Faedra on 1920s soda bottles.
Question:
Were there was any sodas/soda bottles (other than Coke) in existence in 1927 Chicago? Can you suggest what these liquid props might be? We need other liquid to be delivered with the sandwiches, & to be available to be drunk onstage.
Response:
So, by the 1920s, Soda was big business—and prohibition actually propelled the demand even further. By 1927, there were a few big names circulating nationally (in addition to Coke) such as Vernor’s Ginger Ale (the first US soft drink, invented in 1866), Dr. Pepper (which was actually invented in 1885, a year before Coca Cola), Pepsi (invented in 1898), Hires (the rootbeer, invented in 1876), and Ward’s Orange Crush (which was originally invented in Chicago in 1906, now known simply as Orange Crush).
There’s this publisher/collector, Digger Odell, devoted to educating the public on antique bottles and publishing price guides for bottles. He has some great info on soda—and soda bottles—from the 1920s. I’ve pasted some of the most text below (with a few sample pictures), but if the props department doesn’t already have this site/book—or one like it—it may be something they want to check out—there are A LOT of images!:
“Many of the sodas of the 1920s were embossed like counterparts of earlier decades. But unlike their counterparts they display lavish design elements. The variety seems endless in the competition to be noticed.
The 1920s were the heyday of the designer soda. Anyone could put up soda. Generic bottles were cheaper than the designed bottles and labels could be applied for brand identification. The labels, of course did not last and so became a bother and an added expense. The designer bottles could have the proprietors name blown into the glass along with the design. The design helped with brand identification and customer loyalty. In a field as crowded as the soda beverage field getting noticed was getting more difficult…”
