Your favorite soda/pop growing up


 
Brad Olson

Brad Olson

TVWBB Diamond Member
Chris A.'s post about the Diet Dr. Pepper got me thinking about what our household had when I was a kid back in the '60s and '70s. We were mostly a cola family, Coke when it was on sale but usually RC and never Pepsi. But if Coke was on sale that meant my mom might also pick up an 8-pack (16 oz. returnables, of course) of Sprite or occasionally Fresca, and once in awhile Dr. Pepper (with the old 10-2-4 round label) or my favorite: orange Crush. To this day, when I'm hot and thirsty I want an ice-cold Crush in a glass bottle more than anything else.

I went to middle school in a non-air conditioned, 1890s building in the middle of a city, so at the start and end of the school year there could be some really sweltering days. The Shell station just around the corner had a Pepsi machine (25 cents a can) and somehow it was calibrated to have the sodas so cold that the ice crystals were just barely starting to form, and at the end of a day in that oven a Mountain Dew from that machine was much appreciated!

So what'd you drink?
 
Birch beer, but I have no idea what brand it was. Got it in Shickshinny, Pennsylvania when we visited our Grandmother at the Methodist Campground.
 
Probably RC. The laundromat on my way home from school had an outdoor machine. 15c for a bottle and that was when you had a metal cap with cork and you opened it with the church key built into the machine.
But RC had deals under the cap, you peeled back the cork liner and you could have a 5, 10, 15, 25 0r 50 cent winner.
There was a glass yard off of 38th and California where they emptied the returns on the machines.
We as kids used to jump the fence an sift thru the piles of caps trying to find winners.
On a good day I could make a couple of bucks.

Tim
 
I went through periods where--for long stretches--I drank Coke, then Pepsi, then Mt. Dew (probably not in that order). And to change things up once in a while I'd get a Dr. Pepper, Fresca, Root Beer, RC Cola and, yes, an Orange Crush. This was back in the day when we needed an opener to remove the lid and the bottle remained open until the drink was finished. Today I don't drink much "pop" but when I do it's Sprite.
 
As a little kid, peach Nehi. My granddad used to take me to a little country store that sold Nehi drinks. I liked the grape, but peach was the best. As I got older I preferred colas, mostly RC or Coca Cola, since Pepsi was too sweet for my taste. There was a peculiar practice where I grew up, where you would buy a small pack of salted peanuts and a 6-ounce Coca Cola, then pour the peanuts into the Coke bottle and eat them as you drank the Coke. If you have ever done that, you probably have a good idea where I grew up. :)
 
I enjoyed some RC but my favorite when I could get it was Big Red. Even now some Big Red and some Texas barbecue puts me in a happy place.
 
Brad Olson said:
The Shell station just around the corner had a Pepsi machine (25 cents a can) and somehow it was calibrated to have the sodas so cold that the ice crystals were just barely starting to form, and at the end of a day in that oven a Mountain Dew from that machine was much appreciated!
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And when you opened the bottle, the top two inches would instantly turn into slush? I remember some of those.
 
Jeff, it was sooo long ago that I am not sure, but I have this memory of ordering Birch Beer at this drive-in, whenever I had the chance. Loved it. There was also A & W Root Beer. Then I started drinking Dr. Pepper. That has been my favorite ever since.

(yes, they had soda's when I was a small one-lol)
 
I don't remember drinking that much soda as a kid. When we did, it was Coke, Pepsi, RC Cola, or Dad's or Hire's Root Beer. When you were sick but on the mend, Mom or Dad would bring home a 32 oz bottle of 7-Up.
 
Chris Allingham said:
I don't remember drinking that much soda as a kid. When we did, it was Coke, Pepsi, RC Cola, or Dad's or Hire's Root Beer. When you were sick but on the mend, Mom or Dad would bring home a 32 oz bottle of 7-Up.
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Thanks Chris, I forgot about those root beers.
 
I was a kid in the 1950's, so mainly Coke, Pepsi, RC, and various brands of root beers, etc.
Mom had to have a 6 oz. Coke while she grocery shopped the small store in the small town where we lived.
One of my favorites, if you can call it soda pop, was Choc-Ola. Mom didn't buy them often, but Oh man when she did! I could down one in about 2 seconds.

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I just posted a recipe that reminded me of when I was a young teenager. A few nights a week, I would walk the few blocks to the small local sundry store. I would have a cherry cola and play the pinball machine. I got pretty good on that thing. The owner would give free sodas if you reached a certain score.
 
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