*Post written by James Wethington, library assistant of the University Archives and Special Collections.
Who does not to crack a cold and pleasant carbonated beverage on a hot, summer day? It is sweet, sugary goodness! The next business we are going to discuss a prominent soft drink company: Double Cola. Throughout the years, Double Cola has produced and shipped numerous types of carbonated beverages all over the Tri-State and Southern United States.
Double Cola started in 1922, originally as Good Grape Company, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. They were marketing their grape soda, Good Grape. In 1953, Good Grape modified their name to Double Cola. They began producing many types of soda and in various sizes such as (Double Cola Company, 2018):
- Produced Ski starting in 1956.
- First company to promote returnable 16-ounce glass bottles in 1957.
- Produce Diet Way/Diet Double Cola (1962/1964), Diet Ski (1986), Oranta (1995), Cherry Ski (1996), Chaser (2010), and QUAD Energy/Minoku Coconut Water (2013).
There have been many distribution centers and Double Cola plants throughout the company’s history. Chero Cola Bottling Company started in the 1920’s; however, later they became a bottling center for Double Cola for decades. Today, Royal Cola bottles and distributes Double Cola products to the Tri-State, alongside the Jasper plant.
At the University Archives and Special Collections, there are photographs available online from the Double Cola collection through the years of deliver trucks and the plant in Evansville. We have a Double collection, available for the public to use if needed. If you are interested in viewing the collection, please contact us at archives.rice@usi.edu.
References
Double Cola Company. (2018). Double Cola Company, 1922-Present. Retrieved from http://double-cola.com/history/
amUSIngArtifacts 