The History of Soda Pop

By Vickie McDonough

Okay, I’ll admit right off the bat that I’m a pop junkie. My dad bought pop for us all the time as kids. We even have a refrigerator in our garage reserved mostly for pop—and a place to thaw the Thanksgiving turkey.

As a kid, I watched all the cowboy shows and westerns of the sixties and early seventies. It always intrigued me when a cowboy would order a sarsaparilla. What a fancy name! I thought it might be fun to research soda pop and to find out how long it has actually been around.

1798—the term “soda water” was first used

1810—first U.S. patent for the manufacture of mineral waters was issued

1819—the first soda fountain was patented

1835—first bottled soda water was available in the U.S.

Note: The drinking of mineral water was considered a healthy practice. American pharmacists, who were selling most of the mineral waters, started to add medicinal and other flavorful herbs to the unflavored beverage, such as birch bark, dandelion, sarsaparilla and fruit extracts. 

1851—ginger ale was created in Ireland

1861—the term “pop” was first used

Just imagine, all of that happened before the Civil War had ended. It makes me thirsty just thinking about it.

1876—mass production of Root Beer began. It started out as an herbal tea that Charles Hires, a Philadelphia pharmacist, created on his honeymoon.

1881—the first cola beverage was introduced

1885—Dr. Pepper was invented, also by a pharmacist

1886—Coca Cola was invented by Doctor John Pemberton—you guessed it—a pharmacist from Atlanta, Georgia. Pemberton concocted the Coca Cola formula in a three legged brass kettle in his backyard. Until 1905, the soft drink, marketed as a tonic, contained extracts of cocaine as well as the caffeine-rich kola nut.

1892—William Painter invented the crown bottle cap

1898 Pepsi Cola is invented by Caleb Bradham. His most popular beverage was something he called "Brad's drink" made of carbonated water, sugar, vanilla, rare oils, pepsin and cola nuts. "Brad's drink" was later renamed "Pepsi-Cola" after the pepsin and cola nuts used in the recipe.

1899—The first patent is issued for a glass blowing machine to produce glass bottles

Did you know that soda pop has been around for so long? There are plenty more events in the soda pop timeline, but I’ll stop here. Next time you’re reading a historical set in the late 1800s and your hero refreshes himself with a soft drink, just remember it could have really happened. And, next time you indulge in a cold, refreshing soft drink, be sure to thank all those early pharmacists for their creative genius.

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Vickie McDonough is an award-winning author of 26 books and novellas. Her novels include the fun and feisty Texas Boardinghouse Brides series and the 3rd & 6th books in the Texas Trails series. Her novel, Long Trail Home, won the Inspirational category of the 2012 Booksellers’ Best Awards. Coming July 1st: Whispers on the Prairie, the first book in an exciting new series set in 1870s Kansas. To learn more about Vickie, visit her website: www.vickiemcdonough.com