Pepsi Princess . . . I wish!

My great, great, great, great Uncle Caleb Bradham invented Pepsi.  No joke!  Some, including myself, have asked, "then why aren't we more rich?!"  Well, here's the story:  My great, great, great, great Uncle Caleb was a pharmacist in New Bern, North Carolina.  He owned a drug store that also had a soda fountain in it.  This is where he invented the formula for Pepsi, originally called "Brad's Drink."

This last weekend my Mom, Dad, Tyler and I went down to North Carolina and visited the birthplace of Pepsi, and Uncle Caleb's grave.

This is Uncle Caleb's drug store: "Bradham Drug Company."

We didn't plan it this way on purpose but we ended up being there on February 19th, which is the day of Uncle Caleb's death.

The following information came from Wikipedia:

At the peak of success, Bradham had authorized Pepsi-Cola franchises in over 24 states; however, on May 31, 1923, Bradham and his Pepsi-Cola Company declared bankruptcy. The major factor for Bradham’s business failure was the price of sugar immediately following World War I, when prices went up to 28 cents per pound (it was three cents per pound pre-war), and Bradham had purchased a large amount of sugar at that price but the price of sugar nosedived soon after he purchased it. The assets of his company were sold to the Craven Holding Company for $35,000.

And that friends is why I am not a Pepsi Princess.

To answer another question I have recently been asked:

Crystal Pepsi, also known as Clear Pepsi, was given to test markets around the country.  It received a lot of positive feedback so they began selling it nationwide.  It did really well during the first year it was on the market, but quickly fell so they pulled it.  (This information also came from Wikipedia.)

Little did you know you would get a history lesson today . . . or a family history lesson. ;)