January 2010 marked the 125th anniversary of the first refreshing sip of a native Texas drink; Dr Pepper. Our nation’s oldest major soft drink, Dr Pepper began its rise to the top at the Old Corner Drug in Waco in 1885. Charles Courtice Alderton, a young pharmacist employed by Old Corner Drug proprietor Wade B. Morrison, spent his free time experimenting with combinations of sweeteners and fruit extracts to test out on the store’s soda fountain patrons. 

     One combination in particular was a favorite of the locals and word quickly spread. The more people who tried the soft drink, the more popular it became, and soon customers were asking Morrison to christen the drink with a proper name. It is said that Morrison named it “Dr. Pepper” after Dr. Charles T. Pepper, a physician Morrison had worked for earlier in Rural Retreat, Virginia. The period after “Dr.” was dropped from the trademark in 1950. 

     As popularity grew, Morrison and his employees at Old Corner Drug were struggling to meet the consumer demand. In 1891, Morrison started the Artesian Manufacturing and Bottling Works with Robert S. Lazenby, a local beverage chemist. Soon after, Southwestern Soda Fountain Company of Dallas bought the rights to produce and sell Dr Pepper fountain syrups and changed its name to Dr Pepper Company. For several years the company struggled under high taxes and rising commodity prices, but began to develop a limited yet loyal fan base in the South and Southwest. Family-owned independent bottling companies across Texas began bottling and distributing Dr Pepper, including plants in Temple, Brownwood, and Abilene. To this day, the Dublin Dr Pepper plant in Dublin, Texas, continues to use the original Dr Pepper formula with Imperial Pure Cane Sugar. 

     In 1904, Dr Pepper landed on the national stage, when Lazenby and his son-in-law, J.B. O’Hara, brought the small-town soft drink to the World’s Fair Exposition in St. Louis. There, Dr Pepper debuted with a crowd of more than 20 million people in attendance. Also introduced for the first time on a large scale were hamburgers and hot dogs on buns, as well as the ice cream cone. From 1905 to 1925, Dr Pepper was dubbed “King of Beverages.” In the 1920s and 30s, Dr Pepper was personified in ads by a country doctor with a monocle and top hat. During World War II, most Dr Pepper ads featured men and women in uniform, to show solidarity behind our troops. In 1945, after the federal government reclassified soft drinks as “food,” due to the energy provided by their sugar content, a popular ad campaign for Dr Pepper read “Drink a Bite To Eat at 10, 2, and 4.” The 1950s and 60s saw the popular slogans: “The friendly Pepper-Upper” and “Relax, refresh…enjoy.” Most recently, Dr Pepper enlisted the help of famous “doctors” like rapper Dr. Dre, basketball icon Doctor J, and KISS member Gene Simmons, known as Dr. Love, to promote the slogan, “Drink it slow. Dr.’s orders.” 

     Today, Dr Pepper fans can visit the original home of the King of Beverages at the Dr Pepper Museum in downtown Waco. Founded in 1988, the museum is housed in the 1906 Artesian Manufacturing and Bottling Company, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places as the “Home of Dr Pepper.” The museum seeks to educate visitors about the process of developing, producing and marketing products using the model of the soft drink industry, and specifically, Dr Pepper. All told, the museum houses more than 20,000 artifacts and attracts more than 60,000 visitors each year. From small beginnings at a drug store soda fountain, Dr Pepper has risen to international soft drink fame. For Texans, however, Dr Pepper will always be a “local” favorite. 

Sources: Dr Pepper; Dr Pepper Museum; Texas State Historical Association 

Sen. Cornyn serves on the Finance, Judiciary, Agriculture, and Budget Committees. He serves as the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee's Immigration, Refugees and Border Security subcommittee. He served previously as Texas Attorney General, Texas Supreme Court Justice, and Bexar County District Judge.