No-Cal was the first zero-calorie soda.Encyclopedia of junk food and fast food, Andrew F. Smith, p.116, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006 It was initially marketed to

diabetic Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level (hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased app ...

s in a number of flavors, the most popular being black cherry.

History

Hyman Kirsch and his son Morris, both

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

living in Williamsburg,

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 ...

, began selling sodas in 1904.Bowling World, Jan 2006, p.8
/ref> Their involvement with the Jewish Sanitarium for Chronic Disease (now known as Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center), led them to the invention of a sugar-free drink to meet the needs of the hospital's

patients.No-Cal Comes to Larchmont
/ref> Hyman and Morris developed a line of carbonated, sugar-free, zero-calorie soft drinks which they called No-Cal, that they began selling in 1952. The soda was produced at the company's plant in College Point,

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

, New York. (Requires scrolldown) Initially it came only in

ginger ale Ginger ale is a carbonated soft drink flavoured with ginger. It is consumed on its own or used as a mixer, often with spirit-based drinks. There are two main types of ginger ale. The golden style is credited to the Irish doctor Thomas Joseph ...

, sweetened with

sodium cyclamate Cyclamate is an artificial sweetener. It is 30–50 times sweeter than sucrose (table sugar), making it the least potent of the commercially used artificial sweeteners. It is often used with other artificial sweeteners, especially saccharin; ...

. Later,

root beer 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, Sarsaparilla (soft drink ...

and

black cherry ''Prunus serotina'', commonly called black cherry,World Economic Plants: A Standard Reference, Second Edition'. CRC Press; 19 April 2016. . p. 833–. wild black cherry, rum cherry, or mountain black cherry, is a deciduous tree or shrub of the g ...

were added, the latter becoming the flagship flavor. Eventually they added

Lemon The lemon (''Citrus limon'') is a species of small evergreen trees in the flowering plant family Rutaceae, native to Asia, primarily Northeast India (Assam), Northern Myanmar or China. The tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit is used for culin ...

cola Cola is a carbonated soft drink flavored with vanilla, cinnamon, citrus oils and other flavorings. Cola became popular worldwide after the American pharmacist John Stith Pemberton invented Coca-Cola, a trademarked brand, in 1886, which was imita ...

, coffee, and

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...

sodas. Eventually, the company started marketing the soda to "weight-conscious" housewives. It thus took off in popularity, until the company was worth millions. Ray Distributors, owned and operated by Arthur Raphael, was the sole distributor of No-Cal soda on Long Islang from the early 1950s till his death in 1967. Mr. Raphael, a salesman for Kirsch before Hyman and Morris Kirsch gave him the opportunity to bring No-Cal to Nassau and Suffolk Counties, was also instrumental in introducing No-Cal as a fountain drink.

Advertising

No-Cal used up-and-coming Hollywood starlets such as

Kim Novak Marilyn Pauline "Kim" Novak (born February 13, 1933) is an American retired film and television actress and painter. Novak began her career in 1954 after signing with Columbia Pictures and quickly became one of Hollywood's top box office stars, ...

and

Julie Adams Julie Adams (born Betty May Adams; October 17, 1926 – February 3, 2019) was an American actress, billed as Julia Adams toward the beginning of her career, primarily known for her numerous television guest roles. She starred in a number of ...

in its print ads.

Cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

Stan Goldberg Stan Goldberg (May 5, 1932 – August 31, 2014) was an American comic book artist, best known for his work with Archie Comics and as a Marvel Comics colorist who in the 1960s helped design the original color schemes of Spider-Man, the Fantastic F ...

did the

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

art for a billboard in

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

, Marvel Bullpen Bulletins: "More Mirthful, Monumental, Mind-Staggering Memoranda from Your Marvel Madmen!" (March 1966 issues, including ''

Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred groves ...

'': "Stan G., our curly-haired, mustachioed demon artist/colorist has just drawn an ad for one of the biggest soft-drink companies. (Its initials are No-Cal!) If you're in the Times Square area, you can see it on the biggest billboard in sight." Actor Jack Gilford was the No-Cal Genie in television and print ads.

Decline

As major soda producers such as

The Coca-Cola Company The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational beverage corporation founded in 1892, best known as the producer of Coca-Cola. The Coca-Cola Company also manufactures, sells, and markets other non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, ...

and

PepsiCo PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the food and beverage market. It oversees the manuf ...

launched their own diet brands in the 1960s, No-Cal found it hard to compete. This, coupled with the

Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respon ...

's ban of

cyclamate Cyclamate is an artificial sweetener. It is 30–50 times sweeter than sucrose (table sugar), making it the least potent of the commercially used artificial sweeteners. It is often used with other artificial sweeteners, especially saccharin; ...

sweeteners from all U.S. food and drug products in October 1970, caused No-Cal to lose market share and slowly disappear.

References

External links

* {{Diet sodas Diet drinks Products introduced in 1952