Grayson County TXGenWeb

The Denison Bottling Co. opened for business in 1890 at 106 W. Woodard. Seven years later the business was located at 100 W. Chestnut.

The early day soda company, Red River Bottling Co., was opened in 1901 by Cass Cameron and located at 107-109 W. Woodard St., at the northeast corner of E. Woodard St. and Houston Ave. There were five employees - two route men for Sherman and Denison, two bottle fillers and one bottle washer. It was located The site was later occupied by the Southern Ice Co. Red River Bottling Co. also enjoyed a large shipping patronage throughout North Texas and southern Oklahoma
In the early 1910s John Clark purchased the Red River Bottling Co. and moved its operations into the old City Bottling building, located at 209 W. Woodard St. Later Denison Crystal Ice, which owned the entire block of E. Woodard, decided to expand its operations and needed the Red River Bottling Co.'s building for that project. The management of Denison Crystal Ice Co. retained the original Red River Bottling Co. building as it was and expanded by building new structures around it. This remodeled building existed until 1993 when Ready Ice demolished the old building.

City Bottling Works, according to the The Denison Gateway, c1908, was located at 209 West Woodard St., with J.T. Brown as proprietor. The products producted included high-grade carbonated beverages of all kinds and Brown's Ice Cream, noted for its purity and delightful flavor. The City Bottling Co. manufactured a very collectable bottle. Embossed on the 8 inch light green bottle was "Gay-Ola, the Improved Cola". On the bottom of the bottle in raised letters were the letters "Ike."

The term "soda pop" was derived from the fact that bottles were capped with a spring-loaded stopper, which made a popping sound when the stopper was pushed back into the bottle. The lid was not cork or metal but was a spring with a large hook on the top that required force in getting the top down into the bottle. This type of cap was used until 1912.
In the early days soda pop bottles were capped with a "foot-stomper," a machine consisting of a treddle that was stomped by workmen to force the crown down on the bottles. Glass bottles were cleaned with B-B shot, little iron pellets that were forced into the bottles to knock the dirt loose from the sides.

The Dr. Pepper Bottling Co. was opened for business in Denison in 1928 and was located at 606 S. Armstrong Avenue. At that time City Bottling Co., Red River Bottling Co. and Denison Bottling Co. were merged, with H.E. Morrison as the first manager. Fred Harvey joined the company two years later and remained with the company until 1971.
In the early 1940s a new plant was built at 115 W. Chestnut, managed by Fred Harvey. In the 1940s and 1950 the main offices of Dr. Pepper Bottling Co. were located east of Hwy. 75 near SMU. Sherman Coca-Cola franchise took over the Dr. Pepper francise in Denison and the building was demolished in 1996.

Coca-Cola Co. opened in Sherman about 1907 and was maintained continuously by the Woodson family. (The Denison Herald, July 4, 1976) From its modest beginnings, the Sherman plant grew to a plant with 85 workers and a production of 4,000 to 7,000 cases of Coke and Dr. Pepper per day in 1976.

Another bottling company opened in 1947 - the Birely Soda Co. located at 222 W. Chestnut, but was only in business for three years.
A second bottling company opened in 1947 as well - Whistle Vess Bottling Co. on S. Woodlawn with N.E. Foebel as manager. The company was in business for ten years. Later in the 1960s the building formerly used by Whistle Vess Bottling Co. was occupied Action Line Co.

Orange Crush Bottling Co. was located in Denison in the late 1940s; they also bottled Grapette.

Another popular soda company established itself in Denison in 1937 - 7-Up Bottling Co., located at 701 W. Morton, across from Central Ward School. In the 1940s 7-Up Bottling Co. established at warehouse at at 208 S. Houston. William Prato was the first manager of the company that operated in its original location for 30 years. In 1960, the company moved into the old Whistle Vess Bottling Co. on S. Armstrong; and Burden Plumbing took over the company's location on W. Morton. Three years later, 7-Up closed its business in Denison in 1963.

SOURCE: Donna Hunt. "About the History of Bottling in Denison." The Herald Democrat, April 28, 2014