MarvinTScamper
Footballguy
everyone knows they don't use cheese shovels anymore.
electric cheese trimmers are the #### now.
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GM's Thread About Everything/GM's Thread About Nothing (19 Viewers)
- Thread starter General Malaise
- Start date
electric cheese trimmers are the #### now.
mr. furley
Footballguy
Limp Ditka
Footballguy
Just ordered one from Amazon. Being a prime member, it should be here before I leave Sat morning.
General Malaise
Footballguy
mr. furley
Footballguy
you look good, you feel good. you feel good, you play good. you play good, you get paid good.
General Malaise
Footballguy
It's good. We've been working with a Swiss entity to create a new company called Cobalt 27. We're hoping it IPOs in June, pending the greenlight from Canadian regulators. In short, we've committed almost all of our physical cobalt to this company in exchange for shares. It will give us more liquidity and take away the need to pay for storage, security and insurance on the physical metal. The stock should trade in lock-step with the underlying commodity (cobalt) but there's a chance it trades a premium as the company looks to develop potential cobalt streams with producers in addition to royalties to producers who need cash infusions. WSJ is doing a piece on this which hopefully is out soon. I'll link it if I can, though I think the WSJ requires a subscription.
General Malaise
Footballguy
I like Amstel Light. didn't know there was an XLight out there. This is exciting news.
El Floppo
Footballguy
OrtonToOlsen
Footballguy
El Floppo
Footballguy
heckmanm
Footballguy
OrtonToOlsen
Footballguy
El Floppo
Footballguy
OrtonToOlsen
Footballguy
El Floppo
Footballguy
MarvinTScamper
Footballguy
Odd observation watching old man golf on treadmill.
Lee Janzen is turning into George W
Jeff Sluman is turning into Jack Nicklaus
Bernhard Langer is turning to Grand Moff Tarkin*
*i actually have mad props, but he is Evil Empire and all
Lee Janzen is turning into George W
Jeff Sluman is turning into Jack Nicklaus
Bernhard Langer is turning to Grand Moff Tarkin*
*i actually have mad props, but he is Evil Empire and all
General Malaise
Footballguy
Let's give Tanner a chance to get home and pour up some store-brand rum and DietCoke Dr. Ahhh.
El Floppo
Footballguy
OrtonToOlsen
Footballguy
I've never ever ever enjoyed Dr. Pepper or any of the knock-offs like Mr. Pipp, Dr. Thunder, or Chiropractor Pepper.
MarvinTScamper
Footballguy
Must be the end of the month. Quotas need filling and the #######ed grammar police are out.
Osaurus
Footballguy
RedmondLonghorn
Footballguy
In Texas there is a supermarket chain called HEB, which is named for Howard E. Butt, who was the founder's son. They have a knockoff of Dr. Pepper called Dr. B, which is, of course, short for Dr. Butt.
That was a lot of set up for a joke with relatively little pay-off.
MarvinTScamper
Footballguy
RedmondLonghorn
Footballguy
MarvinTScamper
Footballguy
I like all the knock offs, EXCEPT RC Cola, Elf Cola, any ####### cola. Coca-cola is the only cola. I love Pibb, Mello Yellow, Barqs, Squirt, etc. Knock offs are good.
I don't put them in whiskey though, that's for ###### and ####.
RedmondLonghorn
Footballguy
Dr. Pepper is the nectar of the gods.
If I could just give that #### up I would weigh 15 pounds less.
If I could just give that #### up I would weigh 15 pounds less.
Limp Ditka
Footballguy
I can only imagine Tanner's dislike of Dr Pepper stemming from the early 1900s when it was the new soft drink those damn kids were drinking.
Osaurus
Footballguy
When I was at UW-Milwaukee, there was a Regent named Harry Butts III. Yeah, 3 of them (or more now). WTF?
Limp Ditka
Footballguy
When it comes to colas, hate Pepsi, love an RC. But my love of RC is based on it being the fountain drink of choice in an overwhelming majority of taco/burrito joints in the Chicago area
cosjobs
Footballguy
You ever go to that little gas station that still sells the Dublin DP by the case in those little 6 oz. bottles and made with real sugar?
Last edited by a moderator:
OrtonToOlsen
Footballguy
Dublin DP is the O'Malley twins' go-to orgy move.
Last edited by a moderator:
heckmanm
Footballguy
General Malaise
Footballguy
I was a Dr. Pepper lover before giving up soda for good upon blossoming into an adult. Loved getting it out of a bottle. In college, the Amaco gas station and convenience store sold 16oz Dr. Pepper in bottles with a yellow cap and periodically, the yellow cap was some sort of game/lottery whatever where if you looked at the underside of the cap, it would tell you if you were a winner, or more accurately, a terrorist loser. One day, fate smiled on me and I won a free Dr. Pepper! I went to Amaco, exchanged the cap for a free Dr. Pepper, opened that one up and BAM!!!! Another freaking winner!
Life has been pretty straight downhill since that magical day.
Life has been pretty straight downhill since that magical day.
Last edited by a moderator:
cosjobs
Footballguy
Limp Ditka
Footballguy
Sammy3469
Footballguy
Just google (not bing) the article's name...WA LA...you should be able to get around the firewall.
cosjobs
Footballguy
Five years after Dr Pepper left Dublin, Texas town bubbles with new sodas
Originally published March 2, 2017 in The Dallas Morning News. After this story was published, the company pulled its Dublin Original brand, citing The News‘ coverage as a reason for the decision.
DUBLIN — Five years after Dr Pepper rolled out of town, everyone wants to know: Is this new stuff the real deal?
The historic Dublin Bottling Works has been producing a variety of craft sodas ever since a headline-grabbing lawsuit halted production of Texas’ beloved Dublin Dr Pepper in January 2012.
But there’s one — they called it Black Cherry at first but recently renamed it Dublin Original — that has a reputation for tasting awfully … familiar.
Curious soda drinkers are starting to come back to Dublin, stopping into Old Doc’s Soda Shop at the bottling plant on Elm Street and asking for their old favorite.
They’re Texans like Tracy and Jeff Everist from Houston. The couple was visiting Abilene last week and decided to swing by on their way home.
Soda jerk Kate McCrory walked Tracy Everist through each of the sodas, from Retro Grape to TeXas root beer. When she was done, she made sure to point out the one in the bottle with the red, black and yellow stripes.
“This is our Original, which everyone switched to since the Dr Pepper lawsuit,” she said. “All I can tell you is it’s really good.”
“So it’s Dr Pepper?”
McCrory smiled. They get this question all the time in Dublin. The answer is always the same, delivered with the same big smile.
“All I can say is it’s really, really good.”
Dr Pepper, Texas
For over 120 years, Dublin was synonymous with Dr Pepper. It was a Texas tradition.
The Texas-made Imperial Pure Cane Sugar that went into Dublin’s variety of Dr Pepper made it special. Sweeter, sure.
Ask a Texan, however, and they’d tell you it just tasted different. Better. Worth the drive down to Dublin for a case of the original-formula soda instead of the mass-produced recipe with high fructose corn syrup.
That was part of the allure. That long drive to Dublin to fill up the car with rattling glass bottles on a summer Saturday.
Dublin Dr Pepper was distributed only in a 44-mile radius of the plant. Only six counties had the privilege of selling Dublin Dr Pepper firsthand. Anyone else who wanted to buy it had to drive to Dublin and load up the car.
Families would drive down Highway 377 and return with those old faded wood pallets full of bottles. A scoop of ice cream floated on a mug full of Dublin Dr Pepper was a treat no young Texan would miss.
A staple at summertime backyard barbecues, it was always, always worth the drive.
All that ended five years ago, when Plano’s Dr Pepper Snapple Group sued the Dublin bottling company, claiming a violation of their licensing agreement. Cases disappeared from shelves, and bottles sold on eBay for extravagant price tags. Facebook groups mourned “DDP,” flooding Dr Pepper with protests and complaints.
For many Texans, the message was that Dublin, not just the Dr Pepper plant, was closed for good. Tourists stopped coming down Highway 377. They stopped visiting Old Doc’s Soda Shop and the bottling plant museums. They stopped getting lunch in town and spending money at the few shops still open.
The soda jerks in Dublin never stopped pouring sodas, however. Now they’re trying to spread the word: Dublin is — as it always was — open for business.
Historic bottling plant
Nine times a day, head soda jerk Kenny Horton offers tours through the two museums that Dublin Bottling Works has to offer.
He shows off the Peggy Pepper cut-outs from the 1940s, so scantily dressed that they were quickly pulled off shelves. He shows off the original Hutchinson glass bottles with a metal stopper, used long before the crown caps became popular.
He points out the original cash register and historic photographs with the name “Dublin Bottling Works.”
Finally, he shows tourists the massive, antique bottling equipment that produced Dr Pepper in Dublin for decades.
The machines run only when tour groups come through. The Dublin Bottling Works craft sodas are all bottled out-of-state these days. The 1936 machinery is too slow to keep up with growing demand, but the company hopes to invest in a new line to bottle in-house this year. They’re already available in most Texas grocery chains — H-E-B, Central Market, Tom Thumb, Kroger and more — and they’re still expanding to new out-of-state markets.
They’ve also had to go grassroots. Dublin Dr Pepper used to market itself. Now, general manager Kent Crouch has to introduce his products to new vendors and customers one at a time. At the State Fair of Texas, for example, they set up a booth to give customers a new taste, one Dixie cup at a time.
By the end of the fair, it was the highest-selling bottled beverage. Others may have sold more fountain beverages in the XXL Big Tex cups, but no one — not Coca-Cola Co., not PepsiCo and not Dr Pepper Snapple Group — sold more bottled soda than Dublin Bottling Works, according to fair organizers.
The syrups are all made in the Dublin bottling plant and shipped out. There are the basics like ginger ale, cola, root beer and cream soda, but there’s also new mixes like Dublin Fru Fru Berry, Dublin Cherry Limeade and TeXas Sweet Peach.
Of course, there’s also the Dublin Original, a proprietary blend of 24 flavors — one up on Dr Pepper’s 23. Its logo features three little hearts with initials IMK, WPK and DDP. The first two are for longtime owner W.P. Kloster and his wife, Iona Mae.
The last heart, “DDP,” is sometimes substituted with “Matthew 5:44.” But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.
Which makes you wonder: Really, are they still making Dublin Dr Pepper?
“We don’t have a knock-off Dr Pepper,” Horton said. “But you ought to try our Dublin Original, it’s really good, and I know you’ll love it.”
Come on. It’s Dr Pepper, isn’t it?
“Dublin Original is an excellent soda. You’ll have to try it.”
So, what you’re saying is, if you miss the old Dublin Dr Pepper …
“You’ll have to try it. It’s a great dark soda,” he said with a smirk. “I know you’ll love it.”
The Dr leaves town
In Dublin, especially around the bottling plant, you just have to say “the lawsuit” and they’ll know what you’re talking about.
In 2011, Dr Pepper Snapple Group filed suit against Dr Pepper Bottling Co. of Dublin. The Plano-based corporation argued that the bottler was diluting the brand by adding the word “Dublin” to their bottles. The company also claimed that by selling online, the Dublin company violated a contract to only distribute within a 44-mile radius.
It was David and Goliath. Rocky and Apollo Creed. A $7 million bottling plant and a $7 billion corporation.
The Dublin company said $15 million was spent fighting the suit for six months. On Jan. 11, 2012, Dr Pepper Snapple announced it had bought the franchisee’s sales and distribution assets for an undisclosed sum.
“Our main focus has always been on protecting the strength and integrity of the Dr Pepper trademark,” said Rodger L. Collins, Dr Pepper Snapple’s president of packaged beverages in a release the day the settlement was announced. “We’re pleased to reach an agreement that accomplishes that while also preserving the history and the special relationship Dr Pepper has with the Dublin community.”
That afternoon, crowds started showing up at the bottling plant. News cameras tried to interview Dr Pepper fans who were snatching up the last few bottles. Townspeople meandered in, shell-shocked, trying to find out what they could.
Karen Wright, director of the Economic Development Council in Dublin, said the clamor was “disturbing.”
“It was almost like a crime scene,” Wright said. “That night we felt sadness, a little anger and a whole lot of apprehension.”
The next morning, groups of folks all around town got together to start plotting a path forward. With a pad of paper and pen, Wright and others began writing down every asset Dublin had to offer — besides Dr Pepper.
The whole town had relied so heavily on the bottling works for so long, the sudden divorce gave Dublin an opportunity redefine itself.
“This company was the bread and butter for Dublin for years,” Horton said. “The legal battle wasn’t good. There’s no part of me that thinks that was a good thing. But it did force businesses to rethink how they do business.”
After the settlement, news outlets all across Texas aired footage of folks in Dublin carrying out the last cases of Dr Pepper, clearing shelves, closing doors and flipping off lights. It gave the impression that Dublin was closed for good.
But the bottling works never closed. Not even for one day. Within a few months, it was making its own line of craft sodas.
“When life hands you lemons,” Horton said, “you make Dublin Tart N Sweet Lemonade.”
Unfortunately, tourists didn’t get the memo. Used to, Dublin would get as many as 100,000 visitors a year stopping in for
Dr Pepper. The year after the lawsuit, it dropped to 10,000.
There were layoffs too. Fifteen Dubliners lost their jobs immediately after the settlement.
Horton remembers Crouch calling him into his office a few days after the news broke. Crouch said he’d have a job for now, but he couldn’t guarantee anything long term. Horton just asked that he get a month’s notice, if at all possible, if the ship was going to sink.
They began having monthly meetings to check in. February 2012, he knew he’d have a job. March 2012, he knew he’d have a job. April. May. June. July.
Then things started to stabilize. Later, Crouch told Horton they’d be good through the summer. In January of this year, he was able to say the doors would be open in 2018.
The tourists are just now starting to come back, too. They’re about halfway to where things were before the lawsuit. For Dublin, things are finally looking up.
A tale of two sodas
It’s still an awkward relationship between Dublin and Dr Pepper. The old signage is everywhere in town, not just in the two massive museum collections. The historic shadow of the old brand looms over the whole town.
“Dublin Bottling Works and the community of Dublin have a special place in the history of the Dr Pepper brand in Texas,” said Dr Pepper Snapple spokesman Chris Barnes. “We know it’s hard work to build and sustain a brand in this competitive and fast-changing industry, and we wish them well.”
A sign over the business office of the bottling works reads: Dr Pepper Bottling Company. Many faded murals around town advertise what used to be “Dr Pepper, Texas.” Up at Granny Clark’s chicken fried steak buffet, folks can still order
Dr Pepper, but they’ll get Dublin Original.
Even third-generation Mayor David Leatherwood has to correct himself when talking about the plant.
“So you went to the Dr Pe … the Dublin Bottling Works?” he asks. “You know, everybody still says Dr Pepper plant. It’s going to be that way forever.”
He said he’s had to stop people at the grocery store from buying Dr Pepper instead of the local fare. He tries to persuade them to try the new Dublin Original.
Turns out, people still drive through and buy Dr Pepper, even though it’s not of the Dublin variety.
A gas station not three blocks from the bottling works features a big ice chest full of Dr Pepper bottled with Imperial Pure Cane Sugar — a variety the corporation rolled out nationally in special packaging made to look like the retro Dublin-style bottles. A sign out front advertises Dublin Bottling Works “sold here,” but go to the refrigerators and it’s all Dr Pepper, Diet Dr Pepper, Dr Pepper TEN and all the rest.
Worth the drive?
OK though, really. Let’s get down to brass tacks here. This whole thing boils down to one question on every soda-swilling Texan’s mind.
Is it as good as Dublin Dr Pepper?
Let’s say you head down Highway 377 through Erath County. Maybe you’re detouring from Waco, maybe you’re making a day-trip out of it. You pull up to Old Doc’s Soda Shop. The faded Dr Pepper sign says they’re open, so you try the knob and sure enough, the fountain is running and ready for you.
You go to the bar, ask if they’ve got the one that tastes like Dublin Dr Pepper.
You oughta try Dublin Original, it’s very good.
The soda jerk is smiling. He doesn’t wink. You look for a wink but it never comes. Just a friendly smile, and an extended hand, and a Dixie cup full of dark brown, perfectly bubbling, ice-cold soda.
So you take a sip, and there it is. You’re in the backseat of a station wagon halfway to Fort Worth, stacked cases of glass bottles clinking in the trunk. You’re in the T-ball dugout after the game, with a spoonful of Blue Bell floating on top of the sweet, carbonated mixture. You’re sitting on a blanket, watching July Fourth fireworks high above with an ice-cold bottle in your hand. You’re sitting on a sidewalk in Dublin, sipping ever so slowly so it won’t disappear too fast.
Well? Is it as good as you remember?
Dublin Original is a very good soda with 20-plus flavors. You oughta try it.
Originally published March 2, 2017 in The Dallas Morning News. After this story was published, the company pulled its Dublin Original brand, citing The News‘ coverage as a reason for the decision.
DUBLIN — Five years after Dr Pepper rolled out of town, everyone wants to know: Is this new stuff the real deal?
The historic Dublin Bottling Works has been producing a variety of craft sodas ever since a headline-grabbing lawsuit halted production of Texas’ beloved Dublin Dr Pepper in January 2012.
But there’s one — they called it Black Cherry at first but recently renamed it Dublin Original — that has a reputation for tasting awfully … familiar.
Curious soda drinkers are starting to come back to Dublin, stopping into Old Doc’s Soda Shop at the bottling plant on Elm Street and asking for their old favorite.
They’re Texans like Tracy and Jeff Everist from Houston. The couple was visiting Abilene last week and decided to swing by on their way home.
Soda jerk Kate McCrory walked Tracy Everist through each of the sodas, from Retro Grape to TeXas root beer. When she was done, she made sure to point out the one in the bottle with the red, black and yellow stripes.
“This is our Original, which everyone switched to since the Dr Pepper lawsuit,” she said. “All I can tell you is it’s really good.”
“So it’s Dr Pepper?”
McCrory smiled. They get this question all the time in Dublin. The answer is always the same, delivered with the same big smile.
“All I can say is it’s really, really good.”
Dr Pepper, Texas
For over 120 years, Dublin was synonymous with Dr Pepper. It was a Texas tradition.
The Texas-made Imperial Pure Cane Sugar that went into Dublin’s variety of Dr Pepper made it special. Sweeter, sure.
Ask a Texan, however, and they’d tell you it just tasted different. Better. Worth the drive down to Dublin for a case of the original-formula soda instead of the mass-produced recipe with high fructose corn syrup.
That was part of the allure. That long drive to Dublin to fill up the car with rattling glass bottles on a summer Saturday.
Dublin Dr Pepper was distributed only in a 44-mile radius of the plant. Only six counties had the privilege of selling Dublin Dr Pepper firsthand. Anyone else who wanted to buy it had to drive to Dublin and load up the car.
Families would drive down Highway 377 and return with those old faded wood pallets full of bottles. A scoop of ice cream floated on a mug full of Dublin Dr Pepper was a treat no young Texan would miss.
A staple at summertime backyard barbecues, it was always, always worth the drive.
All that ended five years ago, when Plano’s Dr Pepper Snapple Group sued the Dublin bottling company, claiming a violation of their licensing agreement. Cases disappeared from shelves, and bottles sold on eBay for extravagant price tags. Facebook groups mourned “DDP,” flooding Dr Pepper with protests and complaints.
For many Texans, the message was that Dublin, not just the Dr Pepper plant, was closed for good. Tourists stopped coming down Highway 377. They stopped visiting Old Doc’s Soda Shop and the bottling plant museums. They stopped getting lunch in town and spending money at the few shops still open.
The soda jerks in Dublin never stopped pouring sodas, however. Now they’re trying to spread the word: Dublin is — as it always was — open for business.
Historic bottling plant
Nine times a day, head soda jerk Kenny Horton offers tours through the two museums that Dublin Bottling Works has to offer.
He shows off the Peggy Pepper cut-outs from the 1940s, so scantily dressed that they were quickly pulled off shelves. He shows off the original Hutchinson glass bottles with a metal stopper, used long before the crown caps became popular.
He points out the original cash register and historic photographs with the name “Dublin Bottling Works.”
Finally, he shows tourists the massive, antique bottling equipment that produced Dr Pepper in Dublin for decades.
The machines run only when tour groups come through. The Dublin Bottling Works craft sodas are all bottled out-of-state these days. The 1936 machinery is too slow to keep up with growing demand, but the company hopes to invest in a new line to bottle in-house this year. They’re already available in most Texas grocery chains — H-E-B, Central Market, Tom Thumb, Kroger and more — and they’re still expanding to new out-of-state markets.
They’ve also had to go grassroots. Dublin Dr Pepper used to market itself. Now, general manager Kent Crouch has to introduce his products to new vendors and customers one at a time. At the State Fair of Texas, for example, they set up a booth to give customers a new taste, one Dixie cup at a time.
By the end of the fair, it was the highest-selling bottled beverage. Others may have sold more fountain beverages in the XXL Big Tex cups, but no one — not Coca-Cola Co., not PepsiCo and not Dr Pepper Snapple Group — sold more bottled soda than Dublin Bottling Works, according to fair organizers.
The syrups are all made in the Dublin bottling plant and shipped out. There are the basics like ginger ale, cola, root beer and cream soda, but there’s also new mixes like Dublin Fru Fru Berry, Dublin Cherry Limeade and TeXas Sweet Peach.
Of course, there’s also the Dublin Original, a proprietary blend of 24 flavors — one up on Dr Pepper’s 23. Its logo features three little hearts with initials IMK, WPK and DDP. The first two are for longtime owner W.P. Kloster and his wife, Iona Mae.
The last heart, “DDP,” is sometimes substituted with “Matthew 5:44.” But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.
Which makes you wonder: Really, are they still making Dublin Dr Pepper?
“We don’t have a knock-off Dr Pepper,” Horton said. “But you ought to try our Dublin Original, it’s really good, and I know you’ll love it.”
Come on. It’s Dr Pepper, isn’t it?
“Dublin Original is an excellent soda. You’ll have to try it.”
So, what you’re saying is, if you miss the old Dublin Dr Pepper …
“You’ll have to try it. It’s a great dark soda,” he said with a smirk. “I know you’ll love it.”
The Dr leaves town
In Dublin, especially around the bottling plant, you just have to say “the lawsuit” and they’ll know what you’re talking about.
In 2011, Dr Pepper Snapple Group filed suit against Dr Pepper Bottling Co. of Dublin. The Plano-based corporation argued that the bottler was diluting the brand by adding the word “Dublin” to their bottles. The company also claimed that by selling online, the Dublin company violated a contract to only distribute within a 44-mile radius.
It was David and Goliath. Rocky and Apollo Creed. A $7 million bottling plant and a $7 billion corporation.
The Dublin company said $15 million was spent fighting the suit for six months. On Jan. 11, 2012, Dr Pepper Snapple announced it had bought the franchisee’s sales and distribution assets for an undisclosed sum.
“Our main focus has always been on protecting the strength and integrity of the Dr Pepper trademark,” said Rodger L. Collins, Dr Pepper Snapple’s president of packaged beverages in a release the day the settlement was announced. “We’re pleased to reach an agreement that accomplishes that while also preserving the history and the special relationship Dr Pepper has with the Dublin community.”
That afternoon, crowds started showing up at the bottling plant. News cameras tried to interview Dr Pepper fans who were snatching up the last few bottles. Townspeople meandered in, shell-shocked, trying to find out what they could.
Karen Wright, director of the Economic Development Council in Dublin, said the clamor was “disturbing.”
“It was almost like a crime scene,” Wright said. “That night we felt sadness, a little anger and a whole lot of apprehension.”
The next morning, groups of folks all around town got together to start plotting a path forward. With a pad of paper and pen, Wright and others began writing down every asset Dublin had to offer — besides Dr Pepper.
The whole town had relied so heavily on the bottling works for so long, the sudden divorce gave Dublin an opportunity redefine itself.
“This company was the bread and butter for Dublin for years,” Horton said. “The legal battle wasn’t good. There’s no part of me that thinks that was a good thing. But it did force businesses to rethink how they do business.”
After the settlement, news outlets all across Texas aired footage of folks in Dublin carrying out the last cases of Dr Pepper, clearing shelves, closing doors and flipping off lights. It gave the impression that Dublin was closed for good.
But the bottling works never closed. Not even for one day. Within a few months, it was making its own line of craft sodas.
“When life hands you lemons,” Horton said, “you make Dublin Tart N Sweet Lemonade.”
Unfortunately, tourists didn’t get the memo. Used to, Dublin would get as many as 100,000 visitors a year stopping in for
Dr Pepper. The year after the lawsuit, it dropped to 10,000.
There were layoffs too. Fifteen Dubliners lost their jobs immediately after the settlement.
Horton remembers Crouch calling him into his office a few days after the news broke. Crouch said he’d have a job for now, but he couldn’t guarantee anything long term. Horton just asked that he get a month’s notice, if at all possible, if the ship was going to sink.
They began having monthly meetings to check in. February 2012, he knew he’d have a job. March 2012, he knew he’d have a job. April. May. June. July.
Then things started to stabilize. Later, Crouch told Horton they’d be good through the summer. In January of this year, he was able to say the doors would be open in 2018.
The tourists are just now starting to come back, too. They’re about halfway to where things were before the lawsuit. For Dublin, things are finally looking up.
A tale of two sodas
It’s still an awkward relationship between Dublin and Dr Pepper. The old signage is everywhere in town, not just in the two massive museum collections. The historic shadow of the old brand looms over the whole town.
“Dublin Bottling Works and the community of Dublin have a special place in the history of the Dr Pepper brand in Texas,” said Dr Pepper Snapple spokesman Chris Barnes. “We know it’s hard work to build and sustain a brand in this competitive and fast-changing industry, and we wish them well.”
A sign over the business office of the bottling works reads: Dr Pepper Bottling Company. Many faded murals around town advertise what used to be “Dr Pepper, Texas.” Up at Granny Clark’s chicken fried steak buffet, folks can still order
Dr Pepper, but they’ll get Dublin Original.
Even third-generation Mayor David Leatherwood has to correct himself when talking about the plant.
“So you went to the Dr Pe … the Dublin Bottling Works?” he asks. “You know, everybody still says Dr Pepper plant. It’s going to be that way forever.”
He said he’s had to stop people at the grocery store from buying Dr Pepper instead of the local fare. He tries to persuade them to try the new Dublin Original.
Turns out, people still drive through and buy Dr Pepper, even though it’s not of the Dublin variety.
A gas station not three blocks from the bottling works features a big ice chest full of Dr Pepper bottled with Imperial Pure Cane Sugar — a variety the corporation rolled out nationally in special packaging made to look like the retro Dublin-style bottles. A sign out front advertises Dublin Bottling Works “sold here,” but go to the refrigerators and it’s all Dr Pepper, Diet Dr Pepper, Dr Pepper TEN and all the rest.
Worth the drive?
OK though, really. Let’s get down to brass tacks here. This whole thing boils down to one question on every soda-swilling Texan’s mind.
Is it as good as Dublin Dr Pepper?
Let’s say you head down Highway 377 through Erath County. Maybe you’re detouring from Waco, maybe you’re making a day-trip out of it. You pull up to Old Doc’s Soda Shop. The faded Dr Pepper sign says they’re open, so you try the knob and sure enough, the fountain is running and ready for you.
You go to the bar, ask if they’ve got the one that tastes like Dublin Dr Pepper.
You oughta try Dublin Original, it’s very good.
The soda jerk is smiling. He doesn’t wink. You look for a wink but it never comes. Just a friendly smile, and an extended hand, and a Dixie cup full of dark brown, perfectly bubbling, ice-cold soda.
So you take a sip, and there it is. You’re in the backseat of a station wagon halfway to Fort Worth, stacked cases of glass bottles clinking in the trunk. You’re in the T-ball dugout after the game, with a spoonful of Blue Bell floating on top of the sweet, carbonated mixture. You’re sitting on a blanket, watching July Fourth fireworks high above with an ice-cold bottle in your hand. You’re sitting on a sidewalk in Dublin, sipping ever so slowly so it won’t disappear too fast.
Well? Is it as good as you remember?
Dublin Original is a very good soda with 20-plus flavors. You oughta try it.
Limp Ditka
Footballguy
MarvinTScamper
Footballguy
I like Dr Pepper less after spending an hour reading cos' post.
General Malaise
Footballguy
Mind. Blown.Sammy3469 said:
5-ish Finkle
Footballguy
Sounds like something Ned Flanders would force his kids to drink (while eating unflavored ice milk).cosjobs said:
