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In the 19th century, American colonists brewed the antecedent root beers in their homes from a variety of ingredients, often serving their concoctions as hot teas. In the 1840s, the first root beer began to appear in confectionaries and general stores, bottled in stoneware and sold for medicinal use.
Nov 18, 2023 · The journey of root beer — from a North American indigenous tribal tea to pharmacist Charles Elmer Hires’ first national soda brand— highlights a legacy of innovation and tenacity. Here’s a look!
Root beer is a sweet North American soft drink traditionally made using the root bark of the sassafras tree Sassafras albidum or the vine of Smilax ornata (known as sarsaparilla; also used to make a soft drink called sarsaparilla) as the primary flavor.
Jul 31, 2011 · Most Americans know it only as a soft drink enjoyed by generations of children and adults. Yet root beer played a part in shaping the modern food and beverage industry. It even launched the Marriott hotels around the world. Root beer is a sweet drink similar to birch beer but popular mostly in North America.
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Charles Elmer Hires, who developed a beverage he called "root beer" in 1875, was the first soft drink entrepreneur. His company paved the way for giants such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi. A Philadelphia-based pharmacist by profession, Hires was only 24 when he created his world-famous concoction, which he originally sold as dry concentrate that needed to...
Charles Elmer Hires was born on August 19, 1851, on his family's farm outside of Roadstown, New Jersey. He was the sixth of 10 children of John Dare Hires and Mary (Williams) Hires, who counted among her ancestors Martha Washington, wife of President George Washington. Despite such distinguished ties, the Hires family was not a wealthy one. Young C...
Hires was only 12 years old when he went to work at a local pharmacy. Intrigued by the profession, he moved to Philadelphia four years later to take a similar job. By 1867, Hires was working at a wholesale drug house while attending night classes at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and the Jefferson Medical College. He then headed to the town o...
Although Charles Elmer Hires did not technically "invent" root beer, he displayed a certain creativity and persistence—plus a genius for marketing and advertising—that turned a concoction of roots, bark, and herbs into America's first major soft drink. His initial attempts were a far cry from the easily accessible, ready-to-drink beverages of the m...
Bibliography
Fucini, Joseph J. and Fucini, Suzy. Entrepreneurs: The Men and Women Behind Famous Brand Names and How They Made It.Boston: G.K. Hall, 1985. Ingham, John N. Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders.Vol. H-M. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1983. Schuyler, Robert Livingston, ed. Dictionary of American Biography. Vol. 22, Supplement Two. New York: Scribner's, 1958. Van Doren, Charles. Webster's American Biographies.Springfield, MA: Merriam, 1979. Who Was Who In America.Vol. 4, 1961-1968. C...
Aug 9, 2019 · While Charles Hires and his family contributed greatly to the popularity of modern root beer, its origins can be traced to pre-colonial times during which indigenous tribes commonly created beverages and medicinal remedies from sassafras roots.
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Charles Elmer Hires, a pharmacist in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, invented Hires Root Beer. According to the official narrative, Hires had root beer for the first time while on his honeymoon in 1875, a traditional American libation that dates back to the colonial era.
