Give me a Sundrop soda

Years ago we used to have so many choices of soda, pop or Cokes or whatever you called it in your region of the country! Many towns had their own bottling facilities and you can still find some of the old bottling buildings throughout the south. Many regions had their own brand or flavor that was popular in their area. When we lived in Tennessee, that local favorite was SunDrop. 

The SunDrop brand was originally produced in Missouri in 1947 by Charles Lazier, a beverage salesman. The same formula was sold to several different bottlers who chose their own name for the soda so it was known as Golden Girl Soda, SunDrop Golden Cola, Golden SunDrop Cola or whatever the bottler chose.

By 1967 75% of the soda bottled at the plant was SunDrop so the company changed its name to SunDrop Bottling. I could not find what year they moved to Tennessee but all SunDrop is bottled in Pulaski Tennessee and gained national attention when they were a sponsor of NASCAR racer Dale Earnhardt. Several companies have owned the company including Proctor and Gamble to Cadbury Schweppes and now Dr. Pepper Keurig. The current owner also owns Sunkist, RC, Diet Rite, Fiji Water, A&W, 7-up and Crush.

SunDrop developed a Diet SunDrop as well as Cherry SunDrop due to customer demand and is a competitor to Mountain Dew and Mello Yello. This citrusy drink has also appeared on MTV’s The Real World series.

There are so many vintage soda bottles and advertising items for collectors to choose from. Of course vintage Coca Cola items demand the highest prices most of the time but some of the rare regional advertising pieces can bring healthy prices as well. Happy Collecting!