Once, nearly every town had their own local bottling company making flavored soft drinks. Enfield, CT had The Thompsonville Bottling Company, which produced a line of sodas of their own as well as national brands such as Moxie under contract.In Springfield, MA, the local bottler was Country Club Soda Company, which registered their first trademark in 1908. When I was a kid growing up in the area, we always had a couple of bottles of Country Club in the fridge (especially the ginger ale, which seemed to be my mother's favorite.)
I'm not really sure when Country Club started to get scarce in their hometown. By the early 1980's it was already hard to find. In 1985, Seven-Up bought the company and there were rumors that they were going to take the brand national, but I guess nothing ever came of it.
The only time I ever see Country Club soda these days, it's the occasional bottle that shows up on eBay or at a flea market. Or like in the picture up above: An old cardboard box from the early 1970s. Beat up and filled with junk, tossed in the dirt and debris at the foot of a Salvation Army collection bin.
I am vacationing in The Dominican Republic and they sell COUNTRY CLUB SODA here!!! The bottles look old-school like they are from the 50's! But, the liquor store I visited yesterday has cases and cases of them!!! Wow!
ReplyDeleteSend me your e-mail address and I will send you pics if you like.
Its the National soda in the Dominican Republic, you can find it in New York, New Jersey, South Florida or wherever theres a substantial amount of Dominican immigrants.
ReplyDeleteI was recently given a VERY OLD bottle of "Bourbon Whiskey 90 proof"...... bottled by Country Club Soda Co, Inc. Springfield MA. The whiskey was distilled in Pennsylvania. Do you have any info on the bourbon?
ReplyDeletethanks, Mike
sokol.michael@yahoo.com
I'm sorry, but I have virtually no information about Country Club Soda or any of their products.
ReplyDeleteI collect bottle caps, and as I got out of my car today at a local Walgreens (in NJ) I dropped my cell phone, and it landed right next to a bottle cap. Turns out it was a Country Club cap. I will take a pic and post it tomorrow or so. Thanks for the info on it!
ReplyDeleteI scuba dive in northern ny . And recently found one of the old country club soda bottles . I was curious as I'd never seen one before . After a bit of research I found that the company was from Springfield mass and was bought out by 7up company a few decades ago. I don't remember the year although I read it , it was either 1985 or1975.
ReplyDeleteThis is Dominican Republics "signature" soda. It's the most popular out there. You can find it in many places in NY: Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, and other places where a lot of Dominicans reside (Washington Heights in Manhattan)
ReplyDeleteI just dug up a old green flavored citrus water. Country Club soda 7oz bottle in millers falls massachusetts about 4 ft down. It had been there a while. Also found one other caller. Squirt soda
ReplyDeleteI worked there in the late 70s for 2 summers and 2 winters as a soda driver, working my way through college. A great company to work for; every store had Country Club on the shelves. At that time, they also handled all the 'crush' brands, 'diet right cola' and a host of others. Their 'cola' brand was RC/royal crown. Every bar would stock their ginger ale, club and quinine water. Amazing!
ReplyDeleteEvery once in awhile, we would handlle 'empties' in wooden cases, a 5 cent bottle return. real old school.
Too bad they are no longer around the Springfield area.