Of all the museums I’ve walked through over the years, the Dr. Pepper Museum required the least amount of time to visit. The museum is one of the smaller adventures I’ve had in the otherwise massive state, where everything tends to be LARGE.
That said, the Waco, Texas Dr. Pepper Museum has hosted nearly three million visitors since it opened in 1991. The building has undergone three construction phases since then (completed in 1997) and is currently much bigger than its original structure. It also offers educational programs and field trips for the local community.
You know how some smells bring you inexplicable happiness while others make you feel bad and sometimes, you don’t even know why? A young pharmacist in the 1880’s enjoyed the smell of the drug store where he worked so much, he began experimenting with fruit syrups in an effort to create a drink that smelled like the store.
The young pharmacist was Charles Alderton, who worked for Morrison’s Old Corner Drug Store. Once Alderton perfected his new drink in 1885, the owner, Mr. Morrison allowed him to sell it at the drug store counter. The rest is history!
Fun Facts about Dr. Pepper:
- Dr. Pepper is the oldest of the major brand soft drinks in America and was created back in 1885.
- Although I have used punctuation after Dr. in this post, you’ll notice that Dr Pepper is without punctuation – the decision to drop the period occurred back in the 1950’s. (From here forward, I’ll delete it.) Notice the first image I posted at the top? It contains the period!
- The company that manufactures and sells the insanely popular Keurig coffee maker is actually Keurig Dr Pepper. In addition to the coffee, the coffee makers and Dr Pepper soda, the company owns 120 other brands including SwissMiss, Krispy Kreme, Newman’s Own Organics and Cinnabon, just to name a few!
In summary, if you ever visit the Dr Pepper Museum in Waco, Texas, they offer a few other fun activities, including Make-A-Soda, where you and your guests can choose Dr Pepper, Diet Dr Pepper, or Big Red, and add flavors to “create your own” soda version. They also have Taste-A-Soda that is a Dr Pepper blind taste test. The museum has fun offerings that I’m sure bring back local parents and school classes more than once.
Thank you for joining me on this Texas Tuesday tour!
Museum images and information can be located here. Click on Keurig image for source.
Tales from a Mid-Lifer 
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