Wednesday, April 13, 2005

the tastes of my childhood

Cliff and I sometimes get into a discussion about the favorite soda pops of our childhood.  That's "pop" for me (Iowa-born), and "sodie" for Cliff (born in the Lake-of-the-Ozarks-area).
I've wondered why he'd never heard of my favorite, Tyler Grape.  But with the help of Google, I now understand.  Tyler was bottled in Clarinda, Iowa... a few miles from where I lived as a child.  Daddy spent a lot of time across the road from the switchboard office in Guss, where we lived, talking to local men in Mitchell's blacksmith shop.  There was a pop machine there, and I could always talk Daddy out of a nickel for a bottle of Tyler grape; I can almost taste it now, thinking about it.  A Google search led me to Ebay, which has a Tyler bottle for sale starting at $9.99.  The seller had this to say:   "We are listing a 10 oz 1958 Tyler's ACL Soda Bottle from Clarinda, Iowa that is in very good condition with no chips or cracks. Bottle has the more uncommon blue and white ACL colors."  I did, in fact, buy the bottle.  



The brand of "sodie" Cliff remembers best is Polly pop, which I learned (once again with the help of Google) was bottled in Independence, Missouri.  I found an interesting story about the history of Polly's HERE

After my family moved to Kansas City, Vess became a favorite.  Mother would get a quart bottle of Vess strawberry pop, and a half-gallon of cheap vanilla ice cream, and create the world's best ice cream soda.


Tastes are such a vital part of my memories.  A search on the Internet tells me that Vess is still in business and can be bought in the St. Louis area.  I wonder if they still make the strawberry flavor.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Coca Cola for me and Grape Nehi. Coke was bottled here in Chattanooga, it's hometown. Mayfield vanilla ice cream and coke for a coke float

Anonymous said...

Grandpa Pete always made us strawberry floats when Grandma Doris was not around. Everytime I see a bottle of strawberry soda, Grandpa is the first thing that comes to mind.
Boy I do miss those days. Thanks for the memory.

Anonymous said...

Oh Stoooooooooop! I wantta pecan waffle with a chocolate soda<<<sigh>>> Anne

Anonymous said...

My favorite was the little 6oz. bottle of Coke and Cheerwine, and Danny's  was Nehi Orange and Orange Crush! Here in Ga., around where we live anyway, we called these "DRINKS"...when you go to the store you say " Anybody want a drink?" and they know  you mean a soft drink, or soda pop!
Carlene

Anonymous said...

Oh, this reminds me of 'chocolate' sodas that we used to get at the gas station.... And Mom used to get Orange Crush soda and vanilla ice cream (NEVER Ice Milk <g>) and make us the best Ice cream sodas!
http://journals.aol.com/astaryth/AdventuresofanEclecticMind

Anonymous said...

I am from Missouri and we DO call them "sodies"...hehehehe
I just remember the old cream and root beer. We never made floats...guess no one in my famioy liked them, so I missed out. :)

Hugs,
Sharon

Anonymous said...

I loved Polar grape...and Dr. Pepper. Still do. :-)

Anonymous said...

Mmmmm! Haven't thought about a Vess strawberry ice cream soda in years! I haven't even seen Vess for a long time! Now I'll be on a quest!
I remember once when I was little, we had to stop in Pleasant Hill to get something done to the car on the way home; Mama and I spilt a bottle of Fanta Grape Soda--and agreed it was the best soda we'd ever had! I haven't seen Fanta in years, either; but then, again, I'd forgotten about it, and haven't looked!

Anonymous said...

I was kind of a Nehi & Orange Crush person, BUT, my drink of choice was A&W Root Beer, and I'm talking from a car hop drive in, not the bottled junk they have now. I'm from Minnesota, and we also called it "pop". rich

Anonymous said...

Never heard of these.

blatchaw said...

If one is still available, I am interested to buy a "Tyler's Soda Pop" bottle in good -excellent condition

Email latchawbryan@ gmail.com

Thank you