- James Vernor created Vernors ginger ale in Detroit in the 1860s after experimenting with a batch he left aging in an oak barrel for four years while serving in the Union army during the Civil War. - Vernors became one of the oldest domestic sodas in the US. James Vernor went on to open a bottling plant and grow the business, strictly overseeing how the soda was stored, sold and marketed. - The Vernor family managed to keep the business running during Prohibition when ginger ale sales declined, and emerged stronger after Prohibition when many competitors went out of business, leaving Vernors as a leading ginger ale brand.

1. The American Civil War lasted
four years and Vernors is tradition-
ally aged four years in an oak bar-
rel. Coincidence? No, sir!
Vernors is America's oldest
domestic soda. It was first formu-
lated by Detroit's James Vernor. In
1858 he started working at a drug
store. Vernor noticed they were
selling a lot of ginger ale imported
from Ireland. He thought he could
cook up his own domestic variety.
He made a batch in an oak barrel.
However, the civil war broke out
and James quickly enlisted on the
Union side. He returned home after
four years and found the ginger ale
still in the oak barrel. He tasted it
and darn well liked what he tasted.
Vernor returned to working at the
drug store and eventually became a
pharmacist and owner of his own
drug store on Woodward Avenue.
There he would sell his Vernors gin-
ger ale. In 1896 he was making so
much money selling just his soda,
he closed his drug store and
opened a manufacturing/bottling
plant just down the street on
Woodward. He enlisted his 19-year-
old son James Vernor II as his first
employee.
The plant's location proved to
be as serendipitous as America
engaging in four years of carnage.
It was close to ferry docks that
took Detroiters seeking a respite
from the city's growing urban hell
to the relaxing environs of Belle
Isle on the Rio Detroit. Ferry pas-
sengers loading and unloading
found their way to the Vernor's
plant for a refreshing sip.
James Vernor Sr kept a close
eye on merchants selling his ginger
ale. He frequently sent them direc-
tives on how Vernors should be
stored, dispensed, and sold. When
the beverage became available in a
new city, sales were frequently
driven by word of mouth about
James Vernor Sr's high standards
and hands-on approach.
The company nearly did not
survive the prohibition era. Vernors
was a golden ginger ale, with a
deep taste. However, when used as
a mix by Speakeasies it over pow-
ered the taste of their illegal hooch.
The preferred mix was a pale gin-
ger ale that lacked the sweetness
and bite of golden ginger ale.
The Vernor clan managed to
hang on through prohibition and
came out a stronger company in
the end. While prohibition caused a
few lean years for Vernor's ginger
ale business, America's brief mania
for temperance proved to be anoth-
er fortuitous event like the Civil
War. Prohibition drove much of
Vernor's competition out of busi-
ness. Vernors found itself much
more alone on the ginger ale play-
ing field.
In 1929 James Vernor Sr died
and James Vernor Jr ran the com-
pany until 1952. Upon retirement
he passed the company on to his
nephew J. Vernor Davis. J. Vernor
Davis further expanded. In 1963
sales were over $9 million a year.
Its big sales and private ownership
made the company an attractive
take over target.
In 1966 a group of investors
purchased the company, but they
proved to be incompetent man-
agers and sold Vernors to American
Consumer Products (ACP) in 1971.
ACP sold the brand to United
Brands in 1979. In 1985, United
Brands closed Vernors historic
Detroit bottling plant. Two years
later the brand was sold to A&W.
A&W was bought in 1993 by
Cadbury. Cadbury eventually
merged with 7UP in 1996.
Production shifted to Dallas.
karl mamer on: vernors
M
uch like that one t-shirt that you just can't bring
yourself to throw away, Destiny Production's 'World
Electronic Music Festival (WEMF)' wore itself so thin
this year the nipples are starting to show through. Before
July's end of this year, you may have found me the biggest
advocate of North America's longest running electronic
music festival, but now I find myself wondering how the
same 'rinse and repeat' recipe could have conquered the
opinions of so many of us music enthusiasts the way
Pizarro took the new world.
I've been told maybe my mild disdain for the Toronto
party scene is due to the fact things just change and the
reasons for going all night are different. Maybe I'm just
growing up. I think the nature of my WEMF experience is
attributed to the fact that absolutely nothing about the
Toronto party scene has changed... and I'm growing up.
Don't get me wrong... I had a great time this year. The
beats were on and dancing was to be had, and despite the
fact that this year, the definition of the summer's biggest
outdoor festival was sound stages indoors (wow, what a
concept), I enjoyed myself... though not so honestly. And
there in lies the problem I suppose.
On a thankfully wooded campground that probably
looked more trashed before the festival happened, almost
everybody present was willing to have it on by the one
means nobody is willing to address. Jebidiah rocked the
Psy-Trance stage, Ray Bone played out huge on main stage
and Czeck brought it all home early Sunday morning. As
for the other d.j.'s, you'll have to look them up on the
website. I couldn't have been bothered to line up with hun-
dreds of other ravers to cram into a tiny venue.
So with each passing dance step throughout the week-
end, the nagging feeling that while the rest of the world
my age were out trying on exciting new designer labels, I
was still consigning my faith to the colour-safe-bleach
clothes detergent as I metaphorically pulled my shirt from
the wash that still read 'Vuarnet France'. It has been a
year of firsts I suppose... the first year I get invited to play
at my favourite festival (for the Afterglow crew... which
happened to be the only outdoor stage worth it's weight...
it truly rocked) is the first year I thought maybe I should
have stayed at home. Oh, who am I kidding, I still would
have showed up. I love 'Vuarnet France'... - F.W.
WINDSORVOX MAGAZINE AUGUST 2003 V. 2. 6 11
e-music: bEneath