Posted on 10/07/2009 2:29:13 PM PDT by franksolich
They were always called "pop bottles" out in the Sandhills of Nebraska when I was growing up, but the liquid inside was always called "soda." I suppose it was one of those regional things, but whatever.
It was a couple of "pop bottles" that nearly caused my demise the summer I was three years old. An older sister and I had come across them, and all agog and excited, we decided to turn them in to the neighborhood midget grocery store for candy. She, holding the bottles, ran across the street. I ran across the street following her, but alas my trip was shortened by an automobile putting a sudden stop to that excursion.
My family, as a general rule, did not drink soda.
We were the dairy farmers' best friend.
I can recall, vaguely, in the remoter areas of western Nebraska, chest-type soda machines where the bottles were lined up in rows. One opened the lid, deposited a coin (I disremember how much), and ran the bottle of choice along some sort of "guide," after which it was pulled out. Also, such machines were usually half-full of bone-chilling cold water.
(Excerpt) Read more at conservativecave.com ...
Ping for the list.
looks promising
Frank: Slow day? You will probably start up a big debate on whether it is to be called “pop” or “soda”.... I always worried about the bottles turned in - whether they ended up full of bugs and mice before the bottlers picked them up again?
We did not have soda/pop as kids, either. It was so rare that an event stands out for me - a hot summer day, my mother was out of town. Our dad made us floats using bubble-up and ice cream. That was the only kind of soda/pop he ever bought, and it was RARE. My one grandmother would have ginger ale. And on road trips, sometimes you had to get a Nehi, due to there were not other choices. I think I liked grape...
Now look what you’ve gone and done....
GO BIG RED
Yeah, the dirt and cobwebs and whatever else inside the returned bottles was not a pretty sight, but the store took them anyway.
The only rules were that they had to be brands the store carried, and no chipped tops.
Cleaning them was the bottlers’ jobs.
We used to store them outside, in the back next to the alley, because given the time and place, no one ever messed with other people’s property.
I bought a bottle of Pepsi once that had a bread tie thingy in it.
Here in PA we call them pop bottles too. I can remember walking the old roads and gathering them for extra money in the summer when school was out. Usually blew the money on well, more soda in those pop bottles. The old country store where we bought the pop had wooden outsides lined with metal coolers.
Growing up in the northwest it was always “pop”. We never really used the word “soda” as I recall. It was only when I joined the military and met guys from all over that I heard regular use of the term “soda”... and now it seems that “soda” has kinda taken over everywhere.
Remember the small Coke bottles? They were good for short drinks, but I also liked Orange Crush and A&W Root Beer.
Ah heck. We NEVER had soda. If we were lucky Mom would make Kool-aid with half the amount of sugar that was called for.
I remember loving it when I was invited over for lunch across the street. His mom always served Hi-C in a red plastic cup. They were rich.
...and in Texas they seem to call everything “coke”. Even Pepsi and 7up. (...beats me..!)
It was there I discovered that I could sell a pack of Juicy Fruit gum at school for 10 cents since most of the kids came on the bus. The gum cost me only 5 cents a pack so I was able to have free gum for quite a while.
As a military guy, I found “soda pop” was well understood by all.
But “beer” was understood even more enthusiastically.
Our neighbors across the street were rich. HA. They had the cute little coordinated shorts outfits from the Sears catalog. We had whatever hand-me-downs fit that year.
Down South, where I grew up, if you dare use the words soda or pop you were immediately branded a dreaded YANKEE.
We drank Coke, RC, Pepsi and Double colas plus Nehi orange and grape in about that order. You pronounced it co cola although my great granfather called them dopes from the original cocaine ingredient.
Yep. Had one at the local gas station/repair place. We'd hang around until no one was looking and whip out the straws and bottle opener....yeah, that soda was cold.
FMCDH(BITS)
I grew up in Pittsburgh, where it was a pop bottle and the stuff inside was pop, and you bought it by the case when you drove through the beer distributor’s.
White Rock black cherry in the funny-looking cans with the cone-shaped tops was always my favorite.
I’ve never heard of that. But cherry/berry type drinks weren’t a favorite of mine. Nor did I like Dr. Pepper.
I grew up in Toledo and we called it all “Pop”. I remember the upright chests that you put the quarter in, opened the long, thin glass door and pulled hard to get your bottle.
My cousins and I would spend every summer day looking everywhere for pop-bottles to turn in for the .05 deposit. The only ones that didn’t have any worth was the Faygo brand. But boy, was their red-pop good!
“Nor did I like Dr. Pepper.”
Commie!!
Just kiddin.
PING! :-)
- coke: this generic term for soft drinks predominates throughout the South, New Mexico, central Indiana and in a few other single counties in Nevada, Utah and Wyoming. ‘Coke’ obviously derives from Coca-Cola, the brand-name of the soft drink originally manufactured in Atlanta (which explains its use as a generic term for all soft drinks in the South).
- pop: dominates the Northwest, Great Plains and Midwest. The world ‘pop’ was introduced by Robert Southey, the British Poet Laureate (1774-1843), to whom we also owe the word ‘autobiography’, among others. In 1812, he wrote: A new manufactory of a nectar, between soda-water and ginger-beer, and called pop, because ‘pop goes the cork’ when it is drawn. Even though it was introduced by a Poet Laureate, the term ‘pop’ is considered unsophisticated by some, because it is onomatopaeic.
- soda: prevalent in the Northeast, greater Miami, the area in Missouri and Illinois surrounding St Louis and parts of northern California. ‘Soda’ derives from ‘soda-water’ (also called club soda, carbonated or sparkling water or seltzer). It’s produced by dissolving carbon dioxide gas in plain water, a procedure developed by Joseph Priestly in the latter half of the 18th century. The fizziness of soda-water caused the term ‘soda’ to be associated with later, similarly carbonated soft drinks.
- Other, lesser-used terms include ‘dope’ in the Carolinas and ‘tonic’ in and around Boston, both fading in popularity.
- Other generic terms for soft drinks outside the US include ‘pop’ (Canada), ‘mineral’ (Ireland), ‘soft drink’ (New Zealand and Australia). The term ‘soft drink’, finally, arose to contrast said beverages with hard (i.e. alcoholic) drinks.
I noticed this in college when all my East coast floormates called pop ‘soda’ and subs ‘hogies’. Crazy!
It just seems someone had a lot of time on their hands to come up with this.
It could have been; RC’s reputation for dissolving nails came from both the aftertaste and the fact that 12 ounces might have been twice the Coca Cola but half the punch and Pepsi drank like pickled skunk.
Seven-Up was where it’s at, one ounce more and never flat.
ABSTRACT
Using the World Wide Web to gather and process data from across English-speaking North America, I intend to plot the regional variations in the use of the terms "Pop" and "Soda" to describe carbonated soft drinks.
RESEARCH
The primary source of data for this study will be submissions from readers of this web page. Obviously, this may not be a completely random sampling, but since the primary objective of the study is to map the regional distribution and not the population distribution per response, this sample should suffice.
THE SURVEY This study obtains its data solely from responses to this web page; as a result, the researchers would very much appreciate it if you would take a moment to fill out this survey, and to encourage all your friends and acquaintences to do so as well.
Created by Alan McConchie.
Well, Frank, that map explains it as far as my youth is concerned. I’ve been familiar with both ‘pop’ and ‘soda’ being used generically. I was born in a Chicago suburb (where, according to the map, ‘pop’ is the predominant term), then moved to the very Southeastern county of Wisconsin (Kenosha County) when I was 11 years old (where ‘soda’ is the predominant term according to the map). Pop, however, has been the term I’ve used during my life. And now I know why.
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