In my time in Bradenton, FL (1999-2008), whenever I would come home for Christmas, I would always snag at least five cases of the ruby red soda, and show the Floridians a little of “where I come from”. If you have been in NC and haven’t at least tried the locally bottled soft drink, shame on you! The local Food Lion even has an exclusive Cheerwine sherbert, which is just perfection after a hot, lawn mowing day in the summer.
Founded in 1917, L.D. Peeler wanted to come up with his own soft drink when a salesman from St. Louis sold him a wild cherry flavor to blend with other flavors, which became the unique flavor of Cheerwine. The original Cheerwine bottle had a paper, but by 1920, once it was decided Cheerwine was successful, a glass bottle with three cherries on the neck and the Cheerwine name molded into the shoulder was produced. Soon after the creation of this bottle, similar cherries appeared on slot machines and three cherries came to be known as good luck! Lewis D. Peeler, inventor of Cheerwine, and his three brothers were all college educated. Amazingly, none of them studied “Delicious Soft Drink Inventing 101!” In 1924 Cheerwine outsold Mint Cola in Salisbury, NC to a point that the name changed from Mint Cola Bottling Co. to Cheerwine Bottling Co. – promptly confusing Herbert Von Kennel, Salisbury’s only mailman at the time. 1924 was also the year that Clifford Peeler (LD’s oldest son), a graduate of UNC Chapel Hill, joined the company after receiving his MBA from Colombia University. In 1926, the Cheerwine was first trademark registered. From the 20′s into the 40′s, the Cheerwine slogan was “For Health and Pleasure.”
L.D. Peeler died in 1931, and Clifford Peeler took over as manager of Carolina Beverage Corporation and Cheerwine Bottling Co. Clifford not only kept the company afloat during the depression, but managed to keep it profitable. It was good to have a product with the word “Cheer” in the name back then! In 1953, Dwight Eisenhower came through Salisbury to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Rowan County and became the first President known to enjoy a Cheerwine. After one sip he was rumored to proclaim “Ike likes!” A 24-bottle case of Cheerwine sold for 80 cents. That’s a lot of flavor for under a buck! Cheerwine moved to its present location in July of 1967. One forklift was the only used equipment brought to the new facility. The first production was on July 4th, 1967 in a 100% debt-free, state-of-the-art facility using Crown bottling equipment. Now that’s a REAL ” independence Day! ”
In 1978, Cliff Ritchie joined Piedmont Cheerwine Bottling as warehouse manager in Greensboro where Piedmont Cheerwine Bottling’s facility soon came to be known as the ” Best Little Warehouse in Piedmont! ” In 1987 Cheerwine changed its logo to remove the underline and include a splash graphic. All subliminal messages inserted over the years are also removed, but nobody notices. (just kidding). In 1994, Carolina Beverage acquired the distribution facilities in Greenville, SC and Hickory, NC. Now the Carolinas really are ” CHEERWINE COUNTRY! ” In 2002, Food Lion (told ya) introduced Cheerwine ice cream in stores. At the press event in Food Lion store #1, the 5th generation of the peeler family served samples. This was definitely the coolest idea in Cheerwine history!
So there you have it. If you aren’t at least a little curious about this local favorite, then you should just try it, and then see for yourself why I love it…
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