Dr Pepper
“Doctor Pepper, so misunderstood…” ran the old advertising jingle for one of America’s most popular soft drinks, and no wonder. The folks who make the stuff won’t even reveal exactly what’s in it, although they do deny the presence of either pepper or prunes.
Dr (there is no period) Pepper was invented in 1885 by a pharmacist named Charles Alderton at Morrison’s Old Corner Drug Store in Waco, Texas. Alderton, who was just fooling around at the soda fountain, gave the recipe to his boss, Wade Morrison, and there seems no doubt that Morrison came up with the “Dr Pepper” name. But even the Dr Pepper Company doesn’t know who, if anyone, “Dr Pepper” was. One popular theory traces the name to an actual Doctor Pepper, on whose daughter (presumably the original “Pepper Upper”) Morrison had an ardent crush.
Incidentally, the “10-2-4″ inscription on Dr Pepper cans and bottles refers to 10 am, 2 pm and 4 pm, the times the Dr Pepper folks once thought consumers might be slumping during their work day and most in need of a shot of sugar and caffeine.
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