Dad’s Root Beer in the Klondike

It’s been a while since I have posted on here, but I wanted to bring to you another small find of mine.  If you have read the blog before, you know that I found an old Rosen’s Beverages soda bottle in a river in New Jersey.  I have a thing for old bottles and cans.  When I was a kid, I thought nothing of them, but now I realize just what a part of history these things can be.  This time we are not in New Jersey though.  As a matter of fact, we are on the complete other side of the country, in Alaska.

As mentioned in a previous post about The Pullen House in Skagway, Alaska, I had the pleasure of spending four months in the beautiful state of Alaska.  It is without a doubt, the most beautiful places I have ever been.  From the natural wonders, to the manmade history of once chased dream of finding gold.

I am back again in Skagway, and this time I was walking up a small creek.  The creek took a bit of a turn to a much higher elevated state.  Now, I didn’t have my camera with me at the time, so I only had my older phone.  I did manage to get some pictures.  There was more than just water and dirt.  The manmade past was in front of me, sitting in the typical Alaskan fashion: ruins.

As I was climbing up, something caught my eye in the water.  I looked down and saw a can.  Upon further inspection, it was a can of “Dad’s Draft Root Beer”.  I was never a fan of root beer, but I instantly started wondering how it got here.  The can looks like it was from the 1970s, so I was imagining kids playing around the possibly still standing bridge/ruins, drinking their “Dad’s Root Beer”, then throwing the can in the creek.

UPDATE: After being in touch with Dad's Root Beer, they believe this can could actually date back to the 1950s!

Alaska has some brutal winters.  Way below freezing.  How many times has this can been frozen under the creek?

The can is in nowhere near good shape, and it has no value to it.  However, the story behind it, the location, the thrill of finding it, now that is where the value is to me.  There are holes in it and you can barely make out the artwork.  From what I can almost make out on the can, it looks like it was packaged by a now renamed or defunct company named “Noel Canning” out of Washington, was enjoyed by some in Skagway, Alaska, and found by someone forty years (me) later who brought it back Florida, where it now lives.

I like old things.  It’s the stories that go with them, even if it’s all just speculation.  This was simply, and pretty much still is simply, just trash.  However, finding it on an expedition through The Last Frontier in an area surrounding you with history?  Now that’s a reason to become a fan of root beer.

Dad’s Root Beer is apparently still around and making soda.  They celebrated their 75^th anniversary back in 2012.  They don’t seem very active on social media, and their website doesn’t seem updated, but hopefully this little story can bring them a smile if they stumble upon it.  Just remember: you never know what stories trash can tell you.

Rosen's Beverages Antique Bottle

What may just be seen as a piece of glass to some, is a story of the past to another.  I love local history, especially history that hasn’t been seen for decades, and you get to uncover it yourself.  This is just the case with what happened with this glass “Rosen’s Beverages” bottle.

A few years back, I was canoeing on Farrington Lake (located in Middlesex County in New Jersey).  The 290 acre lake is quite long and narrow, making it seem more like a large river.  It makes canoeing the length quite fun.  When you get to one end of it, it literally becomes a stream that is only a few feet across and less than an inch deep.  I brought my canoe up to as fast a speed as I could when I was getting close to this area so I could bottom it out on the rocks.  As I did, I decided to get out and walk to shore.

No matter where you are in the world, it’s common to find bottles and other garbage in water.  This was no different.  However, when I neared the river bank, I saw a bottle in the water that was completely black.  I could tell it was in the water for some time.  I picked it up and didn’t recognize where it was from.  I placed it in the canoe just for the heck of it, and continued walking.  When I finally canoed back, I decided to clean off the bottle.

I got the bottle to almost its original clarity save for a few brown spots inside that I couldn’t reach.  I was able to see “Rosen’s Beverages”.  There were other markings on it too:

• Contents 7 FL. Oz.
• Registered 647-2
• South River Bottling Co. South River NJ

This was as local as local history gets.  South River was just the town over.  I got quite excited.  Upon further research, not much was found out about either Rosen’s Beverages, or the South River Bottling Company (at least not online).  One newspaper from 1946 came up that had an article about Mr. Rosen, and the bottling company.  Based off of some pictures from the New Jersey Bottle Forum, this bottle is probably 1930s or 1940s.

The newspaper article from the South Amboy Citizen (August 30, 1946) claims that William Rosen headed the South River Bottling Company for the past ten years (which one could conclude to be 1936).  It is interesting to note that the article mentions the strict sanitary precautions the company adheres to.  Something we wouldn’t even question today.  (The article is on the second to last page, at the bottom).

Garbage is everywhere, but sometimes what you can manage to find can quite unique.  It makes you wonder: how did that bottle get there?  Who was drinking out of it?  Why did they discard it where they did?  What did that person end up becoming?  Things like that, one will never know, but it’s fun to imagine.