Cherry Coke
Submitted by TDD on Sat, 02/23/2008 - 14:09.
According to Wikipedia, Cherry Coke "was introduced to a test audience in 1982 at the 1982 World's Fair as Cherry Coke, and entered mainstream production in 1985"; however, in the picture, Angels With Dirty Faces (1938), Rocky Sullivan (James Cagney) orders a "cherry Coke" in a drugstore during a scene. This is not included in the Wikipedia article. I don't trust Wikipedia to be accurate, as it mostly isn't. I am looking for pre-1982 ads for Cherry Coke that will prove Wikipedia wrong.
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Youtube says 1985:
I'm thinking Cherry Coke has been around forever as an obscure fountain drink but has never been bottled or served to the masses until 1982.
Robblink is right - though checking one user generated source for date to support another user generated source seems a little silly. ;)
It's been a popular fountain drink since forever. Cherry Coke simply put it in a can.
It is strange how I missed this the first time I read the article.... It contradicts the second sentence of the article. Inaccuracy, bad writing, and constant editing are criticisms of Wikipedia I have.
Thanks for the help, Robblink and Dabitch. I was thinking the same thing, but I needed more than a scene from a Hollywood picture to prove Cherry Coke was around before the 1980s, contrary to what Wikipedia claims (claimed). A print ad of the Cherry Coke fountain drink would have been proof. Or, maybe, it just isn't Cherry Coke until it comes out of a Coca~Cola bottle or can. Whatever.
I'm going to watch, Angels With Dirty Faces again (and again) now. I love that picture.
"Happiness is overrated."
I still remember the National Lampoon comic that showed a few angels playing charades. One had wiped shit on his face, and another angel shouted out "Angels with Dirty Feces!". There, now I've probably ruined the movie from now on. You'll probably remember this stupid joke, and grimace, everytime you hear or see "Angels with Dirty Faces".
[I've ruined part of Led Zepellin's Kashmir for my wife - I rewrote one phrase to be "With no provision but an open faced sandwich"....] (The addition is underlined).
Allan...
"Remember, no matter where you go... There you are." (Buckaroo Banzai).
"Hey, barkeep, 2 Rock Over Hip-Hops and 1 Bach Over Vivaldi with ice."
You can't ruin that film for me. I absolutely love it. James Cagney's acting is brilliant as far as I am concerned. Great Guy is now my second favourite James Cagney film. I'll see what the order is after I see White Heat and The Public enemy.
The other day, I wrote a longish note about this, but my browser got hosed, and I'm only now about to attempt a somewhat shorter version:
Two of my uncles each had a 'variety' store built into their basements. They sold magazines, comics, toys, candy, cigarettes, cheap costume jewelry, ice cream, sundaes, milkshakes, ice cream sodas, and fountain sodas. One uncle also had a very small US Post Office that he ran. (This same uncle had a sit-down fountain counter, where you could also get some lunch or breakfast items). (I gained some familiarity with an ice pick, as you needed to use one to chop the ice out of the freezer for drinks).
Both of them sold sodas by the bottle, or by the cup (via the fountain). The fountain sodas all came in syrup form, along with cherry syrup, vanilla syrup, and chocolate syrup. (These bottles were huge - 3+ gallons [10-13 liters]). All but the chocolate syrup came from Coca-Cola bottlers. (I think the chocolate came from Hershey's - not too far from Philadelphia, PA, USA [where their stores were located]).
If you wanted cherry Coke, you got just enough cherry syrup added to the Coke syrup and the seltzer water*, and voila, cherry coke. The same with vanilla Coke. If you wanted cherry vanilla Coke (an old favorite of mine), you could get that too. You could not get any of these (except regular Coca-Cola) in a bottle form.
In my estimatation, Cherry Coke as a bottled drink dates back no farther than 1984-1985 (the latter date in line with Wikipedia).
I got lots of free comics, magazines, toys, candy, sodas and ice cream in many forms! [I also was able to look at my first Playboy when I was about 5 - my brother was being born, and I stayed with the one uncle, and got downstairs to read everything before 6:00 AM. It took many years before I found out the way women really look, without air-brushing hiding everything!]
* The selzter water here was just carbonated water - regular water hooked up to a Carbon Dioxide bottle - as opposed to a bottle of the stuff (no spraying in the eyes like the Three Stooges). :-)
By the way, both uncles did quite well with their businesses, and lived in a comfortable retirement for nearly 20 years before each died (at different times) from various causes.
Allan...
"Remember, no matter where you go... There you are." (Buckaroo Banzai).
"Hey, barkeep, 2 Rock Over Hip-Hops and 1 Bach Over Vivaldi with ice."
I still stand by my opinion that Wikipeadia is wrong and Cherry Coke was around before the 1980s. If adding cherry syrup to Coke made Cherry Coke, and someone could have walked into any drugstore or 'variety' store pre-1980s and ordered a Cherry Coke then Cherry Coke existed before the 1980s in my opinion. Just because Coca~Cola added the same syrup (presumably) to the same soda some 50 years later doesn't mean Cherry Coke didn't exist before.
I am so wasting my valuable free-time...... ;-)
aye, but you're right you know.
Good, because my free-time is almost at and end. Soon, I will have to go to work and face the results of yet another heavy snowfall! The second biggest storm this season hit on Wednesday (three days ago), and there is an even bigger one expected this afternoon that is probably going to bury me. I hope I can make it home. It's been a very long and very cold winter. If see a Coca~Cola ad, I'm throwing a snowball at it. Work makes just me very ill-tempered. :-P