Charles Courtice Alderton (June 21, 1857 – May 29, 1941) was an American pharmacist and the inventor of the carbonated soft drink

Dr Pepper Dr Pepper is a carbonated soft drink. It was created in the 1880s by pharmacist Charles Alderton in Waco, Texas, and first served around 1885. Dr Pepper was first nationally marketed in the United States in 1904. It is now also sold in Euro ...

Early life

Charles Courtice Alderton was born June 21, 1857 in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, the eldest of five children to

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

parents. Alderton attended

Framlingham College Framlingham College is a public school (independent day and boarding school) in the town of Framlingham, near Woodbridge, Suffolk, England. Together with its preparatory school and nursery at Brandeston Hall, it serves pupils from 3 to 18 ye ...

in England, studied medicine at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

, and worked as a pharmacist in

Waco Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the st ...

, in a shop called "Morrison's Old Corner Drug Store", which had a

soda fountain A soda fountain is a device that dispenses carbonated soft drinks, called fountain drinks. They can be found in restaurants, concession stands and other locations such as convenience stores. The device combines flavored syrup or syrup concentra ...

Creation of Dr Pepper

Alderton noticed that customers were tiring of the traditional flavors of

sarsaparilla Sarsaparilla often refers to the sarsaparilla soft drink, made from Smilax plants. Sarsaparilla may also refer to: Biology *Several species of plants, of the genus ''Smilax'', including: **''Smilax ornata'', also known as Honduran or Jamaican sar ...

, lemon and

vanilla Vanilla is a spice derived from orchids of the genus ''Vanilla (genus), Vanilla'', primarily obtained from pods of the Mexican species, flat-leaved vanilla (''Vanilla planifolia, V. planifolia''). Pollination is required to make the p ...

, and so to try and revive sales, began experimenting with new flavor combinations, eventually settling on a 23 ingredient mix combined with

phosphoric acid Phosphoric acid (orthophosphoric acid, monophosphoric acid or phosphoric(V) acid) is a colorless, odorless phosphorus-containing solid, and inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is commonly encountered as an 85% aqueous solution, w ...

to give it tang. It was first sold on December 1, 1885, and was ordered by asking the soda attendant to "shoot a Waco". Alderton gave the formula to the owner of Morrison's Old Corner Drug Store, Wade Morrison, who then named it Dr Pepper. It was introduced to almost 20 million people while attending the 1904 World's Fair Exposition in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, Missouri as a new kind of soda pop. Its introduction in 1885 preceded the introduction of

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlant ...

by one year. Completed in 1906, the Artesian Manufacturing and Bottling Company, located at 300 South Fifth Street in downtown Waco, Texas, was the first building to be built specifically to bottle Dr Pepper and Dr Pepper was bottled there until the 1960s. The building now houses the

Dr Pepper Museum Dr Pepper is a carbonated soft drink. It was created in the 1880s by pharmacist Charles Alderton in Waco, Texas, and first served around 1885. Dr Pepper was first nationally marketed in the United States in 1904. It is now also sold in Europe ...

, which opened to the public in 1991. The museum has three floors of exhibits, a working old-fashioned soda fountain, and a gift store of Dr Pepper memorabilia.

Personal life

Alderton married twice in his life. His first wife was Lilian "Lillie" E. Walker, whom he married in October 1884. It was announced in the Galveston, Texas newspaper. They married at the residence of Lillie's father J. B. Walker. Lillie died in 1916. Alderton married Emilie Marie Coquille on December 20, 1918 in New Orleans, Orleans, Louisiana.

Death

Alderton died May 29, 1941. He was buried in Oakwood Cemetery,

McLennan County McLennan County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in Central Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 260,579 . Its county seat and largest city is Waco. The U.S. census 2021 county population estimate is 263,115. The county i ...

, Texas, in Plot: Section B-1 Lot 425.Find a Grave
Charles C. Alderton

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alderton, Charles 1857 births 1941 deaths American pharmacists 19th-century American inventors People from Brooklyn University of Texas Medical Branch alumni American expatriates in the United Kingdom Burials at Oakwood Cemetery (Waco, Texas) American people of English descent People educated at Framlingham College Inventors from New York (state)