CANADA DRY BEVERAGES Print ad, 1962, featuring fruit-flavored drinks. |
Canadian pharmacist John J. McLaughlin of Ontario is credited
with giving the world the first ‘Pale Ginger Ale’ in 1904, a product of his
carbonated water plant he founded in Toronto in 1890. He perfected a lighter version
that became CANADA DRY Ginger Ale—the
“dry” refers to its not-so-sweety taste as in “dry” wine. The drink was a hit, especially in the U.S.,
that he set up a manufacturing plant in Manhattan, New York.
Canada Dry Ginger Ale and Beverage bottle |
The business grew exponentially, and by the 1930s, CANADA DRY was available worldwide. From the 1950s onward, the company ventured into soft drinks and mixers, which proved also successful.
CANADA DRY
Beverages reached the country in the 1950s when the Canada Dry Bottling Co. of the Philippines was put up in Parañaque,
Rizal, by authority of the CANADA DRY
International Corp. New York, U.S.A.
The CANADA DRY
bottles all featured the map of Canada on a shield, topped by a crown, in reference
to the drink’s appointment to the Viceregal Household of the Governor General
of Canada in 1907.
UVA, the grape-flavored drink, was the most popular Canada Dry beverage introduced in 1960. |
Its mid 50s product line include CANADA DRY Ginger Ale, Spur Cola, Hi-Spot Lemon Soda, Dry Water. In
the 1960s,its quality flavored beverage line was introduced bannered by Uva (Grape),
Strawberry, Tru-Fruit Orange (later, Real Orange), Kola Champagne and Root Beer
(Sarsaparilla).
CANADA DRY REAL ORANGE & STRAWBERRY, print ads, 1961 |
CANADA DRY
beverages had its own following in the country, and the fruity flavors were
heavily advertised in magazines, via both full color and black and white print
ads. Many of the print ads carried charming illustrations done locally.
CANADA DRY KOLA CHAMPAGNE & ROOT BEER, 1962 Ads. |
Norton Simon Inc. bought CANADA DRY in 1964, which, after a few years, decided to close the
Philippine operations. It was later sold to Dr. Pepper, but when Forstmann
Little & Co. bought the latter, CANADA
DRY was acquired by Del Monte Foods. CANADA
DRY is owned by Dr.Pepper Snapple Group today.
SOURCES:
Canada Dry will be available in the Philippines again soon.
ReplyDelete