Even before carbonation, soft drinks had been around for hundreds of years. Mix some fruit, honey, mint, etc. and you had a non-alcoholic refreshment. In the late 1700s Joseph Priestly was able to make carbonated water by injecting carbon dioxide into water. In the 1800s the two were combined and voila, soda pop. The average American consumes over 30 gallons of soda drinks per year. Here is some trivia on the origins and ‘pop’ culture influence of soda pop drinks.
(1) Pharmacist Charles Alderton created what famous soda pop in a drug store in Waco, Texas in the 1880s?
(2) In the 1985 film ‘Back to the Future’, Marty tries to order two different sodas at a diner, without success. Can you name them?
(3) What famous soda pop was created in 1929 as “Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda” before changing its name? And Yes, it did have lithium citrate in it as a mood stabilizer until 1948!
(4) During World War II Germany had to create their own soda because they couldn’t get Coca Cola. Using ingredients such as beet sugar, whey, apple pomace, and their ‘imagination’, what drink did they come up with?
(5) Rob Lowe played Sodapop Curtis in what 80s film?
(6) Having its own national holiday on March 15th, what classic drink is made consisting of milk, carbonated water, and flavored syrup?
ANSWERS to July’s Trivia Questions
(1) George III
(2) Franklin Roosevelt
(3) 15
(4) 1996
(5) Walt Disney Company
(6) John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Monroe died, and Calvin Coolidge was born on that day.