If you want to see the world鈥檚 most impressive collection of Dr Pepper memorabilia, you鈥檒l need to travel to the Dr Pepper Museum in Waco. Or, you can save yourself the trip and visit the office of Dr. Jim Towns, 91直播 professor of communication.
Towns, who has been collecting Dr Pepper items for decades, said he began the hobby because he wanted to collect something unique.
鈥淢any of my friends were collecting Coca-Cola items,鈥 Towns said. 鈥淚 began collecting in college, and there were so many Coca-Cola collectors around. I wanted to be different. At that time, no one I knew was collecting Dr Pepper bottles, so that鈥檚 how I got started.鈥
Dr Pepper was created in 1885 in Waco at Morrison鈥檚 Old Corner Drug Store. According to Towns, a young pharmacist, Charles Alderton, worked at the store and is credited with inventing the famous soft drink.
鈥淐harles spent most of his time compounding medicine,鈥 Towns said. 鈥淏ut in his spare time, he enjoyed serving carbonated drinks at the soda fountain.鈥
According to Dr Pepper鈥檚 website, Alderton liked the smell the fruit syrup created when being mixed, and he decided to create a drink that tasted like the aromas.
Keeping a journal, Alderton finally concocted a mixture of fruit syrups he liked. To test his new beverage, he offered it to the store鈥檚 owner, Wade Morrison, who enjoyed it. Later, the drink was made available to drug store patrons, who began requesting it.
Morrison is credited with naming the drink Dr. Pepper (the period was dropped in the 1950s). Although representatives for Dr Pepper say the name鈥檚 origin is unclear, Towns attributes the naming to a real-life Dr. Pepper who had given his permission for Morrison to marry his daughter. In gratitude, Towns said, Morrison named the drink in his honor.
Dr Pepper gained such widespread consumer favor that other soda fountain operators in Waco began buying the syrup from Morrison and serving it. Soon, demand exceeded supply.
鈥淎 beverage chemist, Robert Lazenby, tried the drink and also was impressed,鈥 Towns said. 鈥淎lderton was much more interested in pharmacy work and not so much in developing the drink. He suggested that Morrison and Lazenby work on developing it further. The pair later formed Artesian Mfg. & Bottling Company, which later became the Dr Pepper Company,鈥 Towns added.
The first items Towns collected were green bottles from the 1930s to 1950s. He later graduated to cans, carriers and novelty items.
Towns鈥 most-coveted collectible is his 1930 Nacogdoches Dr Pepper bottle. In addition to being extremely rare, there鈥檚 an added appeal 鈥 it鈥檚 shaped like a log.
鈥淚n the 1930s, Dr Pepper was bottled in many locations, including Nacogdoches, and the bottlers were allowed some liberties in designing their own bottles,鈥 Towns said. 鈥淪o, the folks bottling the drink locally decided to have their bottle shaped like a log to reflect the area鈥檚 pine trees and lumber industry. The bottles were manufactured elsewhere and shipped back to Nacogdoches for bottling.鈥
Towns said many items in his collection have been purchased from junk stores, flea markets and trade days, including Canton First Monday, where he purchased an incredibly rare bottle.
鈥淎s I was checking out the vendors, I noticed an 鈥業鈥檓 a Pepper鈥 Dr Pepper bottle that dates to May 7, 1982,鈥 Towns said. 鈥淎lthough the bottle isn鈥檛 particularly old, it鈥檚 extremely rare because it is a Dr Pepper bottle that was filled with Coca-Cola due to a mix up at the bottler. The vendor was asking $3 for the bottle. I told him it was worth much more, so I paid him $50,鈥 Towns said.
Many, including representatives at the Dr Pepper Museum, regard Towns as a Dr Pepper expert. Towns has presented seminars at the museum about collecting Dr Pepper memorabilia and discussed his own collection. He also occasionally receives communications asking for his expert opinion on various items.
According to representatives at the Dr Pepper Museum, Towns has the most pristine collection of Dr Pepper carriers and bottles in the Dr Pepper 10-2-4 Collectors鈥 Club, and these items are generally his topic of choice when asked to speak at the museum.
鈥淚鈥檒l tell you a funny story,鈥 Towns said. 鈥淚 came across a bottle I wasn鈥檛 familiar with, which in itself is rare, so I called the Dr Pepper Museum to inquire about it. After being transferred a few times, I finally was connected with a gentleman who told me he wasn鈥檛 familiar with the bottle either, but to contact Jim Towns in Nacogdoches because he knew everything there was to know about Dr Pepper bottles,鈥 Towns said. 鈥淚 told him that he was speaking to Jim Towns, and we both had a good laugh.鈥
Towns鈥 collection comprises hundreds of Dr Pepper-related items, which includes rare cans, bottles and carriers. He also has dozens of items that are not rare, but nonetheless have appeal.
鈥淪ome items in my collection just remind me of a time or place,鈥 Towns said. 鈥淔or instance, in the 1970s, it became popular to drink Dr Pepper as a hot beverage. I have some carriers that show graphics of Dr Pepper being served steaming hot with lemon.鈥
Various Dr Pepper items are proudly displayed on the shelves in Towns鈥 office, including the first can Dr Pepper produced, metal bottle carriers from the early days of Dr Pepper, cans Towns purchased while visiting other countries, sports-related cans and bottles, clocks, gum packages, a sailing ship constructed from Dr Pepper cans, stained glass, and many others.
鈥淭hrough the years, my students have gifted me several Dr Pepper items,鈥 Towns said. 鈥淥ne of the more unique collectibles given to me is a Jelly Belly dispenser that looks like a vintage Dr Pepper vending machine.鈥
His most-recently-acquired item is a Dr Pepper can a student received from an on-campus vending machine manufactured with the 2016 Lumberjack football game schedule on the reverse.
Although he鈥檚 not collecting as avidly as he once was, Towns said he still can鈥檛 resist purchasing an item if it is rare or has meaning to him. His advice for up-and-coming collectors: 鈥淒on鈥檛 stock up on too many general items. They don鈥檛 necessarily go up in value,鈥 Towns said. 鈥淚nstead, be willing to pay more for the extremely rare items. They will go up in value and protect your investment.鈥