Green River
Some folks call soft drinks pop, soda, or soda pop. As a child I first called it Green River because that is the first soft drink that I ever tasted. I distinctly remember sitting on a bench in my Daddy’s Skelly station in Edina, Mo., drinking Green River pop. I was in love with Green River at first taste although I was only allowed to have it as a rare treat because it was in the category of, “too much sugar will rot your teeth out”.
That was years ago and I thought perhaps Green River pop had long disappeared along with drive-in theaters, Edsels, and ice cube trays but I discovered that they still make Green River pop although I might have to go to Chicago to get it.
Green River was invented in 1914 by Richard C. Jones who owned a confectionary shop in Davenport Ia. It was a lime based soft drink and it was a bright green color. He sold it at his soda fountain by mixing his Green River Syrup with carbonated water. In 1916, he sold his recipe to The Schoenhofen Edelweiss Brewing Company of Chicago which enabled Jones to retire from his confectionary shop. Schoenhofen was not doing very well at that time due to the Prohibition Era but they survived by cranking out lots of Green River pop instead. People really liked Green River and were drinking a lot of it. The only company that sold more soft drinks than the popular Green River was Coca-Cola. It could be because it was rumored that Coca-Cola was the only soda company that actually washed their recycled bottles before filling them again. The times were different then and regulations weren’t as strict as they are today but I do hope it was only a rumor. I can’t imagine that they really didn’t wash their recycled bottles!
In those early 1900s, the Green River bottles were not capped the way that bottled soda is today. They inserted a marble in each bottle so that it would stir up the syrup that would settle at the bottom of the bottle, then to make the bottle seal they would turn the bottle upside down so the marble would fall into the neck of the bottle. The carbonation would press against the marble and keep it there at the top and seal the bottle. To open the bottle it would sharply be jerked up and down so the marble would come loose from the neck and fall to the bottom. Some think that the popping sound caused by the marble coming out may have been how the word “pop” came into existence in referring to soft drinks. I wonder how long someone played with bottles and marbles to figure out how to make that work and how many bottles were broken just to get the marble.
I was glad to find out that Green River is still available. In 2011 WIT Beverage Company bought the Green River brand. It is still made from the same recipe with real sugar, real lime, and no caffeine or gluten. It is very popular in Chicago, especially around St. Patrick’s Day with its lime flavor and Kelly green color.
Green River is mostly sold as a nostalgia item today but people who like it have a passion for it.
I would love to go back in time and sip some nostalgia at that Skelly Station. Of course the bottle would be washed and I would brush my teeth afterward so I won’t rot my teeth out.
By Pamela Perry Blaine
©July 27, 2018
Green River Float Recipe
One large glass
Add 2 big scoops of vanilla ice cream.
Pour some chilled Green River Pop over the ice cream.
Top with whipped cream.
Oh, and don’t forget to put green sprinkles on top!
Perry’s Skelly Station was located where the Piccadilly’s BP Station now sits in Edina, Mo.
Picture taken early 1950s.
Grace Notes 