Pharmacist Charles Alderton

Charles Alderton was a pharmacist at the Morrison Old Corner Drug Store. While he spent most of his time parceling medication to the citizens of Waco, in his spare time he tested a variety of tastes for a fruit based drink he would carbonate. His first test subject, the owner Morrison, liked the drink as well, allowing Alderton to sell it to his customers at the soda fountain. The drink became so popular; it was called the Waco at the time, (some controversy on who added the Dr to the name Pepper, some crediting Morrison, and others the first bottling plant in Dublin).

It became so popular that other soda shops in Waco would buy the syrup from Morrison and serve it at their shop. Eventually, they couldn't produce enough, and Alderton, interested in his pharmacy work, gave the idea for furthering the drink to production to Morrison and Robert S. Lazenby, a young beverage chemist.

Photo above: Pharmacist Charles Alderton, creator and inventor of the Dr. Pepper soft drink, pre 1923, author unknown. Courtesy Wikipedia Commons.

History of Dr. Pepper

At first, various bottlers took up the slack, with the Dublin plant first bottling the drink made with pure cane sugar. Morrison and Lazenby in 1891 formed the Artesian Manufacturing and Bottling Company. The name would change to the Dr. Pepper Company later.

It's fame first grew throughout the south, and took a jump in popularity when it was featured at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904. It was introduced with a variety of new items at the exposition; ice cream cones, frankfurters and hamburgers on buns, and more.

A variety of slogans were used throughout its history; "King of Beverages," "Old Doc," and "Drink a Bite to Eat at 10, 2, and 4." Today's slogan, "There's just more to it," stems from the fact that their are twenty-three fruit flavors in the drink.

Net sales of Dr. Pepper in 2020 were 11.62 billion dollars.

Image above: Entrance to the Dr. Pepper Museum in Waco, Texas, 2014, Carol M. Highsmith. Courtesy Library of Congress.

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Another Dr. Pepper Museum

It was such a popular soft drink in the south that to have only one museum dedicated to Dr. Pepper seemed absurd. In Dublin, Texas, housed in the first plant used to manufacture the drink, the Kloster Museum, named after the plant manager, is replete with artifacts of the drink, the company, and the original site. It was upon bottling the drink at this plant that the addition of Dr. was added to its name.

But there's controvery here, at least as time went by. While the Kloster Museum is open, the bottling plant, the original plant from 1891, can no longer sell its namesake cherry cola, as its Dublin Dr. Pepper, which it had the rights to sell was supposed to only be sold in a six county area. The larger company who allowed it, Dr. Pepper Snapple, brought in lawyers and the Dublin brand is no longer bottled.

Photo above: The state named "The Inspiration," depicting plant manager, Kloster, known as Mr. Dr. Pepper outside the Kloster Museum housed in the first Dr. Pepper plant in Dublin, 2014, Carol M. Highsmith. Courtesy Library of Congress.