Mason's Old Fashioned Root Beer is an American brand of

root beer Root beer is a 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 ...

. It is owned by the

Monarch Beverage Company The Monarch Beverage Company Inc is a diversified, international beverage company based in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The company's CEO is Jacques Bombal. The company was founded in 1965 by Frank Armstrong. Monarch Beverage Company ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, but is not widely distributed. Mason's Root Beer was first manufactured in 1947 by Mason & Mason, Inc. of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

.Bottlebooks.com
Soda and Carbonated Beverage Trademarks (1940s)
/ref> During its early years, Mason's Root Beer and flavors line were widely distributed in the Midwest as well as some Southern states.Nostalgiaville

/ref> In 1970, the Rheingold Corporation entered the soda pop business with the purchase of

Grapette Grapette is a grape-flavored soft drink that was first produced and marketed in 1939 by Benjamin "Tyndle" Fooks. Grapette is now produced by Grapette International, and is marketed in the United States by Walmart as part of its Sam's Choice line ...

, changing the company's name to Flavette. The Flavette division subsequently purchased the Dr. Wells soda pop brand and Mason & Mason, Inc.477 F.2d 24, 1973-1 Trade Cases 74,450, FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION, Petitioner, v. PepsiCo, INC., Respondent. No. 803, Docket 73-1381. United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.
/ref>U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
/ref> In 1975, Rheingold and its Flavette division were purchased by

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

, Inc. in a hostile takeover. The

Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) United States antitrust law, antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. It ...

felt that PepsiCo owned too many brands and forced it to divest several of its brands. By 1978, Mason's Root Beer had been acquired by Monarch Beverage Company but was mostly shelved in favor of the higher-volume Dad's brand of root beer, which Monarch acquired in 1986.

References

External links

Monarch Beverage Company
Root beer Monarch brands American soft drinks {{soft-drink-stub