Digital Media Concepts/Dr.Pepper

Summary

This carbonated soft drink was created by Charles Alderton and was known for its unique taste. Originally created in the 1880's in Waco, Texas and ultimately first served on December 1st, 1885.

Personal Life

Charles Alderton was born on June 21st, 1857. He grew up in New York, later moved to Waco, Texas and became a pharmacist at a corner store. He was the eldest of 5 children. He went to studied at Framlingham College in England. He also studied medicine at the University of Texas. Alderton was married twice as well. He passed away on May 29, 1941 and the cause of his death is unsaid.

The Company

The corner store Alderton worked for also has a soda foundation. One day sales were slow and Alderton began to test out different ingredients to create a soft drink and one day he came up with the 23 ingredients to create the soda currently known as Dr.Pepper. The owner of the drug store, Wade Morrison, where he was working at became his business partner. Eventually Alderton realized he didn't want to be a soft drink magnate but he rather stay a pharmacist. He then sold the recipe to his business partner where he Morrison took over the company. The company started off being known as the Artesian manufacturing company which later became the Dr.Pepper company.

Background

The U.S. patent office stated that December 1st is the first time the soft soda Dr.Pepper was served. The Dr.Pepper company is the oldest major manufacturer of soft drink concentrates in the U.S. Dr. Pepper preceded the creation of coca cola by a year. Dr.Pepper is also considered an imported good and is sold in the US, Asia, Europe, Canada, Mexico, South America, South Africa, and New Zealand. There are many different flavors of Dr.Pepper, and there is also a diet form which included less corn syrup. Many other flavors were introduced in the early 2000's. Some of the flavors include vanilla, cola, cherry, licorice, amaretto, apricot, blackberry, caramel, pepper and many more.

The Name

Legend says that the name Dr.Pepper came about from the name of a girls father who he was in love with. It is also said that the pep in pepper stands for pepsin, which is an enzyme that breaks down protein. It is considered one of the main digestive enzymes in the human body. In this time, the soda was considered 'brain tonic' and an 'energizer drink' which is why this theory says the pep could be named after pepsin. Morrison is credited for the name " Dr.Pepper. "

References

http://www.nndb.com/people/635/000207014/ https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-dr-pepper-4070939 https://drpepper2010.weebly.com/23-flavors-of-dr-pepper.html https://www.drpepper.com/en/history