Dr. Pepper's origins?

[NW Mailing List]

I recall drinking a lurid orange colored (and possibly orange tasting, 
but devoid of all or any natural components of that citrus fruit) Nehi 
'pop' in Wytheville and in Bland County in the mid-70s, when I was 
working for Pendleton Construction Corp. building (well, helping just a 
little) I-77.

Readers may like to know that a major development was recently 
celebrated in the UK:

Nearly 40 years ago, in January 1972, British Railways closed the 
railway line between Swanage and Wareham in Dorset, taking up the track 
in just seven weeks. Since then, a group of enthusiasts, now known as 
the Swanage Railway Trust, has worked tirelessly to relay the track, 
rebuild railway buildings and reopen the line for business.

On Saturday, May 2, the first train since 1967 ran from London Victoria 
to Swanage, marking the culmination of a project that has taken 500 
volunteers 30 years to complete. ‘The atmosphere was electric,’ said 
Swanage Railway Trust chairman Mike Whitwam. ‘Nearly 400 people 
travelled on the train, and thousands more lined the tracks. The whole 
weekend was absolutely superb. Very nostalgic and emotional.’

....................................

http://www.countrylife.co.uk/countryside/article/340372/Steam-train-reopens-Dorset-line.html

NW Mailing List wrote:
<snip>

> Concerning Royal Crown Cola, that was the Wilson Nehi Bottling 

> Company's cola drink, so I would guess wherever you found Nehi you 

> found RC and vice versa. In later years, RC was bottled by the Royal 

> Crown Bottling Company, if my memory serves me correctly. I don't know 

> if Nehi changed the name of the company or if RC was spun off to go 

> national. I think Royal Crown Cola has been available continuously, 

> but until recently I hadn't seen Nehi sodas for 20 or 30 years. I 

> assumed the brand went defunct.

> But, in January 2008 I was in Lansing, NC--yep, the same village 

> that's on the Virginia Creeper Trail--and found the reincarnated Nehi 

> sodas in the local grocery store! I was so elated I bought two, a 

> grape and an orange. The bottles say "ORIGINAL NEHI" "The Tradition of 

> Taste Since 1924." The bottles also say "BOTTLED UNDER THE AUTHORITY 

> OF DR PEPPER/SEVEN UP, INC, PLANO TX...." I didn't keep the caps, but 

> I'm sure they said that the drinks were bottled in West Jefferson, NC! 

> This really took me back because when I was growing up Nehi--and 

> Coca-Cola as well--had a bottling plant in every small town or at 

> least every town I visited in southern Virginia. The uncle of one of 

> my friends worked at the one in Farmville (I think it's an auto parts 

> store now) and I got to visit often. It was almost magical to watch 

> those bottles marching along single-file and getting shot full of 

> those beautiful colored liquids. And I always got strawberry.

> I have since found the "new" Nehi's here in Roanoke. The new bottles 

> are attractive but it would be nice if they went back to the old Nehi 

> bottles that I remember as having a king of woven texture raised on 

> the glass. Oh well, I'll take what I can get.

> <snip>

Dominic
London UK

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