The Dr Pepper Museum and Free Enterprise Institute
Ta da!
After such a wonderful drive, Savannah and I were even more excited to enter the museum. As we learned later on inside, the building had a different purpose in the past as an old bottling plant for Dr Pepper and other soft drinks! After buying our tickets (at student price), we immediately entered a dimly lit room with an animatronic man behind a glass window.
He insisted on his picture be taken badly
Turns out this machine was modeled after Charles Alderton, the credited creator of Dr Pepper.
He worked in a drug store in Waco, Texas at around the 1880s when he created what was known at the time as a "Waco". In these early years of America, it was often the case that one could buy cigars at the same store that sold ice cream and soda. Of course, back then, soda came not from soda dispensers but soda fountains
Photo from JunkFoodCritic
The above photo is actually from the Dr Pepper Museum but in my excitement I forgot to photograph it! Anyways, the little gold faucet on the marble counter would shoot out carbonated water. The soda syrup would be added to a cup of ice first and then with the help of some pressure, be mixed with the carbonated water to make true soda! Modern soda dispensers work the same way but factor out the need for someone to operate the faucet.
The animatronic of Dr. Alderton made a little speech about how the "old days" of Waco then said goodbye. I thought he was cool but he scared Savannah! To be fair, the museum did make him extremely detailed.
Again, he does not like to have good pictures of him!
After our experience with uncanny valley, Savannah and I headed to the back of the first floor. This is where the heart of the bottling plant was. There, we found this:
You are looking at what is called an "Artisan Well". The well was created inside the factory as a way for the bottling plant to be able to extract the "Artisan Water" from the ground. This type of water was deemed to be much more healthy than whatever else was available at the time. As the years went by, the well was forgotten as renovations covered it in brick and concrete. Once the old bottling plant was decided to be turned into a museum, construction workers along with students/professors from the local University rediscovered the well! Now its horrifying depth can be seen by all.
Something that I found to be interesting was a type of bottle on display.
Those familiar with a type of Japanese drink, Ramune, may have noticed what I noticed. Here is a picture of the drink that I got off of a wikiHow:
Ramune is unique in the fact it has not a plastic or metal cap to encase the drink, but a ball! Turns out, the Dr Pepper bottles I have pictured have to same structure! I found this to be rather surprising and tried to find a date of manufacturing for the bottles at the museum but came up empty. I will forever be plagued without knowing who manufactured this structure of bottle first!
Savannah and I soon headed towards the second level of the museum. We were immediately faced with this sign:
After reading the last line, I had little to no time before Savannah found the kid in her again. This is what I found behind me:
If you actually read the entire sign, you realize how creepy I found her happiness
We also found a horse made out of Big Red bottle caps, another drink made in Texas. Savannah, again, was overjoyed.
To put the horse in its place, I made sure to let it know who the boss was around here.
Put out your dukes!
The second floor of the museum was devoted mostly towards other drink brands. There was also a section filled with soda-related merchandise; even a few dresses!
Nothing says "Fancy" like 7up
Savannah and I then headed up to the third and final floor. This floor was where the "Free Enterprise Institution" part of the museum's name came from. The entire floor was dedicated to a man nicknamed "Foots" who began his career as a simple deliveryman for Dr Pepper then quickly climbed up the corporate ladder as he became a President of the company. They also had a few games around which allowed you to test your knowledge about good business practice. Guess who found these first?
Yup
We still had one last stop to visit in the Dr Pepper Museum but, for now, I will leave you with a single picture and the promise of "Tales of a Gent and a Lady: The First Experience (Final Part)"!
Ta ta for now, see you again when the times call for it
