Bob Rattan owned and operated a thriving Soda Pop Bottling
Works on the west side of the downtown Ladonia square. The only cold bottle
drinks available was Rattan's Soda Pop.
You could get strawberry, sweet & sour lemon,
and cream flavors. They were produced in large quantities. Sold in the
old style spring held washer-like stopper that was not removable from the
neck of the bottle. There was no way to scrub a bottle to be sure it was
clean, you simply drank and took your chances. On a hot day, a cold bottle
of pop tasted good and was well worth the nickel it cost.
This drink was not only available in town but in country
stores also. Bob had a mule drawn delivery hack that made regular deliveries
to the following stores: Bug Tussel, Bagby, Silver City, Fry's Store in
Muddig, Noble, Honest, Enloe, Dogtown, and others.
The bottling works made money! The only expense
was the flavoring. The water supply was an overhead tank filled with rainwater.
I don't suppose there were any germs in those tanks.
|