number in texascooking.com citation in question e. Added link to picture of can in question 1.8. Added more info about prune juice rumor to question 2.1. Added more information about eBay "alliance" to question 3.5. Updated information about Cooking With Dr Pepper, including new address for cookbooks, in question 3.7. Updated contact information for Dr Pepper corporation in question 3.8.
May 6, 2003 -- Version 3.20: Updated info about imitation sites in question 2.4.
August 11, 2003 -- Version 3.30: Corrected date for invention of Moxie, and added and revised creation dates for other sodas in question 1.2. Added question 1.9 (“What’s the connection between Hillary Clinton and Dr Pepper?”). Added two more locations where you can find cane sugar Dr Pepper to question 2.6. Revised info about eBay “alliance” in question 3.5.
February 12, 2004 -- Version 3.40: Added question 1.10 ("Who are some other celebrities who like Dr Pepper?"). Correction to question 2.4 in HTML version.
August 5, 2004 -- Version 3.50: Changed web site of the FAQ (freenewyork.net/dpfaq.html) and my contact email (dpfaq@freenewyork.net) in question b, question c, and question f. Different email addresses given to web and newsgroup versions of the FAQ in order to track responses.
January 31, 2005 -- Version 3.51: Added information about Gallery of Regrettable Food mention of Cooking With Dr Pepper to question 3.7. Corrected formatting in question 1.6 in HTML version.
e. Why did you put this FAQ together?
There seemed to be a calling for one, and no one else was posting a Dr Pepper FAQ in the newsgroups (or at least not in alt.fan.dr-pepper), so I figured I'd give it a shot. I must be doing something right because this FAQ was cited as a reference in the June 10, 1999, edition of the Straight Dope Online, in an
article so generously cribbed from the FAQ that they might as well have asked me to write the thing myself. Example:
My sentence: "The most famous (or is that infamous?) imitation, Mr. Pibb, is Coca-Cola's unsuccessful effort to drive the good Dr out of the market."Coincidence?
Their sentence: "Mr. Pibb is Coca Cola's unsuccessful effort to drive the good Dr out of the market."
Judge for yourself at http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mdrpepper.html. Anyway, the other thing I can't figure out is why they supplied a link to a mirror site of the FAQ (and an old mirror site at that--version 2.02), and not a direct link to the HTML version of the FAQ itself--especially when there was information in the article which had to have come from the most recent version at the time (2.06). Oh well. At least now everyone will know where to go for the very latest info: right here of course. "Get a life," indeed.
While we’re on the subject, the FAQ was also mentioned in a July, 1999, article on texascooking.com, where this site was dubbed "probably the most complete" collection of Dr Pepper information on the internet. Thanks for the kind words, guys! And even though they printed a rather specific version of the web site address (one that pointed directly to what was question 18 -- now 3.5 -- "Where can I buy Dr Pepper merchandise?") instead of the more general location, I won’t hold it against them.
I should also mention the FAQ was cited in The South Talkin’ Dictionary site as a source for the definition of ... Dr Pepper, what else? It’s slightly strange that a Northerner like me is being relied on for information on Southern culture, but I’ll take what I can get.
The FAQ was also named a "Site du Jour of the Day" on October 5, 2001. You can view the citation at http://members.tripod.com/~SdJotD/2001/0110.htm and thank the reviewer while you're at it.
The FAQ may not have been cited by name, but I certainly was, in an article on August 21, 2001, in the Austin Chronicle titled "Dr Pepper, Texas," written by David Lynch (no, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t that David Lynch). You can read it yourself here if you don’t have a back issue handy.
Milly Walker, the Collections Manager/Curator for the Dublin Dr Pepper Bottling Co. Museum in Dublin, Texas, sent me a very nice email on November 21, 2002, in which she said “We are very impressed with the accuracy of your information.” That’s not an official endorsement, of course, but I think it says a lot.
Right now I'd like to stress that this FAQ is UNOFFICIAL, meaning that it is not endorsed or authorized by The Dr Pepper Company, Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc., or any other corporate or business entity connected with Dr Pepper. Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc. owns all Dr Pepper copyrights and trademarks. Additionally, I'm not employed by Dr Pepper, nor do I work for the Dr Pepper Company in any capacity, and Dr Pepper does not compensate me for the time I dedicate towards writing this FAQ (though I probably wouldn't stop them if they did). I just put this together in my spare time for the purpose of providing quick answers to common questions about Dr Pepper which appear frequently on alt.fan.dr-pepper. So, in other words, please don't sue me. I'm too broke as it is. Let me know if you like it!
(Apparently, a lot of you like it enough to visit, because the FAQ's web site received its 10,000th hit on December 22, 1999, and its 20,000th hit less than a year later. The 30,000th, 40,000th, and 50,000th hits came and went when I wasn’t even looking. Thanks, and keep visiting! On to 60,000!)
f. How can I contribute/make suggestions/submit corrections to this FAQ?
Post them to alt.fan.dr-pepper or email me at dpfaq@freenewyork.net with "DPFAQ" in the header someplace. As far as I know, everything here is accurate, but if it turns out something is incorrect, let me know and I'll correct it as soon as possible.
Section 1: History and Trivia
Dr Pepper was first created in 1885 by Charles Alderton, a pharmacist who was working at Morrison's Old Corner Drug Store in Waco, Texas, at the time.
1.2 Is Dr Pepper older than Coca-Cola?
Yes. Coca-Cola was not invented until 1886, making Dr Pepper the oldest of the current major-brand soft drinks in the United States. In this case, I’m defining a “major brand” as one of the top ten best-selling carbonated brands in the United States, of which Coca-Cola is currently #1, and Dr Pepper is #6, as ranked by the Beverage Marketing Corporation (http://www.beveragemarketing.com).
As for the other current major brands:
Pepsi (#2) was created in 1898 by Caleb Bradham in New Bern, North Carolina;If you’re really curious: Moxie was invented by Augustin Thompson of Lowell, Massachusetts, in 1876, the same year Hires Root Beer was created by Charles E. Hires in Philadelphia. See? You learn something new every day.
7-Up (#8), a.k.a. “Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda”, was conceived by Charles Grigg of St. Louis in 1929;
Mountain Dew (#4) was apparently first sold by Aloysius and Bernard Hartman in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, in 1946;
Sprite (#5) was created by the Coca-Cola company in 1961;
Diet Dr Pepper (#10), a.k.a. “Dietetic Dr Pepper”, was created by the Dr Pepper company in 1963;
Diet Pepsi (#7) was created by the Pepsi-Cola company in 1964;
Diet Coke (#3) was created by the Coca-Cola company in 1982;
and Caffeine Free diet Coke (#9) was created by the same company one year later in 1983.
1.3 Was there ever really a person called Dr. Pepper?
There were at least two doctors relevant to this question: a Dr. Charles T. Pepper, of Rural Retreat, Virginia; and a lesser-known Dr. Pepper of Christianburg, Virginia. Both were alive in the late 19th Century when Wade Morrison (the owner of the drug store where Charles Alderton worked) moved to Texas from Virginia in the 1870’s. And here is where the confusion starts.
Until recently, the story was that Morrison had worked as a pharmacist for a drug store in Rural Retreat owned by Dr. Charles T. Pepper, and that since Charles had given Morrison his first job, Morrison returned the favor by naming the new soft drink after him. Jeffrey Rodengen describes this story in much greater detail in his book The Legend of Dr Pepper/Seven-Up. Rodengen even investigates the rumor that Morrison named the drink after Dr. Pepper so that Pepper would approve of his daughter marrying Morrison, concluding that since Pepper’s daughter was “only 8” when Morrison moved to Waco in 1882, the “love story” must not be true. This is all fine information Rodengen dug up, but there’s one small problem: all of it may be false!
Milly Walker, the Collections Manager/Curator for the Dublin Dr Pepper Bottling Co. Museum in Dublin, Texas, sent me a letter on November 21, 2002, describing a great deal of the research and information she had on who the original Dr. Pepper might have been. This is some of what she had to say:
The Pepper family of Virgina is apparently quite extensive. Harry Ellis had quite a nice family history book about the Peppers, and it is in the corporate archives in Dallas. What we found was that according to the United States Census, Morrison lived in the town of Christiansburg and worked as a pharmacy clerk. In that same census on the next page (if I remember correctly) is another Dr. Pepper and he has a daughter, Malinda or Malissa, who is only 16 to Morrison's 17. If you understand that the census takers walked from house to house, you can tell they were near neighbors. This makes much more sense to me than Dr. Charles T. Pepper, 40 miles away in Rural Retreat.
Ms. Walker added: “There is not one piece of evidence that Morrison ever worked for Dr. Charles T. Pepper in Rural Retreat, VA. As far as I can tell, the stories about Morrison came to light after Harry [Ellis] told them.”
So, in other words, Morrison didn’t name Alderton’s new drink after Dr. Charles T. Pepper because: 1) Morrison never worked for Charles T. Pepper of Rural Retreat, Virginia, in the first place; 2) Morrison was never in love with Charles T. Pepper’s daughter; and 3) It’s very likely that Morrison named the drink after a completely different Dr. Pepper of Christianburg, Virginia, and that this Pepper’s daughter was the one whom Morrison had been in love with all those years ago.
Moral of the story: It pays to do your research!
1.4 Is there now a town named Dr Pepper?
Yes and No; it depends on the time of the year. As stated in the June 5-10, 2000, issue of The Dr Pepper Gazette, "Each year at 10 a.m. on the Monday before the second Sunday in June," the town of Dublin, Texas, renames itself "Dr Pepper, Texas" for an entire week. Rita Reed of the Dublin, Texas, Chamber of Commerce told me on June 8, 1998, that this practice had been going on since either 1993 or 1994 (she wasn't quite sure if it had been going on for 4 or 5 years) as part of the annual celebration of the opening of the Dr Pepper plant there--the oldest Dr Pepper bottling plant in the world, which has been in business since 1891. The celebration itself was first held in 1991 to commemorate the plant's 100th anniversary. So, for one week out of the year there is a town in the US named Dr Pepper. On the bright side though, for the rest of the year you still have Dublin.
1.5 What's the connection between the Beatles and Dr Pepper?
It sounds pretty obvious once you know it, but I never would have guessed until someone pointed it out to me: The original title of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band -- one of the Beatles' most popular albums (and consequently one of the most popular albums period) -- was Dr. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band! Wild, huh? When I asked the fine folks at rec.music.beatles for confirmation, Jim Demes wrote me on September 29, 1998:
According to BEATLESONGS by William J. Dowlding: "The album was originally titled Dr. Pepper's...until the Beatles realized an American soft-drink company had rights to that name." Dowlding got his info from THE BEATLES A TO Z. (1980)
Whether or not the Beatles were fully acquainted with the soft drink before they began work on Sgt. Pepper is still subject to debate. But bottles of Dr Pepper have been spotted in the Let It Be movie, so they had definitely seen the light by then. Imagine what else might have been if only a few letters hadn't changed . . .
1.6 What's the connection between the JFK Assassination and Dr Pepper?
I tell ya, I never in a million years expected this question to show up. I mean, I admit it's a pet theory of mine that almost everything in the United States has some sort of Kennedy Assassination connection to it, but after seeing this one I might have to remove the "almost" from the theory!
"Okay, smart guy, what is the connection?"
In the book, Conspiracy Of One (1990, The Summit Group), author Jim Moore presents a variety of reasons why he believes Lee Harvey Oswald was the sole assassin of U.S. President John F. Kennedy. One of those reasons is on page 53, detailing the period immediately after the assassination when Oswald was spotted in the lunchroom of the Texas School Book Depository:
Oswald...put a nickel in the soda machine and selected a Coca-Cola. It may be that this single action on Oswald's part holds the key to his guilt. Oswald habitually drank Dr Pepper. There can be only one realistic explanation for a miser like Oswald to fail to select his soft drink of choice-he was nervous. Three other possibilities exist, all unlikely:
1. Oswald really bought a Dr Pepper and every witness questioned recalled it as a Coca-Cola
2. The soda machine was out of Dr Pepper.
3. The soda machine-a Coca-Cola product, malfunctioned in favor of its manufacturer.
Next to one of those sentences was a footnote, citing The Day Kennedy Was Shot (1968, Funk & Wagnalls; 1992 HarperPerennial) by Jim Bishop. Sure enough, on page 183 of Bishop's book, there is a less verbose description of the same event:
Oswald dropped a coin in the soda machine. He got a Coca-Cola. This was nervousness because he invariably drank Dr Pepper.
Who knew he wanted to be a Pepper, too?
1.7 What's the connection between the MLK assassination and Dr Pepper?
The connection here is a little more tenuous than the one for JFK above, but here it is:
In 1968, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated, and James Earl Ray was convicted of that crime after pleading guilty to it in 1969. However, within days of that conviction, Ray insisted that he was innocent, and kept insisting it right up until his death in 1998. For the last twenty years of Ray’s life, an attorney by the name of William F. Pepper, L.L.D., tried to reopen Ray’s case in order to get Ray a new trial. So (for those of you who can’t see this coming), the name of the attorney for the convicted assassin of Martin Luther King was... Dr. Pepper! Strange, but true.
The simple answer: No.
The more complex answer: No, they didn't.
The long answer: Why something like this generates attention, as opposed to genuine problems (like say, the lack of a decent rail system, a shortage of affordable housing, and an electoral process that leaves a lot to be desired, to name a few) is beyond me. Here are the facts:
-- In early 2002, the Dr Pepper company issued a promotional can which had a picture of the Statue of Liberty on it, not the Empire State Building (and how the Empire State Building could be "patriotic" I'll never know). You can see a picture of that can here: http://www.dpsu.com/drpepper_can.html
-- That same can had printed on it the exact phrase "One Nation...Indivisible".
-- The full text of the Pledge of Allegiance was never printed on this can in the first place, so nothing was omitted from it--unless you count the use of that excerpt as omitting something, in which case over 90% of the Pledge was omitted, not just the words "under God". So, while it is technically true that this can did not have the words "under God" on it, it would be equally true to say that it didn't have a million more words from the English language on it as well.
-- As it turns out, the words "under God" were not even part of the Pledge of Allegiance when it was written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister. Those two words were added in 1954 by Congress to deliberately inject religion into public schools in an attempt to somehow show the United States as being better than so-called communist countries at the time. Two years later in 1956, Congress changed the national motto of the U.S. from "E Pluribus Unum" (Latin for "Out of many, one") to "In God We Trust," for similar reasons.
In any event, it seems that the above facts morphed via the Internet into the above rumor, and have been circulated by enough people to the point where it now qualifies as a bona fide urban legend. Apparently, there are even people out there who are willing to "boycott" Dr Pepper because of the lack of the aforementioned two words in question on that can, and that makes me wonder: are those same people going to boycott every other soda pop on sale now too? Because I don't see the words "under God" on any soda can in stores right now, do you?
Oh, well. More Dr Pepper for me, I guess.
1.9 What’s the connection between Hillary Clinton and Dr Pepper?
Actually, it’s more of a connection between her and the diet version of the drink. Nevertheless, you can see it for yourself on pages 171-172 of Ms. Clinton’s book, Living History (2003: Simon & Schuster):
I was taking one of my first solo trips as First Lady when a young aide asked me, “What would you like to drink in your suite?”She gives this as an example of how she had to watch what she said as First Lady, since there were apparently many people who were too willing to take her requests to the extreme. This, she says, is how “Travelgate” happened. Whatever. I wonder if her husband prefers the stuff with the cane sugar in it.
“You know, I really feel like a Diet Dr Pepper,” I said.
For years afterward, every time I opened a fridge in a hotel suite, it was loaded with Diet Dr Pepper. People would come up to me with frosty glasses of it. I felt like the sorcerer’s apprentice, the Mickey Mouse character in the classic animated film Fantasia: I couldn’t turn off the Dr Pepper machine.
1.10 Who are some other celebrities who like Dr Pepper?
Thanks to the incredibly hard-working people at The Smoking Gun, I can now tell you that the following performers have specifically requested Dr Pepper by name in the riders of their contracts, making the beverage a genuine requirement for these acts to show up at a venue near you:
Aerosmith
The Beach Boys
Clint Black
The Bloodhound Gang Don't you dare take it out of the case!
Bush
Beck
Cher
Joe Cocker, or at least his female vocalists
Foo Fighters
Kenny G's crew Diet only--it figures.
Goo Goo Dolls
Sammy Hagar Exit stage left!
Hootie and the Blowfish
Vince Gill
Journey
The Neville Brothers
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Peter Tork, of The Monkees
ZZ Top Regular and diet! Well, they are from Texas...
In addition, the late Johnny Cash was also a Pepper. Maybe that's why he hardly ever sang beer drinking songs.
Section 2: The Drink, and How To Get It
2.1 Does Dr Pepper contain prune juice?
In a word: NO!
According to the Urban Legends Reference Pages at snopes.com: "It doesn't, but the rumor is remarkably long-lived, having been with us since about 1930."
In addition, Bottlecaps (the "Official Newsletter of the Dr Pepper Museum and Free Enterprise Institute") emphasizes in their Vol. I, 1999, issue: "Prune juice is not and never has been in Dr Pepper. The prune juice rumor is an old story that has been in circulation since the 1930s."
Also, the Dr Pepper company states on their website that "prune juice is definitely not one of the ingredients."
And, as if that wasn't enough, the site for Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc. has offered two different assertions during the past two years: 1) "its unique flavor comes from the blending of 23 fruits, none of which are prunes" 2) "Dr Pepper is a unique blend of natural and artificial flavors; it does not contain prune juice."
The corporation also highlights this "Fun Fact" on its web site: "Contrary to popular misconception, Dr Pepper never has and never will contain prune juice."
Are we all clear on this now?
2.2 Okay, so what's in Dr Pepper?
On the label in the US, the ingredients are: Carbonated Water; Imperial Pure Cane Sugar [or "High Fructose Corn Syrup and/or Sugar," if you're not so lucky]; Caramel Color; Phosphoric Acid; Artificial and Natural Flavors; Sodium Benzoate (Preservative); Caffeine.
Chris Dunthorne told me on July 3, 1998, that the ingredients on the label in the UK are a little different: "Carbonated Water, Sugar, Colour (Caramel E150d),
Phosphoric Acid, Flavourings, Preservative (E211), Caffeine."
John Neely, a formerly anonymous Canadian, submitted "Ingredients from The Great White North" on October 27, 1998: "Carbonated Water, Sugar/Glucose-Fructose, Carmel colour, Artificial and Natural flavors, Phosphoric acid, sodium benzoate, Caffeine, monosodium phosphate, lactic acid, polyethelene glycol."
Trace McLean also on October 27, 1998, posted the ingredients for Australian Dr Pepper "taken straight from the bottle": "Carbonated water, sugar, colour (150), flavours, food acids (338, 270), preservative (211), caffeine."
Brad Dunham, on May 31, 2001, posted the ingredients for Dietetic Dr Pepper, circa 1963: "Carbonated water, caramel color, citric acid, phosphoric acid, caffeine, sodium cyclamate, sodium carboxymethylcellulose, sodium saccharin, monosodium phosphate, lactic acid, flavoring, spices, less than 1/20th of 1% benzoate of soda (preservative), .088% sodium cyclamate, .007% sodium saccharine, non-nutritive artificial sweeteners which should be used only by persons who must restrict their intake of ordinary sweets. No fat or protein. .28% available carbohydrates. 1/3 calorie per fl. oz."
(Because of the possibility that cyclamates might promote tumors, they were banned in the United States as of September 11, 1970. The Food and Drug Administration had also wanted to ban saccharin in soft drinks and other foods in 1977 because of carcinogenic concerns, but Congress extended an initial 2-year moratorium on any ban to the point where the last moratorium did not expire until 2002. In the interval, all foods containing saccharin were required to include this label: "Use of this product may be hazardous to your health. This product contains saccharin which has been determined to cause cancer in laboratory animals." Towards the end of the century, however, the federal government changed its mind considerably regarding saccharin. On December 31, 1991, while the moratorium was still in effect, the FDA reversed itself and announced that it would no longer try to ban saccharin in foods. Almost a decade later, on May 15, 2000, the Department of Health and Human Services removed saccharin from its 9th Report on Carcinogens, where it had previously been considered carcinogenic to humans since 1981. The final blow came on December 21, 2000, when President Clinton signed H.R. 4577 into law, repealing the warning label requirement.)
Tom Reed posted the "modern" ingredients for Diet Dr Pepper in the U.S. on November 23, 1998: "Carbonated water, caramel color, aspartame, phosphoric acid, artificial and natural flavors, sodium benzoate (preservative), caffeine. Phenylketonurics: contains phenylalanine."
(A phenylketonuric is a person who has phenylketonuria, a.k.a. pku, or phenylpyruvic oligophrenia, a genetic disorder in which the body cannot properly metabolize phenylalanine, an amino acid which is found in aspartame. Among other things, excessively high levels of phenylalanine in the body can cause mental retardation, epileptic seizures, and a decrease in melanin production. Aside from that, the FDA insists that "aspartame is safe for the general population.")
Dr Pepper contains 39.6 milligrams of caffeine in every 12-ounce can, according to the Caffeine FAQ maintained by Daniel Owen. The Dr Pepper company, however, claims two other amounts: 40.8 mg of caffeine per 12-ounce can, and 27.84 mg per 8-ounce serving. Regardless of which amount is correct, this is still a little more than Pepsi (37.2mg/12oz), a little less than Coca-Cola (45.6mg/12oz), and nothing compared to coffee, which could contain anywhere between 111 and 300 mg of caffeine in a 12-ounce serving, depending on how it's prepared.
The Dr Pepper company had this to say in a pamphlet it published sometime in either the late 1950's or early 1960's: "Its unique flavor results from the blending of pure fruit flavors (gathered from throughout the world) with mystic spices, from far-off Madagascar, and clean, clear distilled sparkling water." You don't suppose one of those spices is vanilla, do you? On the company’s web site today, they state the obvious: "It is a blend of many spices and flavor extracts. The color is supplied by caramel especially made for the product." In addition, the company also says the concentrate for Dr Pepper is kosher, and that "our products which contain High Fructose Corn Syrup may contain small amounts of corn gluten."
Max Wolheim, who "can't guarantee the accuracy of any of this," posted this interesting article (with a small caveat) on June 20, 1999:
Yes, I've heard the "23 fruit flavors" of Dr. Pepper [sic] for years. I can tell you this is nonsense! I can't reveal the source (he'd get fired), but here is a list of some of the real flavoring ingredients:
Vanillin (imitation vanilla)
Extract of almond
denatured rum (no joke)
Oil of orange
lactic acid (optional; once listed separately from "flavorings")
Max goes on to say: "None of this is will be confirmed by the PR people of the company, who reply with the evasive 'Dr. Pepper contains neither rum nor vanilla.' Substitutions are possible, depending on the bottler, so that Dr. Pepper in one part of the country might not taste quite the same as in some others. But denatured rum is universal to the formula." Take it for what it's worth.
Brian McElroy posted to alt.fan.dr-pepper on January 19, 1998 (and emailed me a correction on June 6, 1998) about his visit to the Dublin Dr Pepper plant, which I think definitively answers two questions at once:
"Just got back today from the Dublin bottling plant and museum. There has been a lot of debate on what flavor Dr Pepper really is, so I asked Mr. Kloster [Bill Kloster], the plant owner, who has worked in that plant for almost 60 years. According to him, Dr Pepper is a mix of 23 different fruit flavors. The original creator wanted to create a drink that tasted like the smell of a soda shop. When you walked into a soda shop in that day, you smelled all the fruit flavors of the different sodas all mixed into one. So he basically took a bunch of flavors and mixed them, and came up with Dr Pepper. He said Dr Pepper does not and has never had prune juice in it."
Alas, Brian may have been one of the last people to ask Bill Kloster that question. Mr. Kloster passed away on September 24, 1999, at age 81, having spent 67 of those years working for the Dublin Dr Pepper plant (minus two years off for service during World War II). His dedication to keeping pure cane sugar in Dr Pepper will be sorely missed.
2.3 What's the recipe for Hot Dr Pepper?
Hot Dr Pepper? Yes, indeed. It's a real drink, and it's been around for quite a while--at least since the early 1960's (even though there's no mention of it at all in the 1965 edition of Cookin' With Dr Pepper--go figure). However, since Dr Pepper--and the soft drink industry in the U.S. as a whole--switched from cane sugar to high fructose corn syrup as a sweetener, many people have complained that Hot Dr Pepper does not taste nearly as good as it did before the switch, so the Dr Pepper company has refrained from promoting the recipe as ardently as it had in the past. Nevertheless, people still drink it hot, with the recommendation that Dr Pepper with cane sugar be used for best results (see question 2.6 for how to get some cane sugar Dr Pepper for yourself).
The recipe itself is quite simple: First, cut a nice, thin, round slice of lemon for yourself and place it in the bottom of a cup--I suppose a coffee mug or teacup works best. Next, heat your Dr Pepper in a saucepan until it looks like it's boiling (even though it'll only be about 180° F, the carbonation will make it look hotter). Then pour your "steaming" hot Dr Pepper into the cup, over the lemon slice. That's it! I haven't tried it yet myself, but people who have swear it's pretty good.
(There is an official recipe on the www.drpepper.com web site, but it's not too much different from the one above. Then again, how many different ways can you say "Heat Dr Pepper and pour it over lemon"?)
2.4 What Dr Pepper imitations exist, and where can you find them?
The most famous (or is that infamous?) imitation, Mr. Pibb, is Coca-Cola's unsuccessful effort to drive the good Dr out of the market. According to Phil Thomas's site, misterpibb.com (the most thorough Pibb site I've seen so far), "Mr. PiBB was born in the summer of 1972," with test-marketing beginning on June 28 of that year. Chris Houser on his Pibb page stated the drink was "originally sugar-free," but that seems to be incorrect since Thomas has a very detailed section on the history of sugar-free Mr. Pibb, "a saccharin-sweetened version of [the] spicy cherry carbonated soda," which was apparently first test-marketed in 1973. In any event, you can find the fructose and sucrose-laden Mr. Pibb in most places in the Southern and Midwestern U.S., and almost nowhere in the Northeastern U.S.
Interestingly enough, Advertising Age also reported in their December 1, 1997, issue that Coca-Cola was planning to release a brand new knock-off of Dr Pepper sometime in 1999--probably due in no small part to sluggish sales of Mr. Pibb, which had only a 0.6% share of the US soft drink market in 1996, compared to Dr Pepper's 5.8% share. However, as of this writing, I have yet to see any evidence that this new concoction has been released anywhere, so maybe Coca-Cola decided to quit while they were ahead--or is that behind?
Originally, I had a table here listing 38 different DP clones, but then I saw a web site with a table listing over 50 clones, including pictures and locations where they were all bought, so I decided to leave well enough alone. Suffice it to say, if all accounts are accurate, there are over 70 different past and present Dr Pepper imitations out there--and none quite as good as the original, of course. If you want to know more, these sites stand out:
Wouldn't you like to be a Pepper too . . . is the largest index of clones and clone sites that I've seen. The leader in the field with a mega-list of imitations and a picture next to each name. The compilation picture of fakes is worth a visit all by itself, but the rest of the site is no slouch either.
Not Quite What The Doctor Ordered is a comprehensive, well-researched site which has rankings and pictures for each clone.
Kibo's Fake Dr Pepper Roundup has a taste test of several fakes.
Dr. Beverages Page is a colorful list of the various Pepper-like soda cans collected by Lars Christensen. (The Tripod site replaces the arizona.edu site.)
The (Not Very) Authoritative Doctor Soda Page lives up to its (now parenthetically appropriate) title, listing only 27 sodas total (and that's including Dr Pepper and Diet Dr Pepper). But since the author's from MIT, I'll forgive them; people there have more important things to do than track down all the DP clones in existence.
Dr Pepper Rip-Off Page is an evangelistic clone page, waging war against all "infidels" who dare to doubt the superiority of the original.
I'm a Pepper! is now part of the greater freezepop.net site, dedicated to the band, freezepop--though this particular page doesn't seem to be easily accessible from within the site itself. Anyway, here is chronicled an annual taste-test of clones which has been taking place every year since 1999, and it's definitely deserving of props for the effort, detail, and breadth going into these tastings each time. Though I did take the authors to task a while ago for singling out Dr Pepper for its "pruney-ness" (see question 2.1 if you're still not sure about the prunes yourself), the tasting trail that's been blazed in the interim has made up for it. Well done!
Dr. Pepper Rip Off Reviews [sic] is an interesting attempt at clone comparisons, hindered only by its significant lack of clones: only 9 are listed and only 2 are tasted. Good luck.
Dr. Schnee Memorial Chapel is a site dedicated--obviously--to Dr. Schnee, of all things, listing a few other clones in the process.
The Van Gogh-Goghs' Doctor Soda Taste Test! compares 46 different sodas (45 clones plus the original), which should be enough to keep most people busy for a while. Their main page: http://www.vangoghgoghs.com/drsodas/drstrip.html
Dr. Pepper and the Imposters is a short page which offers some large pictures of the original and some imitations to those interested.
Fake Dr Pepper Land is a slick looking site that gives you a brief tour of a few dozen imitators via Flash animation. I must admit, it has some of the most nicely photographed cans out there; but the site is also completely lacking in details about the individual brands themselves. The best feature: Free desktop wallpaper of all the fakes in one place! It's not quite as impressive as the massive picture of fakes on the "Wouldn't you like to be a Pepper too..." site, but it will fit on your screen all in one shot.
The Quest Of The Dr. Thunder Clones is a site that I seemed to have overlooked in my travels, since I first noticed it in April, 2003, and it doesn't look like it's been updated since April, 1999. I suppose I'm lucky I didn't miss it altogether, considering how so many of these other sites have disappeared! Anyway, this site turns the clone idea on its head, by presenting 9 drinks which are allegedly clones of Dr. Thunder--and one of the clones is Dr Pepper?! See for yourself; there's not much else there.
Dr. Jason is Alive! is a list of 49 clones, many of which seem to have been "donated namelessly by a weak, annoying person." A few more photos wouldn't hurt.
Dr Crap at afiler.com is a one-page review of 5 clones with some interesting layout.
Dr. Goldberg contains intensely personal reviews of 29 clones (although one of them is Dr. Brown's Black Cherry, which I don't think should be included, since Dr. Brown's was established 16 years before Dr Pepper was invented) with clickable closeups, if you're so inclined.
Robert Paloutzian's El Genero® Brand Web Page has a nice group shot of 29 DP clones on top, followed by a picture of 14 Mountain Dew clones on the bottom.
There were once even more imitation sites out there, but--like so many other places on the Internet--a bunch have shuffled off this electronic coil. Among the missing are:
The Dr Pepper "Clone" Page last seen at
http://library.cmsu.edu/kw/pepper/imapep.htm
http://www.lib.msu.edu/weessie2/pepper/imapep.htm
Dr Pepper Clones last seen at
http://www.stat.ncsu.edu/~bmasmith/drpepper.html
Dr Kenton's Generic Dr Peppers last seen at
http://www.senselessknowledge.com/drkenton.html
http://www.kentonville.com/drkenton1.html
http://www.kentonville.com/drkenton.html
OOO's list of Dr. Pepper Clones [sic] last seen at
http://www.polyholiday.com/lists/pepperclones.html
(probably serves it right for calling itself "officially the original list" of clone sites)
The Dr. is IN!!! last seen at
http://members.aol.com/zumbles/clones.html
(probably serves it right for containing the exact same list as the one on polyholiday.com)
Mmmmmm... Dr. Drinks last seen at
http://mombasa.anthro.utah.edu/wooding/Dr.Drinks/
In addition, a brand new category was added to Yahoo! on November 12, 1998 (the same date this FAQ was added to Yahoo!): Home : Society and Culture : Food and Drink : Drinks and Drinking : Dr Pepper : Imitations. And all six "New" sites in this category were--drum roll please--the first six sites from the original list way back when there were only six sites to choose from. In other words, this FAQ is now responsible for a new Yahoo! category! And to think I thought I wasn't influencing anyone . . .
But, lest you think Yahoo! is the only game in town, another engine named dmoz.org also has a category for DP pretenders: http://dmoz.org/Recreation/Collecting/Food_and_Drink_related/Soda/Dr_Pepper/Imitations/. Last time I checked, dmoz.org had more sites listed than Yahoo!, but both had less entries than the list above you now. Whether either one will catch up before the other is anyone's guess.
In the opinion of everyone who's tried it and commented on it here on alt.fan.dr-pepper and to me in person, the cane sugar version tastes better. It's also the sweetener which was originally used to make Dr Pepper in the first place. Personally, I think the taste of the cane sugar product is more well-rounded and less fizzy than the one with high fructose corn syrup.
2.6 How can I get some cane sugar Dr Pepper?
You can either:
a) Visit the plant in Dublin, Texas--the oldest Dr Pepper bottling plant in the world and the only plant in the U.S. which is allowed by the Dr Pepper corporation to still manufacture the soda with cane sugar. The Dublin Dr Pepper Bottling Company is located at 221 South Patrick, Dublin, Texas 76446, one block south of the intersection of US377/67 and TX6. The plant is open Monday through Friday, 9am-5pm; Saturday, 10am-5pm; and Sunday, 1-5pm. You can also call them at 1-254-445-3466 for tour information, etc.
b) Visit most stores within a 50 mile radius of the plant--which is the territory covered by it.
c) Call up Old Doc's Soda Shop in Dublin at 1-888-398-10-2-4, or 1-254-445-3939 and they can tell you how much it costs to have "The Real Thing" shipped to you. You can even order it on-line now! Click on http://www.dublindrpepper.com/Store/entry.htm and all will be revealed.
Be forewarned that no matter how you buy it from Dublin, there is a 25 case limit. Any more than that sold to a single person could violate franchise agreements (because you could be "dealing" if you have more than 25 cases in your possession and transport them into another franchise's territory).
d) Visit the Dr Pepper Museum in Waco, Texas, in person (see question 3.4 for their address), and you can buy loose bottles and cans of the cane sugar soda in their gift shop--but not at their soda fountain. The way they explain it, the museum is not allowed to sell the soda "to drink" at their fountain with all their other sodas, but they are allowed to sell it "closed" at their gift shop, as long as they only sell it in person to museum customers. I telephoned the museum and asked: "Does that mean you can’t drink it anywhere on the premises?" "Well, our customers can do whatever they want after they buy it," the kind woman on the other end responded. The museum does not ship the cane sugar product anywhere, which may be why you never heard of it on their web site.
e) If you're visiting Dallas, Texas, you can stop by Ifs Ands & Butts, a combination soda pop boutique and smoke shop located at 408 N. Bishop Avenue. This is only one of two stores allowed to sell cane sugar Dr Pepper outside of the Dublin area (the other being the Waco museum above), and this store ships nationwide as well--though at a higher price than what it costs to get the soda from Dublin, of course. (Where do you think they're getting it from?) Interested parties can call them up at 1-888-712-8887, or 1-214-941-1222.
f) And, if you want to drink some cane sugar Dr Pepper with your meal, you can safely do so at
Love & War in Texas, a restaurant located at 601 E. Plano Parkway in Plano, Texas. A member of their staff confirmed for me that they do serve "the genuine article" every day for lunch and dinner. How do they get it? They drive up to Dublin and buy a few cases, like everyone else. They even have a web site at
loveandwarintexas.com, where you can view their Texas-themed menu up close--or as up close as you can get on the web. Their phone number is 1-972-422-6201, and if you’ve got nine friends coming with you, they’ll even let you make reservations.
g) If you want to get some groceries along with your cane sugar Dr Pepper, you can find both at Central Market in Dallas, Texas, located at 5750 E. Lovers Lane at Greenville Avenue. You can email them at s545M1@heb.com or call them at 1-214-234-7000 for more detailed information. They even cater!
h) If you’re in Seattle, Washington, you can drop by Real Soda, a store that specializes in selling soda in glass bottles, soda with cane sugar (such as the aforementioned cane sugar DP), soda in long neck bottles, soda imported from Europe and Mexico, and so on. Their street address is 459 N. 36th St., and their phone number is 1-206-633-1092. If you don’t feel like traveling there in person, they also have a web site where you can order the soda at www.sodaking.com. However, if you only want to discuss the soda, they have a separate site for that at www.realsoda.com. And you thought I had too much to say on the subject?
2.7 How can I get some caffeine-free Dr Pepper?
Out of all the questions I see both in alt.fan.dr-pepper and in my mailbox, this one is probably the most perplexing. I mean, it's not like people looking for caffeine-free Dr Pepper are looking for anything complicated. In fact, regular Dr Pepper itself was originally caffeine-free for the first 32 years it existed. Caffeine-free Coke and caffeine-free Pepsi are certainly easy enough to find, so caffeine-free Dr Pepper must be right next to them on the shelf, right?
Well, for the most part, no. For example, if you live in New York, like myself, then you won't find any caffeine-free Dr Pepper in the entire state. Does that make any sense? Living in the largest city in the United States and not being able to find one caffeine-free can of my favorite soda? Actually, now it's more likely than ever that you're probably in the same boat I am. Here's a list of all the states where caffeine-free Dr Pepper is currently on sale (courtesy of the Dr Pepper company):
The number of states that don't bottle caffeine-free Dr Pepper has increased dramatically since this question was added to the FAQ. Back in 1999, there were only 17 states where you couldn't find caffeine-free DP. Now the situation has completely reversed: only 17 states out of 50 sell caffeine-free Dr Pepper at present. So, even if your state is on the list now, it's no guarantee that you'll still be able to buy the caffeine-free variety there any time in the future.
According to David Severs (dmsmms@mchsi.com), an area sales manager for the Dr Pepper/Seven Up Bottling Group in Iowa, the problem rests squarely on local bottlers. “Anyplace the DPSUBG has the rights to Dr Pepper it also carries caffeine free pepper,” he says. “The only reason why you can’t find it in other parts of the country is because most coke and pepsi bottlers choose not to carry it.”
As true as this may be, the Dr Pepper Company may also be a little less than enthusiastic about putting customers in contact with its caffeine-free version. The following question and answer on the corporation’s web site didn’t exactly ease my suspicions:
Q: Where can I find caffeine-free Dr Pepper products?Everything you need to know--except where you can find caffeine-free Dr Pepper products, of course.
A: The decision to produce caffeine-free Dr Pepper and Diet Dr Pepper is up to local bottlers, based upon market conditions such as demand and shelf space. While Dr Pepper and Diet Dr Pepper are available throughout the U.S., their caffeine-free counterparts are not.
But now--thanks to some blind luck and a few toll-free phone calls--I can share with you an easy three-step solution to getting some gold-colored cans of your own:
a) First, look around in your supermarket. If you're lucky, a bottle of the stuff will be sitting right on the shelf, and your troubles are over. However, I'm guessing you've probably already done that, otherwise you wouldn't need to know the answer to this question. So . . .
b) If you can't find caffeine-free Dr Pepper in any store near you, call the Dr Pepper company toll-free at 1-800-527-7096, press 3 for Consumer Relations, then press 13 (that’s right, thirteen) for the next available operator, and ask the operator where you can find caffeine-free Dr Pepper in your area. If you’re lucky, you might be pleasantly surprised and told the number of a bottler who might not be as far away as you thought. Or, if you’re not so lucky, you might be told that no one makes caffeine-free Dr Pepper anywhere at all in your entire state. In which case, you might be given the number for your local bottler so you can call them directly and tell them you want caffeine-free Dr Pepper in your area today. Or, you might be provided with the name and number of a grocery store that will ship the stuff to you for a price. But, if all else fails . . .
c) Call up Old Doc's Soda Shop (that's right, the very same people who can ship you the Imperial Cane Sugar Dr Pepper in question 2.6) at 1-888-398-10-2-4, or 1-254-445-3939 and they will gladly ship out some genuine caffeine-free Dr Pepper to you as long as you tell them that it's not available in your area (which I'm guessing it isn't, otherwise why would you go through all the trouble to have it shipped to you from Dublin, Texas?). You can also order it online through their web site at http://www.dublindrpepper.com/Store/store_4.htm. They even have the diet caffeine-free variety for sale, if you desire. What more could you want?
Bear in mind that there is no purely cane sugar version of caffeine-free Dr Pepper available; even the caffeine-free DP from Old Doc's has high fructose corn syrup in it. But I'm guessing once you have it in your hands you'll be so happy just drinking it that the sweetener issue will be the least of your concerns. And for those of you wondering how it tastes: when it’s ice cold, it tastes exactly like regular DP made with high fructose corn syrup, and when it warms up it tastes just a tiny bit weaker than the caffeinated stuff--probably lacking the very “bite” the caffeine provides. But it’s certainly worth it if you want to cut back on caffeine without cutting back on the King of Beverages.
Now, if I can just get someone to sell the stuff in New York City, then I'll be really happy.
2.8 What's this "Red Fusion" drink I've heard about?
According to a press release from Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc., "Red Fusion [is] the first new flavor addition to the Dr Pepper line-up in its 117-year history. Sporting an alluring red color and use of a variety of fruit flavors, including the basic flavor profile of Dr Pepper." According to me, it tastes like Dr Pepper mixed with cherry syrup, whose color is enhanced by a good dose of Red #40. As part of a sudden surge of "alternate" major-brand soft drinks unleashed in 2002, Red Fusion is worth a try if you're in the mood for a soda that's especially sweet, not as sickening as Pepsi Blue (which looks a little too much to me like Windex), and not as mellow as Vanilla Coke. But, as far as occupying a permanent place in my fridge, the jury is still out.
Section 3: Ads, Merchandise, Museums, and Literature
3.1 Why drink Dr Pepper at 10 o'clock, 2 o'clock, and 4 o'clock?
(The corporate Dr Pepper site credits the book The Legend of Dr Pepper/Seven Up [see question 20] for this info.)
"Drink a bite to eat at 10, 2, and 4," was the slogan for an ad campaign for Dr. Pepper in the late 1920's and early 1930's. A study authored by a Dr. Walter H. Eddy in 1927 "found that human energy dropped to its lowest point at 10:30am, at 2:30pm and again at 4:30pm daily." J.B. O'Hara of Dr. Pepper asked Tracy-Locke-Dawson Inc. (an ad agency), to design a campaign around that information. The agency held a contest, and Earle Racey, one of their copywriters, won with his "10-2-4" idea--the idea being that drinking the sugary, caffeinated soda at 10am, 2pm, and 4pm would perk you up and get you through those impending energy drops a half-hour later. The slogan has endured in one form or another ever since.
3.2 What happened to the period after "Dr" in Dr Pepper?
As Max Arbogast explains it on his page (pepper.doc):
"The change came about in 1950 when Dr Pepper adopted a new slanted block-style font. The small lower case "r" consisted of a small slanted line with a dot at its upper right. To their dismay, they found that the period and the r's dot combined visually to become a colon, thus making it Di:Pepper. The easy way out was to simply drop the period. This also helped move Dr Pepper further away from any medication association."
(This also didn't stop soda jerks from calling the drink "M.D." in their jargon--according to Paul Dickson in The Great American Ice Cream Book [1972, Atheneum]--but that's neither here nor there.)
3.3 Who owns Dr Pepper? I heard it was owned by Coke/Pepsi/7-Up/etc.?
"Awoodbeach" put it succinctly when he posted this answer to alt.fan.dr-pepper on 10/24/97:
"Dr Pepper is owned by Dr Pepper / Seven Up Inc a subsidiary of the Cadbury PLC trading on the NYSE [as CSG -- Chris F.]. Dr Pepper is distributed throughout the country by a variety of some very dedicated bottlers who without them, the Dr Pepper brand would not be where it is today. Coke, Pepsi, and RC bottlers sell Dr Pepper; it all depends on who owns the franchise in a specific geographic area. The breakdown is about 30% Coke, 40% Pepsi, 20% [other? He didn't say -- Chris F.] and some who just sell Dr Pepper......like our friends in Dublin."
3.4 Is there a Dr Pepper museum?
There are two:
The Dr Pepper Museum and Free Enterprise Institute
300 South 5th Street
Waco, Texas 76701
1-877-DPGIFTS (toll free), 1-254-757-1025
Fax: 1-254-757-2221
www.drpeppermuseum.com
dp-info@drpeppermuseum.com
and:
Dublin Dr Pepper Bottling Co. Museum
Street address: 105 E. Elm St., Dublin, TX 76446
Museum mailing address: 221 S. Patrick St., Dublin, TX 76446
Toll free number for orders: 1-888-398-1024
Soda Shop/Gift Shop: 1-254-445-3939
Museum Office: 1-254-445-4210
Website: www.dublindrpepper.com
Museum E-mail: collections@dublindrpepper.com
3.5 Where can I buy Dr Pepper merchandise?
The Dr Pepper Museum in Waco has a catalogue section on its web site. You can also call the Museum toll-free at 1-877-DPGIFTS (or pay the toll at 1-254-757-1025) and, for $3.00, they will send you a glossy color catalogue and add your name to their mailing list.
The Dublin Dr Pepper Bottling Co. Museum had a catalogue available at one point, but as of March 18, 1999, the shop was out of them and its staff didn’t know when they were going to get more. Their website also doesn’t have as many links to merchandise now as it once did, the merchandise these days being limited to the soda itself (which isn’t a bad thing, after all). You can still take a look at http://dublindrpepper.com/sodashop.htm.
And, if you want to take a gamble with online auctions, eBay has around 500 different Dr Pepper-related items up for bids every day on its site, so it’s certainly worth a look. Strangely enough, even though Dr Pepper/Seven Up enacted a “strategic alliance” with eBay in June, 2003, their combined “Liquid Loot” promotion seems more geared to advertising 7-Up than anything else. (The lack of any Dr Pepper merchandise in that section was the tip-off.)
The amount of Dr Pepper collectibles in existence (don't forget, that's over 110 years' worth) is even more numerous than the amount of DP clones, so I won't even try to list them all here. You're better off visiting Max Arbogast's site, which has a lot of information about DP collectors and collectibles than I could come up with. And, as I said in question 3.5, eBay is a web auction site which has about 500 (more or less) different Dr Pepper items up for bids every day--many, if not all of them being collectibles. They're both worth checking out.
Also, the 10-2-4 Club is, as they put it, "a national organization of people dedicated to the study of the history and collecting of memorabilia of the Dr Pepper Company." 10-2-4 membership information can currently be found at 3 sites:
http://www.dublindrpepper.com/club.htm
http://www.drpeppermuseum.com/dpcc.html
http://www.erath.net/marbo/10-2-4.htm
Houston, Texas, has its own chapter of the club (in fact, the only local chapter of the club), named the Houston Peppers. Jan Wright, the chapter President, informed me on July 4, 1998 that she can be contacted via email at hpeppers@swbell.net if anyone wants more information about them.
The Dr Pepper Museum in Waco also does research on DP collectibles for a fee. Currently, their posted fee is $15 per hour of research.
3.7 What books have been written about Dr Pepper?
There are at least 3: The Legend of Dr Pepper/Seven-Up, by Jeffrey L. Rodengen (1995, Write Stuff Syndicate); Dr Pepper, King of Beverages, by Harry E. Ellis (1979, Dr Pepper Co.; another edition was printed in 1986); and the Dr Pepper Centennial book, also by Harry Ellis. Of those three, The Legend of Dr Pepper/Seven-Up is the most widely available, and I was able to find it for sale on at least 5 different web sites (if not in person in any physical store near me in New York City--go figure). King of Beverages and the Centennial book are harder to find, in that order. The Dr Pepper Museum in Waco also sells all 3 books as a set on its web site (though, strangely, not in its paper catalogue), as well as separately.
The Dr Pepper company has also published a slim volume titled Cooking With Dr Pepper in one form or another every so often since 1965. More specifically, different editions have been published in 1965, 1977, 1983, 1993, and 2001, the last two having a combination of recipes for Dr Pepper and for 7Up. The only difference between the 1977 and 1983 editions seems to be typographical, and the 1965 edition has a lot of recipes which didn’t survive in future editions (such as "Bean Dip A La Dr Pepper," among others). The 1993 and 2001 editions lack the glossy color photos of the first three, instead relying on a scant amount of clip-art for illustration. However, the last two editions also contain the greatest number of recipes among the five; essentially because they also contain a whole extra cookbook of 7Up recipes as well. If you visit the link at http://www.dpsu.com/Cookbook.pdf, you can download a copy for yourself in the Adobe Acrobat format. To get a brand new paper copy gratis (additional copies $3.50 each), call up the Dr Pepper company’s Consumer Relations department directly at 1-800-696-5891 and press "2" at the prompt to leave your name--that is, if an operator doesn’t intercept you beforehand. (Apparently, you can also dial 1-800-527-7096 and press "5" for the same result.) Faster than you can say "Dallas, Texas," the kind person who answers will swiftly take down your name and address and send you a free booklet just for the asking.
You can also write to the following address:
CookbookPast editions also periodically come up for auction on eBay, but I'll bet you already guessed that. For a web-based tongue-in-cheek appraisal of the 1965 edition, you can visit http://www.lileks.com/institute/gallery/drpepper/index.html for the Gallery of Regrettable Food’s take on it.
c/o Consumer Relations
Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc.
P.O. Box 869077
Plano, Texas 75086-9077
In addition, there is a book titled Travels with Dr. Pepper, by Pepper Worthington (1990, Free Will Baptist Press), which is described as "travel essays." And the Library of Congress lists a rather technical-sounding volume named Consumer perspectives on national and store brands: (1994) "conducted for Food Marketing Institute and Dr Pepper Company by Marketing Spectrum." I get the feeling that last book is a little drier than all the others, but I could be wrong.
3.8 How can I contact The Dr Pepper Company?
The official corporate offices of Dr Pepper can be reached by phone in the U.S. at 1-800-527-7096 (toll-free), and 1-972-673-7000. Their "Consumer Relations" department can be contacted toll-free at 1-800-696-5891. If you need to contact the company about a "media-related" issue, call them at 1-972-673-6400. And, to quote the corporation's site, "If your call is an emergency, a real, live person will answer the phone 24-hours-a-day." How's that for service?
The Dr Pepper company can be reached by email at
consumer_affairs@dpsu.com.
There used to be a gaggle of other email addresses listed on the corporation’s web site at http://www.dpsu.com/contact_us.html, but all addresses except the above seem to have been removed as of late. (Too many emails, guys?) You can also write to them
via snail mail at:
Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc.Or:
P.O. Box 869077
Plano, Texas 75086-9077
Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc.The editors of Cooking With Dr Pepper can be contacted via the address mentioned in question 3.7, above.
5301 Legacy Drive
Plano, Texas 75024-9077
Thus endeth the FAQ.
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