This from Wikipedia: “Dr. Brown’s dates back to 1869 when their famous Dr. Brown’s Cel-Ray soda was commonly sold in New York delicatessens.[1] This soda was originally developed by a doctor who treated immigrant children in NY. The seltzer that helped these children contained celery seeds and sugar. Dr. Brown’s has been sold as a bottled soda since 1886.”
Can you just imagine? Celery soda? THEY STILL MAKE IT!!! Dr. Brown’s sodas now come in six flavors- Cream Soda, Cel-Ray, Black Cherry (my favorite), orange, ginger ale and root beer. The Black Cherry and Cream Soda are also available in diet. Dr. Brown’s soda is typically sold in 12-ounce cans and in one-liter and plastic bottles as well as two-liters in Black Cherry, Cream, and Root Beer flavors. Dr. Brown’s soda is also available in a 6 pack of 8 ounce glass bottles. Did we mention it’s kosher? Yep. It’s even kosher!
Since 1936, Bass has been producing this iconic classic loafer shoe. Here’s a little history lesson for you:
(from Wikipedia)” The Norwegians producing leisure slippers of the moccasin style in the 1930s began exporting these to the rest of Europe where they were taken up by visiting Americans,and championed by the American Esquire magazine. Some photographs included with the Esquire feature were of Norwegian farmers in a cattle loafing area.The Spaulding family in New Hampshire started making shoes based on this design in the early 1930s,deeming them loafers, the general term for slip-on shoes that remains still in use in America. In 1934, G.H. Bass (a bootmaker in Maine) started making loafers under the name Weejuns (sounding like Norwegians).The distinctive addition was a strip of leather across the saddle with a diamond cut-out. Initially only worn in the summer at home, the shoe grew in popularity in America to become a significant part of men’s casual shoe wardrobe, though back in Europe its ubiquity has never reached the same degree. When American students in the 1950s wishing to make a fashion statement took to inserting a penny into the diamond-shaped slit on their Weejuns, the name penny loafer came to be applied to this style of slip-on and has since stuck, though the practice itself does not continue.“
Bass still offers Weejun style shoes, and even has a particular “Weejuns” category in their catalogs! Shop and enjoy!
Barbasol (yes, the shaving cream!) was invented by MIT professor Frank Shields in 1919, looking for a product that would produce a less irritating effect from shaving. Yesterday’s product is not the same you’d see on the shelves today, but Barbasol still produces a similar product today. Try Barbasol Moisturizing Therapeutic Shave Lotion. Barbasol is formed from two words- the Latin word for ‘beard’, and an abbreviation of ‘solution’.
The Barbasol Company was founded in 1920, and was producing 30-40 dozen tubes of shave lotion per day in no time at all! The product didn’t change from the lotion in the tube, to the fluffy shave cream we know today, until the mid 1950′s.
A product similar to the original product was reintroduced in 2003, but then was reformulated into what is now sold as the Moisturizing Therapeutic Shave Lotion.
According to Wikipedia:
“Barbasol became a very popular shaving cream. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, many print advertisements were used to support its growth. Many of the print ads featured men and women in situations that would be considered risqué for their time.
The company also used several famous spokesmen throughout the years, notably star baseball players Babe Ruth and Rogers Hornsby as well as football legend Knute Rockne”
Orange Crush was invented in 1916, when Clayton Howell partnered with chemist Neil Ward to incorporate the company of Orange Crush Company. Ward was the one to perfect the zesty, signature orange flavor in this soda!
At the time the soda was introduced, inventors were commonly given credit for soda flavors, so this actually debuted as “Ward’s Orange Crush”! By 1918 it was available as far away as Canada, and by 1919 Norman Rockwell was commissioned to paint the advertising posters for Orange Crush, which by the 1950′s would be available as far away as South America, New Zealand, Europe, and Africa!
Lemon Crush and Lime Crush were also introduced early in the company’s lifetime, 1919 and 1920 respectively. It is now available in literally dozens of flavors, worldwide!
Get yourself a cold glass bottle of Orange Crush and enjoy the summer weather!
Not everyone grew up knowing about Friendly’s Ice Cream, or Friendly Ice Cream, as it was originally called, but the Blake brothers opened Friendly Ice Cream in Springfield, MA in 1935! The name was chosen to suggest warm, neighborly service. Curtis Blake was 18, and his brother S. Prestley Blake was 20 when they opened their first store- now the chain has well over 500 restaurants! A two-scoop cone was 5 cents, and their second offering- hamburgers- were originally introduced in their second location, in West Springfield, MA. The number of stores actually peaked at close to 850 in 1988, when the chain was owned by Hershey Foods Corporation. To this date, Friendly’s continues to make it’s own hot fudge and whipped cream as well!
So keep in mind, when you take home some Friendly’s Ice Cream from the grocery store- you’re taking home history!
