Barq's: Difference between revisions
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'''Barq's''' ({{pronEng|ˈbɑrks}} "Barks") is an American [[soft drink]] company. "Barq's" was long the name of the company's signature product, now known as '''Barq's Famous Olde Tyme Root Beer''', a [[brand name|brand]] of [[root beer]] notable for being the only major [[North America|North American]] root beer to contain [[caffeine]]. It has been bottled since the start of the [[20th century]] and is currently sold by [[The Coca-Cola Company]]. |
'''Barq's''' ({{pronEng|ˈbɑrks}} "Barks") is an American [[soft drink]] company. "Barq's" was long the name of the company's signature product, now known as '''Barq's Famous Olde Tyme Root Beer''', a [[brand name|brand]] of [[root beer]] notable for being the only major [[North America|North American]] root beer to contain [[caffeine]]. It has been bottled since the start of the [[20th century]] and is currently sold by [[The Coca-Cola Company]]. |
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== History == |
== History == |
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I've been collecting Barq's rootbeer for almost 10 years now and have done extensive research on the brand. I will correct some common mistakes that people make about the product. For example the Hires suing Barq's myth and when exactly Root Beer came out. Also another problem is people pronouncing Barq's as BARG'S. People, it's not a G but a Q. Please do not delete this again. |
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The ''Barq's Brothers Bottling Company'' was founded in [[1890]] in the [[French Quarter]] of [[New Orleans, Louisiana]], by Edward Charles Edmond Barq and his younger brother, Gaston. The Barq Brothers bottled [[carbonation|carbonated]] water and various soft drinks of their own creation. Early on their most popular creation was an [[orange (fruit)|orange]]-flavored soda called ''Orangine'', which won a gold medal at the [[1893]] [[World's Columbian Exposition]] [[World's Fair]] in [[Chicago, Illinois]]. |
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Edward Adolph Barq Sr. was born in New Orleans on March 4, 1871. He was one of four living children. There were six in all but one brother had died months after childbirth. Edward Barq had two brothers and two sisters, all older than he was. His father, Jules Augustes Barq, was a doctor in New Orleans while his mother, Marie Georgina Savonniere, was a piano teacher. |
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Edward Barq moved to [[Biloxi, Mississippi]], in [[1897]] with his new wife. The following year he opened the ''Biloxi Artesian Bottling Works''. [[1898]] is often given as the debut year for what was later to be known as "Barq's root beer," but some sources say this particular product was not produced until some two years later. |
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At the age of five Edward Barq and his family moved to France. While Edward was there he studied chemistry at the University of Paris. He studied about sugar in the chemistry field while attending the University of Paris. Upon returning to the United States he began studying at the University of Tulane. |
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For many decades Barq's was not marketed as a "root beer." This was in part a desire to avoid legal conflict with the [[Hires Root Beer]] company, which was attempting to claim a trademark on the term "root beer." It was also due to differences from other root beers at the time. The base was a [[sarsaparilla]] drink of the style of the late [[19th century]], in a formulation with caffeine, less [[sugar]], and higher carbonation than other brands, though with less of a foamy "head." It was decided to market the soft drink simply as '''Barq's'''. |
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Upon returning to New Orleans in the early part of the 1890s, Edward entered a drink that he developed, called Orangine, into the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, also known as the Columbia Exposition. He won a gold medal for this drink, thus starting his career in the beverage-making business. |
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The traditional slogan was the simple affirmation "Drink Barq's. It's good." |
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Edward did not go right into the soda industry but had actually tried his luck in the alcoholic industry first. In 1891 he and his brother, Gaston, started the Barq's Brother's Bottling Works. There they bottled different cordials, which was a alcoholic drink. The business prospered until 1895 when Gaston died. In 1896 the name of the company was changed to Barq's and Hughs but not much, if anything, is known about this transition. |
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For a time it was marketed with the slogan "Is it root beer?" before the company decided to market the product as such. |
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In 1897 Edward moved to Biloxi, Mississippi and married Ellodi Graugnard. He began working on a Louisiana sugar plantation as a chemist. When he had weekends off, he would spend them in Biloxi experimenting with flavors and sugar. During the summer of 1898, Edward began bottling his soft drinks. He started out in a little building on Howard Avenue in downtown Biloxi, MS. This would be the beginning of a company known as Biloxi Artesian Bottling Works, Barq's Pop and Jersey Creme. |
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In [[1976]], the Biloxi Barq's Company was purchased by two entrepreneurs, John Oudt and John Koerner. An aggressive television campaign was developed based on the "Barq's Got Sparks" theme. Their plans to market the brand nationally were partially complicated by the existence of the New Orleans based ''Barq's Beverages, Inc., and Barq's Beverages of Baton Rouge, Inc.'', which had long been marketing Barq's and Barq's Creme' Soda in Southern Louisiana. The New Orleans firm was largely independently of the Biloxi firm dating back to early 20th century oral agreements between Barq family members and friends. (Those who traveled back and forth between Mississippi and Louisiana noted subtle but distinct differences between the Barq's sold in the two places, as the Biloxi and New Orleans plants each made their own syrups, and some partisans considered one or the other "better.") There were extended legal conflicts over who exactly had the rights to the Barq's name and formula and in which markets. These differences were not fully resolved until The Coca-Cola Company acquired both branches in [[1988]]. |
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Jersey Creme was a franchise based out of Texas and not much is known as to why Edward Barq Sr. started his business under the name. In the early 1900s he began working with another chemist known as Dr. Alford Court. In 1902 for unknown reasons Ed Sr built a plant in Gulfport, Mississippi. Later on he and another business man, Samuel Hardtner went in together on the Gulfport bottling plant and created Barq's & Hardtner's Bottling Works. Not much is known about the Gulfport plant except that it was not around for very long or maybe was even sold out. In the early 1900s, Dr. Court said that Ed Sr being the great chemist he was dissected the Coca Cola formula and created his own Cola using their formula. He then ordered bottles with his name and Coca Cola's name on it, which are highly sought after today. Coca Cola got word of what was going on and told Ed Sr. that if he did not purchase a franchise then he could not bottle Coca Cola. A court ordered him to discontinue and destroy all the bottles. If any bottles were still being used he would be fined $5 per bottle. |
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Before the purchase, Barq's produced other sodas, such as lime green and grape, in the 1970s and early 1980s. |
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In 1908 Barq began experimenting with Root Beer flavors, NOT 1898. Even though he played around with the formula he did not prefect it the way he wanted it until 1937. That same year they opened their new plant on Lameuse St. in Biloxi, Miss. A huge article was displayed on the front pages of the local newspaper known today as the Sun Herald about the grand opening. AT this time Barq's had grown nationwide to 62 plants in 22 southern states. The biggest being in Louisville, Ky. The first franchise was old to Russ Bottling Works from Mobile, Alabama in 1934. On top of that their were many distribution centers scattered throughout the USA including Hattiesburg, MS. |
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In the 1990s, Barq's ran a series of commercials with the following jingle: "This is the Barq's Root Beer Jingle, singing about Barq's Root Beer! Barq's spent all their money on the music so they couldn't afford to buy lyrics." |
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That year Ed Sr. had a bottle made up that said Drink Barq's ROOT BEER. Until this time he had started out using lead top Hutchinson bottles, straight sided bottles, then a 12 oz bottle with BARQ'S in block letters at the top ( which was a first since everyone else was using 6 1/2oz bottles at the time) that was ordered by Fabacher Brewery in New Orleans, LA. This company was also known as JAX Beer. The reason behind this is because it may have been cheaper to go in dibs with another company on a bulk order than to purchase them by himself. |
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In recent years Barq's has been marketed with the slogan "Barq's has bite!", a reference to both its caffeine content and its crisper taste as compared to most commercial root beers. |
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In 1938, the FDA told Ed. Sr. he could no longer use the word Root Beer in any of his advertising because if his product contained caffeine then it could no longer be called rootbeer. The bottle that he came out with in 1937 had to be discontinued and changed to the blue labeled design that is still used today. Hire's Rootbeer, which was located all the way up in Pennsylvania had NOTHING to do with this. Barq's Rootbeer was changed to Barqs Sr. |
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Barq's participated in a cross-promotion of NBC's 1997 season finale of "3rd Rock from the Sun", where millions of 3D glasses bearing the Barq's logo were given away. |
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From 1937 until 1976 Barq's had great success. Ed Sr. died in New Orleans in 1943 at the age of 72. He is buried in Biloxi, Ms. His son Edward Barq Jr. had been in control of the business since 1938. In the 1920s Ed Jr. had started his own plant called Twin Cities Bottling Company in Pascagoula, MS. This was a Orange Crush franchise. |
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In [[1999]], the soft drink had a promotional contest with the TV series ''[[Buffy The Vampire Slayer]]''. Stars of the series were seen in Barq's commercials at that time. |
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During Barq's reign it did not have many slogans. Those advertised in their early years were "Drink Barq's, It's Good and Wholesome", "Drink Barq's Rootbeer", "Drink Barq's It's Good", and then to the slogan today "Famous Olde Tyme Root Beer. |
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In [[2000]], a promotional "Bart's Root Beer" was released. It is regular Barq's Root Beer featuring [[Bart Simpson]] on the can. |
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In 1963 Edward Jr Died. The company was taken over by his son, Edward Barq III. He did not run it for very long for he died suddenly. I believe that same year, 1963, Edward Jr's son, William "Bill" Barq took the company over. Bill Barq kept the business until 1976 when he sold Barq's Bottling Company to two entrepreneurs from New Orleans, John Oudt and John Koerner. Even though that section of the company was sold, their still remained one part, Barq's Inc. Barq's Inc., still located in Biloxi, was in charge of preparing the syrup concentrate. Only the bottling rights had been sold. |
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The two business men moved that part of the company to New Orleans and started advertising like Barq's had never done before. This is when Barq's was advertised as being from New Orleans. It was either a marketing ploy or they were confused from the fact Barq' had been there in the 1890s. Another reason people think it started in New Orleans was because their was a separate company already there known as Barq's Beverages. |
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Barq's Beverages began in New Orleans, LA in 1919 when Ed Sr gave the bottling rights to a young man known as Jessie L. Robinson. This meant that Jessie Robinson could use the Barq's name as he pleased and do whatever he wanted with the formula with no repercussion from the Biloxi firm. They were totally separate. Jessie Robinson was a local kid that was "adopted" by Ed Barq Sr. in the 1920s. Jessie's bottling plant started out as a Cascade Bottling Company franchise located in downtown New Orleans, LA. It was later changed to Barq's of New Orleans. This company later created Barq's Beverages of Baton Rouge, LA when the family split up. In 1994 Barq's purchased Delaware Punch, a grape drink. In 1995 Barq's Inc. sold the rest of their franchise to Coca Cola. The bottling rights had been previously sold to Coca Cola earlier on. The last Barq's company to sell to Coca Cola was Barq's of Baton Rouge in the year 2000. Until that time the had been bottling their product in bottles similar to the other company except instead of a blue label, they used red. When Barq's of Biloxi used red and blue in their advertising signs, New Orleans used red and yellow. Some of Barq's of New Orleans logos were the same as Barq's of Biloxi except for one, "Is it Rootbeer?" which made no sense and came out in the 1970s. |
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Now that Coca Cola owns Barq's, it's marketed all over the United States, Canada, and even the Philippines. Barq's is also sold in USA stores throughout the world! Since Coca Cola has owned it, it has became the number one root beer in the world! One of their famous logos is "Barq's has Bite!" Some of Coca Cola's advertising for Barq's is pretty crazy and weird and is intended for the young male population. They did a deal with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Simpsons one year. Not many commemorative bottles have been made in Barq's. Only three so far, Barq's 100th Anniversary, Boom Town Casino in Biloxi, MS, and Biloxi, MS tri centennial. |
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== Barq's products == |
== Barq's products == |
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Revision as of 07:42, 11 February 2008
| Type | Root beer |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | The Coca-Cola Company |
| Country of origin | USA |
| Introduced | 1890 |
| Variants | French Vanilla, Red Cream Soda |
| Related products | A&W Root Beer, Mug Root Beer, Dad's Root Beer |
| Website | www |
Barq's (Template:PronEng "Barks") is an American soft drink company. "Barq's" was long the name of the company's signature product, now known as Barq's Famous Olde Tyme Root Beer, a brand of root beer notable for being the only major North American root beer to contain caffeine. It has been bottled since the start of the 20th century and is currently sold by The Coca-Cola Company.
History
I've been collecting Barq's rootbeer for almost 10 years now and have done extensive research on the brand. I will correct some common mistakes that people make about the product. For example the Hires suing Barq's myth and when exactly Root Beer came out. Also another problem is people pronouncing Barq's as BARG'S. People, it's not a G but a Q. Please do not delete this again.
Edward Adolph Barq Sr. was born in New Orleans on March 4, 1871. He was one of four living children. There were six in all but one brother had died months after childbirth. Edward Barq had two brothers and two sisters, all older than he was. His father, Jules Augustes Barq, was a doctor in New Orleans while his mother, Marie Georgina Savonniere, was a piano teacher.
At the age of five Edward Barq and his family moved to France. While Edward was there he studied chemistry at the University of Paris. He studied about sugar in the chemistry field while attending the University of Paris. Upon returning to the United States he began studying at the University of Tulane.
Upon returning to New Orleans in the early part of the 1890s, Edward entered a drink that he developed, called Orangine, into the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, also known as the Columbia Exposition. He won a gold medal for this drink, thus starting his career in the beverage-making business.
Edward did not go right into the soda industry but had actually tried his luck in the alcoholic industry first. In 1891 he and his brother, Gaston, started the Barq's Brother's Bottling Works. There they bottled different cordials, which was a alcoholic drink. The business prospered until 1895 when Gaston died. In 1896 the name of the company was changed to Barq's and Hughs but not much, if anything, is known about this transition.
In 1897 Edward moved to Biloxi, Mississippi and married Ellodi Graugnard. He began working on a Louisiana sugar plantation as a chemist. When he had weekends off, he would spend them in Biloxi experimenting with flavors and sugar. During the summer of 1898, Edward began bottling his soft drinks. He started out in a little building on Howard Avenue in downtown Biloxi, MS. This would be the beginning of a company known as Biloxi Artesian Bottling Works, Barq's Pop and Jersey Creme.
Jersey Creme was a franchise based out of Texas and not much is known as to why Edward Barq Sr. started his business under the name. In the early 1900s he began working with another chemist known as Dr. Alford Court. In 1902 for unknown reasons Ed Sr built a plant in Gulfport, Mississippi. Later on he and another business man, Samuel Hardtner went in together on the Gulfport bottling plant and created Barq's & Hardtner's Bottling Works. Not much is known about the Gulfport plant except that it was not around for very long or maybe was even sold out. In the early 1900s, Dr. Court said that Ed Sr being the great chemist he was dissected the Coca Cola formula and created his own Cola using their formula. He then ordered bottles with his name and Coca Cola's name on it, which are highly sought after today. Coca Cola got word of what was going on and told Ed Sr. that if he did not purchase a franchise then he could not bottle Coca Cola. A court ordered him to discontinue and destroy all the bottles. If any bottles were still being used he would be fined $5 per bottle.
In 1908 Barq began experimenting with Root Beer flavors, NOT 1898. Even though he played around with the formula he did not prefect it the way he wanted it until 1937. That same year they opened their new plant on Lameuse St. in Biloxi, Miss. A huge article was displayed on the front pages of the local newspaper known today as the Sun Herald about the grand opening. AT this time Barq's had grown nationwide to 62 plants in 22 southern states. The biggest being in Louisville, Ky. The first franchise was old to Russ Bottling Works from Mobile, Alabama in 1934. On top of that their were many distribution centers scattered throughout the USA including Hattiesburg, MS.
That year Ed Sr. had a bottle made up that said Drink Barq's ROOT BEER. Until this time he had started out using lead top Hutchinson bottles, straight sided bottles, then a 12 oz bottle with BARQ'S in block letters at the top ( which was a first since everyone else was using 6 1/2oz bottles at the time) that was ordered by Fabacher Brewery in New Orleans, LA. This company was also known as JAX Beer. The reason behind this is because it may have been cheaper to go in dibs with another company on a bulk order than to purchase them by himself.
In 1938, the FDA told Ed. Sr. he could no longer use the word Root Beer in any of his advertising because if his product contained caffeine then it could no longer be called rootbeer. The bottle that he came out with in 1937 had to be discontinued and changed to the blue labeled design that is still used today. Hire's Rootbeer, which was located all the way up in Pennsylvania had NOTHING to do with this. Barq's Rootbeer was changed to Barqs Sr.
From 1937 until 1976 Barq's had great success. Ed Sr. died in New Orleans in 1943 at the age of 72. He is buried in Biloxi, Ms. His son Edward Barq Jr. had been in control of the business since 1938. In the 1920s Ed Jr. had started his own plant called Twin Cities Bottling Company in Pascagoula, MS. This was a Orange Crush franchise.
During Barq's reign it did not have many slogans. Those advertised in their early years were "Drink Barq's, It's Good and Wholesome", "Drink Barq's Rootbeer", "Drink Barq's It's Good", and then to the slogan today "Famous Olde Tyme Root Beer.
In 1963 Edward Jr Died. The company was taken over by his son, Edward Barq III. He did not run it for very long for he died suddenly. I believe that same year, 1963, Edward Jr's son, William "Bill" Barq took the company over. Bill Barq kept the business until 1976 when he sold Barq's Bottling Company to two entrepreneurs from New Orleans, John Oudt and John Koerner. Even though that section of the company was sold, their still remained one part, Barq's Inc. Barq's Inc., still located in Biloxi, was in charge of preparing the syrup concentrate. Only the bottling rights had been sold.
The two business men moved that part of the company to New Orleans and started advertising like Barq's had never done before. This is when Barq's was advertised as being from New Orleans. It was either a marketing ploy or they were confused from the fact Barq' had been there in the 1890s. Another reason people think it started in New Orleans was because their was a separate company already there known as Barq's Beverages.
Barq's Beverages began in New Orleans, LA in 1919 when Ed Sr gave the bottling rights to a young man known as Jessie L. Robinson. This meant that Jessie Robinson could use the Barq's name as he pleased and do whatever he wanted with the formula with no repercussion from the Biloxi firm. They were totally separate. Jessie Robinson was a local kid that was "adopted" by Ed Barq Sr. in the 1920s. Jessie's bottling plant started out as a Cascade Bottling Company franchise located in downtown New Orleans, LA. It was later changed to Barq's of New Orleans. This company later created Barq's Beverages of Baton Rouge, LA when the family split up. In 1994 Barq's purchased Delaware Punch, a grape drink. In 1995 Barq's Inc. sold the rest of their franchise to Coca Cola. The bottling rights had been previously sold to Coca Cola earlier on. The last Barq's company to sell to Coca Cola was Barq's of Baton Rouge in the year 2000. Until that time the had been bottling their product in bottles similar to the other company except instead of a blue label, they used red. When Barq's of Biloxi used red and blue in their advertising signs, New Orleans used red and yellow. Some of Barq's of New Orleans logos were the same as Barq's of Biloxi except for one, "Is it Rootbeer?" which made no sense and came out in the 1970s.
Now that Coca Cola owns Barq's, it's marketed all over the United States, Canada, and even the Philippines. Barq's is also sold in USA stores throughout the world! Since Coca Cola has owned it, it has became the number one root beer in the world! One of their famous logos is "Barq's has Bite!" Some of Coca Cola's advertising for Barq's is pretty crazy and weird and is intended for the young male population. They did a deal with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Simpsons one year. Not many commemorative bottles have been made in Barq's. Only three so far, Barq's 100th Anniversary, Boom Town Casino in Biloxi, MS, and Biloxi, MS tri centennial.
Barq's products
- Barq's Famous Olde Tyme Root Beer — Formerly known simply as "Barq's", and for a time in some markets as "Barq's Sr". Barq's Famous Olde Tyme Root Beer is also available Caffeine Free in areas distributed by Swire Coca-Cola such as Utah.
- Diet Barq's Diet Barq's contains no caffeine
- Barq's Red Crème Soda — For decades, this was the only other product under the Barq's brand name, long known in New Orleans as "Barq's Red Drink".
- Barq's French Vanilla Crème Soda
- Barq's Root Beer Floatz
J&J Snack Foods licenses the brand name for "Barq's Floatz Frozen Ice Cream".
External links
- Barqs.com - Official website
- Barq's - The blog with BITE! - Unofficial fan site: "Read Barq's. It's Good! Since 2004."
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