ftp.pasteur.org/FAQ//ftp-pasteur-org-FAQ.zip/FAQ/drink/dr-pepper/text0000.txt

Text File | 2004-02-13 | 54.3 KB | 1,158 lines

Archive-name: drink/dr-pepper
Posting-Frequency: trimonthly (more or less)
Last-modified: 2004/02/12
Version: 3.40
URL: http://www.pipeline.com/~chrisf/dpfaq.html

The Highly Unofficial alt.fan.dr-pepper FAQ
compiled by Christopher Flaherty from various sources
version 3.40  February 12, 2004

List of Questions:


Prologue: About the FAQ

a.    What's a FAQ?
b.     Where can I find the latest version of this FAQ?
c.     What are the sources for this FAQ?
d.    What changes have been made to this FAQ?
e.    Why did you put this FAQ together?
f.    How can I contribute to/make suggestions/submit corrections to
this FAQ?

Section 1:  History and Trivia

1.1    Who invented Dr Pepper?
1.2     Is Dr Pepper older than Coca-Cola?
1.3     Was there ever really a person called Dr. Pepper?
1.4    Is there now a town named Dr Pepper?
1.5    What's the connection between the Beatles and Dr Pepper?
1.6     What's the connection between the JFK assassination and Dr
Pepper?
1.7     What's the connection between the MLK assassination and Dr
Pepper?
1.8     Did Dr Pepper put out a can with a patriotic scene of the
Empire State Building that left out "under God" from the Pledge of
Allegiance?
1.9    What's the connection between Hillary Clinton and Dr Pepper?
1.10    Who are some other celebrities who like Dr Pepper?


Section 2:  The Drink, and How To Get It

2.1     Does Dr Pepper contain prune juice?
2.2     Okay, so what's in Dr Pepper?
2.3    What's the recipe for Hot Dr Pepper?
2.4     What Dr Pepper imitations exist, and where can you find them?
2.5     What's the difference between Dr Pepper made with Imperial
Cane Sugar, and Dr Pepper made with high fructose corn syrup?
2.6     How can I get some cane sugar Dr Pepper?
2.7     How can I get some caffeine-free Dr Pepper?
2.8     What's this "Red Fusion" drink I've heard about?

Section 3:  Ads, Merchandise, Museums, and Literature

3.1     Why drink Dr Pepper at 10 o'clock, 2 o'clock, and 4 o'clock?
3.2     What happened to the period after "Dr" in Dr Pepper?
3.3    Who owns Dr Pepper?  I heard it was owned by
Coke/Pepsi/7-Up/etc.?
3.4    Is there a Dr Pepper museum?
3.5    Where can I buy Dr Pepper merchandise?
3.6    Where can I find this Dr Pepper collectible?  Who can I
contact to have this antique Dr Pepper item looked at?
3.7    What books have been written about Dr Pepper?
3.8    How can I contact The Dr Pepper Company?

And now, the questions with the answers:

a.    What's a FAQ?

FAQ stands for Frequently Asked Questions, and there are several of
them that pop up in alt.fan.dr-pepper all the time.

b.     Where can I find the latest version of this FAQ?

This FAQ is posted to alt.fan.dr-pepper, alt.answers, and news.answers
as often as it may be necessary (at least once every three months).
The latest version can always be found on the World Wide Web at
http://www.pipeline.com/~chrisf/dpfaq.html.  The following mirror
sites (or, more accurately, mirror sites for the newsgroup postings of
the FAQ) also exist:

http://www.cs.uu.nl/wais/html/na-dir/drink/dr-pepper.html
http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet-faqs/bygroup/alt/fan/dr-pepper/_drink:dr-pepper.html
http://src.doc.ic.ac.uk/usenet/news.answers/alt.fan.dr-pepper/
http://ftp.eu.net/ftp/documents/faq/drink/dr-pepper
http://ftp.lth.se/cgi-bin/gfaq?drink%2fdr-pepper.gz
http://www.landfield.com/faqs/drink/dr-pepper/
http://omicron.felk.cvut.cz/FAQ/articles/a3839.html (version 1.14 was
found here in 2001!)
http://www.pasteur.fr/infosci/FAQ/drink/dr-pepper
http://faqs.jmas.co.jp/FAQs/drink/dr-pepper
http://www.xphys.tuwien.ac.at/scott/faqs/by-newsgroup/18010
http://unix.unb.ca/faq/faq.cgi?643213+alt.fan.dr-pepper
http://ftp.univ-lyon1.fr/faq/by-newsgroup/alt/alt.fan.dr-pepper/drink-dr-pepper
http://ftp.yars.free.net/pub/doc/FAQ/alt/fan/dr-pepper/ (this site has
links to versions going back to 1.02)
http://sunsite.org.uk/public/usenet/news-faqs/alt.fan.dr-pepper/ (this
site has versions going back to 2.11)
http://www.bookcase.com/library/faq/archive/drink/dr-pepper.html
http://faq.etc.pt/cgi-bin/gunzipfaq?/var/web/faq.etc.pt/htdocs/faqs/drink/dr-pepper.gz
ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-group/alt.fan.dr-pepper/

As of November 12, 1998, a link to this FAQ can be found on Yahoo! in
the Home : Society and Culture : Food and Drink : Drinks and Drinking
: Dr Pepper category (as opposed to the more corporate Home : Business
and Economy : Companies : Beverages : Soft Drinks : Dr Pepper
category).  It took a while, but hey--what's five months between
friends?  Anyway, there was an additional happy side effect to the
Yahoo! listing besides increased traffic, but I'll elaborate on that
in question 2.4, so stay tuned.

c.     What are the sources for this FAQ?

This particular FAQ was first put together in its present form by
Christopher Flaherty ([e-mail]).  A smaller FAQ was
previously compiled by Max Arbogast ([e-mail]) and can be found
at http://erath.net/marbo/faq.htm.  Major web site sources include
pepper.doc (http://erath.net/marbo/), Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc.
(http://www.dpsu.com), the corporate Dr Pepper site
(http://www.drpepper.com), The Dublin Dr Pepper Plant
(http://dublindrpepper.com/), and the Dr Pepper Museum and Free
Enterprise Institute of Waco, Texas (http://www.drpeppermuseum.com).
Many old posts to alt.fan.dr-pepper were retrieved via DejaNews
(http://www.dejanews.com), so thanks to them also.  Other sources are
also quoted and attributed throughout the FAQ.

d.    What changes have been made to this FAQ?

The chronology of this particular FAQ's development is as follows:

November 8, 1997 -- Version 0.001:  First preliminary version;
questions only.  Did not include answers.  Not distributed.

June 2, 1998 -- Version 0.002:  Included answers to questions as well
as a chart listing 38 DP clones.  Not distributed.

June 15, 1998 -- Version 0.003:  Eliminated chart/list of DP clones.
Expanded and renumbered questions and answers.  Not distributed.

June 28, 1998 -- Version 0.004:  Included personal comment about book
availability in my hometown.  Limited distribution through email for
proofreading and corrections.  First HTML version created.

June 30, 1998 -- Version 0.005:  Corrected number of flavors in answer
to question 2.2.  HTML publication only.

July 2, 1998 -- Version 1.00:  First plain-text version created.
First submission to alt.fan.dr-pepper, alt.answers, and news.answers
newsgroups.

July 7, 1998 -- Version 1.01:  Added information about Houston
Collector's Club (question 3.6) and ingredients in UK Dr Pepper
(question 2.2).

August 6, 1998 -- Version 1.02:  FAQ approved for posting to
alt.answers and news.answers newsgroups.  Specified posting frequency
in question b.  Modified question 1.3 and one other question ("Who
started the prune juice rumor?" - eliminated in version 2.00) to
address the "love story" rumor.

September 27, 1998 -- Version 1.03: Added two more sites to question
2.4.

September 29, 1998 -- Version 1.04: Corrected stock symbol for Cadbury
Schweppes (question 3.3).  Not distributed.

October 2, 1998 -- Version 1.1: Added new question about the Beatles
(question 1.5) and rearranged the others.

October 12, 1998 -- Version 1.11: Added another site to question 2.4
and META tags to HTML version.

October 28, 1998 -- Version 1.12: Added ingredients of Australian and
Canadian versions of Dr Pepper (question 2.2).

November 7, 1998 -- Version 1.13: Added list of "mirror sites" to
question b.  Corrected name and address of source of Canadian
ingredients (question 2.2).  Added information about year of origin
and distribution of Mr. Pibb (question 2.4).

November 14, 1998 -- Version 1.14: Added information about Yahoo! link
(question b); updated URL of Mr. Pibb site, updated name of Wouldn't
you like to be a Pepper too... site (formerly known as Impostors,
Pretenders, and Frauds), and added information about new Yahoo!
category (all question 2.4).

January 31, 1999 -- Version 2.00: Added ingredients for Diet Dr Pepper
to question 2.2.  Eliminated the question "Who started the prune juice
rumor?" Added international distribution information to question 3.3.
Added information about eBay to questions 3.5 and 3.6.

February 20, 1999 -- Version 2.01: Added more information about
flavors and changed one email address in question 2.2.  Added more
information about Hot Dr Pepper to question 2.3.  HTML publication
only.

February 23, 1999 -- Version 2.02: Added facts about Cooking With Dr
Pepper to question 3.7.

March 4, 1999 -- Version 2.03: Added more information about Cooking
With Dr Pepper to question 3.7.  Added more contact information to
question 3.8.

April 4, 1999 -- Version 2.04: Added information about catalogue from
Dr Pepper Museum in Waco, Texas (question 3.5).  Added information
about potential new clone from Coca-Cola (questions 2.4 & 3.3) and
corrected release year of Mr. Pibb (question 2.4).  Added note about
25-case limit on sales of cane sugar Dr Pepper (question 2.6).
Revised book information and availability in question 3.7.

April 22, 1999 -- Version 2.05: Added information about caffeine
content to question 2.2.  Revised addresses in questions 2.6 and 3.4.
Added soda jerk lingo to question 3.2.  Added toll-free Museum number
to question 3.5.

May 2, 1999 -- Version 2.06: Corrected bad HTML code in first link to
question 1.5.  HTML version only.

June 12, 1999 -- Version 2.1: Added 3 more "mirror" sites to question
b.  Added information about Straight Dope Online article to question
e.  Corrected bad HTML code in question 2.5.  Added new question about
caffeine-free Dr Pepper (question 2.7) and rearranged the others.
Negligible change to question 3.7.

July 9, 1999 -- Version 2.11: Added extra disclaimers to question e.
Added more flavor information to question 2.2.  Added three more
"clone" sites to question 2.4.  Changed wording of question 2.7 to
match its wording in the list of questions, and made small grammatical
correction in question 2.7's answer.

August 23, 1999 -- Version 2.12: Added info about prune juice rumor to
question 2.1.  Reformatted part of question 2.2.  Added 6 more "clone"
sites and information about dmoz.org to question 2.4.  Added phone
number for Bottling company to question 2.6.  Added fax numbers for
museums to question 3.4.

November 13, 1999 -- Version 2.2: Slight changes to descriptions of
versions 1.02 and 2.00 in question d.  Added new question about the
JFK Assassination (question 1.6) and reformatted the others.  Added
publishing information to question 3.2.  Slight HTML correction in
question 3.8.  Tiny revisions to questions 2.4 and 3.7.

February 12, 2000 -- Version 2.21: Slight change to question b (re:
Yahoo! link).  Added info about web site stats to question e.
Modified question 1.6 for clarity.  Added notice of Bill Kloster's
death to question 2.2.  Added links to two new clone sites; updated
information about potential Coca-Cola knock-off, total number of
clones, and link to Dr Kenton's Generic Dr Peppers, all in question
2.4.

April 6, 2000 -- Version 2.3: Moved question f from the big list to
the prologue.  Added more stats about Bill Kloster to question 2.2.
Corrected population status of New York City (it is indeed "the
largest city in the United States") in question 2.7.

July 8, 2000 -- Version 2.31: Expanded original name of 7-Up in
question 1.2.  Revised info for ordering caffeine-free Dr Pepper in
question 2.7.  Revised contact info for Cookbook in question 3.7.
Added more contact information to question 3.8.

January 9, 2001 -- Version 2.32: Added more mirror sites to question
b.  Added additional web site mentions and revised web site stats in
question e.  Added more info about prune juice rumor to question 2.1.
Changed address and email contact info for Caffeine FAQ and added more
ingredient and caffeine info in question 2.2.  Revised clone site info
and added another site in question 2.4.  Added new location for cane
sugar availability to question 2.6.  Slight revision in question 2.7.

January 16, 2001 -- Version 2.33: Added another location and made
correction to question 2.6.

February 4, 2001 -- Version 2.34: Made dates in the FAQ Y2K compatible
(better late than never).  Revised information about the town Dr
Pepper, Texas, in question 1.4.  Revised history of Mr. Pibb, added
new Pibb site, changed web addresses for Wouldn't you like to be a
Pepper too . . ., Not Quite What The Doctor Ordered, The Dr Pepper
"Clone" Page, Dr Kenton's Generic Dr Peppers, and The Van Gogh-Goghs'
page, removed Generic Dr Pepper Clones, and revised info for The
Authoritative Doctor Soda Page in question 2.4.  Added annotation to
question 3.3.  Changed URL for Dr Pepper Museum catalogue in question
3.5.  Revised web site info in question 3.6.  Not distributed.

February 20, 2001 -- Version 2.4: Revised name and web address of the
Dublin Dr Pepper Plant/Old Doc's Soda Shop throughout entire document.
Added another mirror site to question b.  Added Dr Pepper/Seven Up,
Inc. as a source in question c.  Added more information to question
2.1.  Added info for ordering cane sugar Dr Pepper on-line to question
2.6.  Added more information about caffeine-free Dr Pepper
availability to question 2.7.  Revised average amount of items
available on eBay, and name of its site in questions 3.5 & 3.6.
Revised web site info again in question 3.6.  Revised contact
information in question 3.8.  Not distributed.

March 9, 2001 -- Version 2.41: Slight grammar correction in question
2.6.  Added more information about caffeine-free Dr Pepper to question
2.7.  Added more information about ordering Cooking With Dr Pepper to
question 3.7.

May 11, 2001 -- Version 2.42: Added information about cane sugar Dr
Pepper availability at Love & War in Texas to question 2.6.

July 23, 2001 -- Version 2.43: Revised web site stats in question e.
Added ingredients for Dietetic Dr Pepper, and information about
cyclamates, saccharin, and phenylketonurics to question 2.2.  Revised
web site address for ordering cane sugar Dr Pepper in question 2.6.

January 22, 2002 -- Version 2.44: Corrected bad HTML in question d.
Changed source for "love story" rumor in question 1.3.

April 23, 2002 -- Version 2.45: Added "Site du Jour of the Day"
citation and updated web site stats in question e.  Added Urban
Legends Reference Pages info to question 2.1.  Added more
caffeine-free DP availability info to question 2.7.  Updated web
address for contacting Dr Pepper company in question 3.8.

July 23, 2002 -- Version 2.46: Updated web address for Waco Dr Pepper
Museum's catalogue in question 3.5.

October 22, 2002 -- Version 3.00: Changed numbering system of
questions, organizing them into three categories (four, if you count
the questions about the FAQ itself), as opposed to one big list.
Revised questions to reflect new numbers.  Modified descriptions of
versions 2.00 and 2.3 in question d.  Added questions 1.7 ("What's the
connection between the MLK assassination and Dr Pepper?"), 1.8 ("Did
Dr Pepper put out a can with a patriotic scene of the Empire State
Building that left out 'under God' from the Pledge of Allegiance?"),
and 2.8 ("What's this 'Red Fusion' drink I've heard about?").  Added
Urban Legends Reference Pages web site to text of question 2.1.
Updated saccharin info in question 2.2.

December 2, 2002 -- Version 3.01: Added Austin Chronicle citation and
Dublin Dr Pepper Bottling Co. Museum note to question e.  Rewrote
answer to question 1.3 to incorporate new info about Wade Morrison.
Added William F. Pepper's degree to question 1.7.  Updated contact
information for museums in question 3.4.  Updated info in question
3.5.

March 9, 2003 -- Version 3.10: Updated question number in
texascooking.com citation in question e.  Added link to picture of can
in question 1.8.  Added more info about prune juice rumor to question
2.1.  Added more information about eBay "alliance" to question 3.5.
Updated information about Cooking With Dr Pepper, including new
address for cookbooks, in question 3.7.  Updated contact information
for Dr Pepper corporation in question 3.8.

May 6, 2003 -- Version 3.20: Updated info about imitation sites in
question 2.4.

August 11, 2003 -- Version 3.30: Corrected date for invention of
Moxie, and added and revised creation dates for other sodas in
question 1.2.  Added question 1.9 ("What's the connection between
Hillary Clinton and Dr Pepper?").  Added two more locations where you
can find cane sugar Dr Pepper to question 2.6.  Revised info about
eBay "alliance" in question 3.5.

February 12, 2004 -- Version 3.40: Added question 1.10 ("Who are some
other celebrities who like Dr Pepper?").  Correction to question 2.4
in HTML version.


e.    Why did you put this FAQ together?

There seemed to be a calling for one, and no one else was posting a Dr
Pepper FAQ in the newsgroups (or at least not in alt.fan.dr-pepper),
so I figured I'd give it a shot.  I must be doing something right
because this FAQ was cited as a reference in the June 10, 1999,
edition of the Straight Dope Online, in an article so generously
cribbed from the FAQ that they might as well have asked me to write
the thing myself.  Example:

My sentence: "The most famous (or is that infamous?) imitation, Mr.
Pibb, is Coca-Cola's unsuccessful effort to drive the good Dr out of
the market."

Their sentence: "Mr. Pibb is Coca Cola's unsuccessful effort to drive
the good Dr out of the market."

Coincidence?

Judge for yourself at
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mdrpepper.html.  Anyway, the other
thing I can't figure out is why they supplied a link to a mirror site
of the FAQ (and an old mirror site at that--version 2.02), and not a
direct link to the HTML version of the FAQ itself--especially when
there was information in the article which had to have come from the
most recent version at the time (2.06).  Oh well.  At least now
everyone will know where to go for the very latest info: right here of
course.  "Get a life," indeed.

While we're on the subject, the FAQ was also mentioned in a July,
1999, article on texascooking.com
(http://www.texascooking.com/features/jul99drpepper.htm), where this
site was dubbed "probably the most complete" collection of Dr Pepper
information on the internet.  Thanks for the kind words, guys!  And
even though they printed a rather specific version of the web site
address (one that pointed directly to what was question 18 -- now 3.5
-- "Where can I buy Dr Pepper merchandise?") instead of the more
general location, I won't hold it against them.

I should also mention the FAQ was cited in The South Talkin'
Dictionary site (http://members.nbci.com/south_talkin/index.htm) as a
source for the definition of ... Dr Pepper, what else?  It's slightly
strange that a Northerner like me is being relied on for information
on Southern culture, but I'll take what I can get.

The FAQ was also named a "Site du Jour of the Day" on October 5, 2001.
You can view the citation at
http://members.tripod.com/~SdJotD/2001/0110.htm and thank the reviewer
while you're at it.

The FAQ may not have been cited by name, but I certainly was, in an
article on August 21, 2001, in the Austin Chronicle titled "Dr Pepper,
Texas," written by David Lynch (no, I'm pretty sure it wasn't *that*
David Lynch).  You can read it yourself at
http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2001-08-24/xtra_feature.html
if you don't have a back issue handy.

Milly Walker, the Collections Manager/Curator for the Dublin Dr Pepper
Bottling Co. Museum in Dublin, Texas, sent me a very nice email on
November 21, 2002, in which she said "We are very impressed with the
accuracy of your information."  That's not an official endorsement, of
course, but I think it says a lot.

Right now I'd like to stress that this FAQ is UNOFFICIAL, meaning that
it is not endorsed or authorized by The Dr Pepper Company, Dr
Pepper/Seven Up, Inc., or any other corporate or business entity
connected with Dr Pepper. Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc. owns all Dr Pepper
copyrights and trademarks.  Additionally, I'm not employed by Dr
Pepper, nor do I work for the Dr Pepper Company in any capacity, and
Dr Pepper does not compensate me for the time I dedicate towards
writing this FAQ (though I probably wouldn't stop them if they did).
I just put this together in my spare time for the purpose of providing
quick answers to common questions about Dr Pepper which appear
frequently on alt.fan.dr-pepper.  So, in other words, please don't sue
me.  I'm too broke as it is.  Let me know if you like it!

(Apparently, a lot of you like it enough to visit, because the FAQ's
web site received its 10,000th hit on December 22, 1999, and its
20,000th hit less than a year later.  The 30,000th and 40,000th hits
came and went when I wasn't even looking.  Thanks, and keep visiting!
On to 50,000!)

f.    How can I contribute/make suggestions/submit corrections to
this FAQ?

Post them to alt.fan.dr-pepper or email me at [e-mail] with
"DPFAQ" in the header someplace.  As far as I know, everything here is
accurate, but if it turns out something is incorrect, let me know and
I'll correct it as soon as possible.


Section 1:  History and Trivia

1.1    Who invented Dr Pepper?

Dr Pepper was first created in 1885 by Charles Alderton, a pharmacist
who was working at Morrison's Old Corner Drug Store in Waco, Texas, at
the time.

1.2     Is Dr Pepper older than Coca-Cola?

Yes.  Coca-Cola was not invented until 1886, making Dr Pepper the
oldest of the current major-brand soft drinks in the United States.
In this case, I'm defining a "major brand" as one of the top ten
best-selling carbonated brands in the United States, of which
Coca-Cola is currently #1, and Dr Pepper is #6, as ranked by the
Beverage Marketing Corporation (http://www.beveragemarketing.com).

As for the other current major brands:
Pepsi (#2) was created in 1898 by Caleb Bradham in New Bern, North
Carolina;
7-Up (#8), a.k.a. "Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda", was conceived
by Charles Grigg of St. Louis in 1929;
Mountain Dew (#4) was apparently first sold by Aloysius and Bernard
Hartman in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, in 1946;
Sprite (#5) was created by the Coca-Cola company in 1961;
Diet Dr Pepper (#10), a.k.a. "Dietetic Dr Pepper", was created by the
Dr Pepper company in 1963;
Diet Pepsi (#7) was created by the Pepsi-Cola company in 1964;
Diet Coke (#3) was created by the Coca-Cola company in 1982;
and Caffeine Free diet Coke (#9) was created by the same company one
year later in 1983.

If you're really curious: Moxie was invented by Augustin Thompson of
Lowell, Massachusetts, in 1876, the same year Hires Root Beer was
created by Charles E. Hires in Philadelphia.  See?  You learn
something new every day.

1.3     Was there ever really a person called Dr. Pepper?

There were at least two doctors relevant to this question: a Dr.
Charles T. Pepper, of Rural Retreat, Virginia; and a lesser-known Dr.
Pepper of Christianburg, Virginia.  Both were alive in the late 19th
Century when Wade Morrison (the owner of the drug store where Charles
Alderton worked) moved to Texas from Virginia in the 1870's.  And here
is where the confusion starts.

Until recently, the story was that Morrison had worked as a pharmacist
for a drug store in Rural Retreat owned by Dr. Charles T. Pepper, and
that since Charles had given Morrison his first job, Morrison returned
the favor by naming the new soft drink after him.  Jeffrey Rodengen
describes this story in much greater detail in his book "The Legend of
Dr Pepper/Seven-Up."  Rodengen even investigates the rumor that
Morrison named the drink after Dr. Pepper so that Pepper would approve
of his daughter marrying Morrison, concluding that since Pepper's
daughter was "only 8" when Morrison moved to Waco in 1882, the "love
story" must not be true.  This is all fine information Rodengen dug
up, but there's one small problem: all of it may be false!

Milly Walker, the Collections Manager/Curator for the Dublin Dr Pepper
Bottling Co.
Museum in Dublin, Texas, sent me a letter on November 21, 2002,
describing a great deal of the research and information she had on who
the original Dr. Pepper might have been.  This is some of what she had
to say:

    The Pepper family of Virgina is apparently quite extensive.
Harry Ellis had quite a nice family history book about the Peppers,
and it is in the corporate archives in Dallas.  What we found was that
according to the United States Census, Morrison lived in the town of
Christiansburg and worked as a pharmacy clerk. In that same census on
the next page (if I remember correctly) is another Dr. Pepper and he
has a daughter, Malinda or Malissa, who is only 16 to Morrison's 17.
If you understand that the census takers walked from house to house,
you can tell they were near neighbors.  This makes much more sense to
me than Dr. Charles T. Pepper, 40 miles away in Rural Retreat.

Ms. Walker added: "There is not one piece of evidence that Morrison
ever worked for Dr. Charles T. Pepper in Rural Retreat, VA.  As far as
I can tell, the stories about Morrison came to light after Harry
[Ellis] told them."

So, in other words, Morrison didn't name Alderton's new drink after
Dr. Charles T. Pepper because: 1) Morrison never worked for Charles T.
Pepper of Rural Retreat, Virginia, in the first place; 2) Morrison was
never in love with Charles T. Pepper's daughter; and 3) It's very
likely that Morrison named the drink after a completely different Dr.
Pepper of Christianburg, Virginia, and that *this* Pepper's daughter
was the one whom Morrison had been in love with all those years ago.

Moral of the story: It pays to do your research!

1.4    Is there now a town named Dr Pepper?

Yes and No; it depends on the time of the year.  As stated in the June
5-10, 2000, issue of The Dr Pepper Gazette, "Each year at 10 a.m. on
the Monday before the second Sunday in June," the town of Dublin,
Texas, renames itself "Dr Pepper, Texas" for an entire week.  Rita
Reed of the Dublin, Texas, Chamber of Commerce told me on June 8,
1998, that this practice had been going on since either 1993 or 1994
(she wasn't quite sure if it had been going on for 4 or 5 years) as
part of the annual celebration of the opening of the Dr Pepper plant
there--the oldest Dr Pepper bottling plant in the world, which has
been in business since 1891.  The celebration itself was first held in
1991 to commemorate the plant's 100th anniversary.  So, for one week
out of the year there is a town in the US named Dr Pepper.  On the
bright side though, for the rest of the year you still have Dublin.

1.5    What's the connection between the Beatles and Dr Pepper?

It sounds pretty obvious once you know it, but I never would have
guessed until someone pointed it out to me: The original title of Sgt.
Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band -- one of the Beatles' most popular
albums (and consequently one of the most popular albums period) -- was
Dr. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band!  Wild, huh?  When I asked the
fine folks at rec.music.beatles for confirmation, Jim Demes
([e-mail]) wrote me on September 29, 1998:

According to BEATLESONGS by William J. Dowlding: "The album was
originally titled Dr. Pepper's...until the Beatles realized an
American soft-drink company had rights to that name." Dowlding got his
info from THE BEATLES A TO Z. (1980)

Whether or not the Beatles were fully acquainted with the soft drink
before they began work on Sgt. Pepper is still subject to debate.  But
bottles of Dr Pepper have been spotted in the Let It Be movie, so they
had definitely seen the light by then.  Imagine what else might have
been if only a few letters hadn't changed . . .

1.6    What's the connection between the JFK Assassination and Dr
Pepper?

I tell ya, I never in a million years expected this question to show
up.  I mean, I admit it's a pet theory of mine that almost everything
in the United States has some sort of Kennedy Assassination connection
to it, but after seeing this one I might have to remove the "almost"
from the theory!

"Okay, smart guy, what is the connection?"

In the book, Conspiracy Of One (1990, The Summit Group), author Jim
Moore presents a variety of reasons why he believes Lee Harvey Oswald
was the sole assassin of U.S. President John F. Kennedy.  One of those
reasons is on page 53, detailing the period immediately after the
assassination when Oswald was spotted in the lunchroom of the Texas
School Book Depository:

Oswald...put a nickel in the soda machine and selected a Coca-Cola.
It may be that this single action on Oswald's part holds the key to
his guilt.  Oswald habitually drank Dr Pepper.  There can be only one
realistic explanation for a miser like Oswald to fail to select his
soft drink of choice-he was nervous.  Three other possibilities exist,
all unlikely:

1. Oswald really bought a Dr Pepper and every witness questioned
recalled it as a Coca-Cola
2. The soda machine was out of Dr Pepper.
3. The soda machine-a Coca-Cola product, malfunctioned in favor of its
manufacturer.

Next to one of those sentences was a footnote, citing The Day Kennedy
Was Shot (1968, Funk & Wagnalls; 1992 HarperPerennial) by Jim Bishop.
Sure enough, on page 183 of Bishop's book, there is a less verbose
description of the same event:

Oswald dropped a coin in the soda machine.  He got a Coca-Cola.  This
was nervousness because he invariably drank Dr Pepper.

Who knew he wanted to be a Pepper, too?

1.7 What's the connection between the MLK assassination and Dr Pepper?

The connection here is a little more tenuous than the one for JFK
above, but here it is:

In 1968, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated, and
James Earl Ray was convicted of that crime after pleading guilty to it
in 1969.  However, within days of that conviction, Ray insisted that
he was innocent, and kept insisting it right up until his death in
1998.  For the last twenty years of Ray's life, an attorney by the
name of William F. Pepper, L.L.D., tried to reopen Ray's case in order
to get Ray a new trial.  So (for those of you who can't see this
coming), the name of the attorney for the convicted assassin of Martin
Luther King was... Dr. Pepper!  Strange, but true.

1.8 Did Dr Pepper put out a can with a patriotic scene of the Empire
State Building that left out "under God" from the Pledge of
Allegiance?

The simple answer: No.

The more complex answer: No, they didn't.

The long answer: Why something like this generates attention, as
opposed to genuine problems (like say, the lack of a decent rail
system, a shortage of affordable housing, and an electoral process
that leaves a lot to be desired, to name a few) is beyond me.  Here
are the facts:

-- In early 2002, the Dr Pepper company issued a promotional can which
had a picture of the Statue of Liberty on it, not the Empire State
Building (and how the Empire State Building could be "patriotic" I'll
never know).  You can see a picture of that can here:
http://www.dpsu.com/drpepper_can.html

-- That same can had printed on it the exact phrase "One
Nation...Indivisible".

-- The full text of the Pledge of Allegiance was never printed on this
can in the first place, so nothing was omitted from it--unless you
count the use of that excerpt as omitting something, in which case
over 90% of the Pledge was omitted, not just the words "under God".
So, while it is technically true that this can did not have the words
"under God" on it, it would be equally true to say that it didn't have
a million more words from the English language on it as well.

-- As it turns out, the words "under God" were not even part of the
Pledge of Allegiance when it was written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, a
Baptist minister.  Those two words were added in 1954 by Congress to
deliberately inject religion into public schools in an attempt to
somehow show the United States as being better than so-called
communist countries at the time.  Two years later in 1956, Congress
changed the national motto of the U.S. from "E Pluribus Unum" (Latin
for "Out of many, one") to "In God We Trust," for similar reasons.

In any event, it seems that the above facts morphed via the Internet
into the above rumor, and have been circulated by enough people to the
point where it now qualifies as a bona fide urban legend.  Apparently,
there are even people out there who are willing to "boycott" Dr Pepper
because of the lack of the aforementioned two words in question on
that can, and that makes me wonder: are those same people going to
boycott every other soda pop on sale now too?  Because I don't see the
words "under God" on any soda can in stores right now, do you?

Oh, well.  More Dr Pepper for me, I guess.

1.9    What's the connection between Hillary Clinton and Dr Pepper?

Actually, it's more of a connection between her and the diet version
of the drink.  Nevertheless, you can see it for yourself on pages
171-172 of Ms. Clinton's book, "Living History" (2003: Simon &
Schuster):

I was taking one of my first solo trips as First Lady when a young
aide asked me, "What would you like to drink in your suite?"
"You know, I really feel like a Diet Dr Pepper," I said.
For years afterward, every time I opened a fridge in a hotel suite, it
was loaded with Diet Dr Pepper.  People would come up to me with
frosty glasses of it.  I felt like the sorcerer's apprentice, the
Mickey Mouse character in the classic animated film "Fantasia:" I
couldn't turn off the Dr Pepper machine.

She gives this as an example of how she had to watch what she said as
First Lady, since there were apparently many people who were too
willing to take her requests to the extreme.  This, she says, is how
"Travelgate" happened.  Whatever.  I wonder if her husband prefers the
stuff with the cane sugar in it.

1.10    Who are some other celebrities who like Dr Pepper?

Thanks to the incredibly hard-working people at The Smoking Gun
(thesmokinggun.com), I can now tell you that the following performers
have specifically requested Dr Pepper by name in the riders of their
contracts, making the beverage a genuine requirement for these acts to
show up at a venue near you:

Aerosmith
(http://www.thesmokinggun.com/backstagetour/aerosmith/aerosmith6.html)
The Beach Boys
(http://www.thesmokinggun.com/backstagetour/beachboys/beachboys2.html)
Clint Black
(http://www.thesmokinggun.com/backstagetour/clintblack/clintblack1.html)
The Bloodhound Gang
(http://www.thesmokinggun.com/backstagetour/bloodhound/bloodhound2.html)
Don't you dare take it out of the case!
Bush (http://www.thesmokinggun.com/backstagetour/bush/bush2.html)
Beck (http://www.thesmokinggun.com/backstagetour/beck/beck1.html)
Cher (http://www.thesmokinggun.com/backstagetour/cher/cher3.html)
Joe Cocker, or at least his female vocalists
(http://www.thesmokinggun.com/backstagetour/joecocker/joecocker2.html)
Foo Fighters
(http://www.thesmokinggun.com/backstagetour/foo/foo5.html)
Kenny G's crew
(http://www.thesmokinggun.com/backstagetour/kennyg/kennyg3.html)
Diet only--it figures.
Goo Goo Dolls
(http://www.thesmokinggun.com/backstagetour/googoo/googoo1.html)
Sammy Hagar
(http://www.thesmokinggun.com/backstagetour/sammyhagar/sammyhagar5.html)
Exit stage left!
Hootie and the Blowfish
(http://www.thesmokinggun.com/backstagetour/hootie/hootie1.html)
Vince Gill
(http://www.thesmokinggun.com/backstagetour/vincegill/vincegill2.html)
Journey
(http://www.thesmokinggun.com/backstagetour/journey/journey3.html)
The Neville Brothers
(http://www.thesmokinggun.com/backstagetour/nevillebros/nevillebros1.html)
Red Hot Chili Peppers
(http://www.thesmokinggun.com/backstagetour/chili/chili3.html)
Peter Tork, of The Monkees
(http://www.thesmokinggun.com/backstagetour/monkees/monkees2.html)
ZZ Top (http://www.thesmokinggun.com/backstagetour/zztop/zztop4.html)
Regular and diet!  Well, they are from Texas...

In addition, the late Johnny Cash was also a Pepper.
(http://www.thesmokinggun.com/backstagetour/johnnycash/johnnycash3.html)
Maybe that's why he hardly ever sang beer drinking songs.


Section 2:  The Drink, and How To Get It

2.1     Does Dr Pepper contain prune juice?

In a word: NO!

According to the Urban Legends Reference Pages at snopes.com: "It
doesn't, but the rumor is remarkably long-lived, having been with us
since about 1930."

In addition, Bottlecaps (the "Official Newsletter of the Dr Pepper
Museum and Free Enterprise Institute") emphasizes in their Vol. I,
1999, issue: "Prune juice is not and never has been in Dr Pepper.  The
prune juice rumor is an old story that has been in circulation since
the 1930s."

Also, the Dr Pepper company states on their website that "prune juice
is definitely not one of the ingredients."

And, as if that wasn't enough, the site for Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc.
has offered two different assertions during the past two years: 1)
"its unique flavor comes from the blending of 23 fruits, none of which
are prunes" 2) "Dr Pepper is a unique blend of natural and artificial
flavors; it does not contain prune juice."

The corporation also highlights this "Fun Fact" on its web site:
"Contrary to popular misconception, Dr Pepper never has and never will
contain prune juice."

Are we all clear on this now?

2.2     Okay, so what's in Dr Pepper?

On the label in the US, the ingredients are: Carbonated Water;
Imperial Pure Cane Sugar [or "High Fructose Corn Syrup and/or Sugar,"
if you're not so lucky]; Caramel Color; Phosphoric Acid; Artificial
and Natural Flavors; Sodium Benzoate (Preservative); Caffeine.

Chris Dunthorne ([e-mail]) told me on July 3, 1998,
that the ingredients on the label in the UK are a little different:
"Carbonated Water, Sugar, Colour (Caramel E150d), Phosphoric Acid,
Flavourings, Preservative (E211), Caffeine."

John Neely ([e-mail]), a formerly anonymous Canadian,
submitted "Ingredients from The Great White North" on October 27,
1998: "Carbonated Water, Sugar/Glucose-Fructose, Carmel colour,
Artificial and Natural flavors, Phosphoric acid, sodium benzoate,
Caffeine, monosodium phosphate, lactic acid, polyethelene glycol."

Trace McLean ([e-mail]) also on October 27, 1998,
posted the ingredients for Australian Dr Pepper "taken straight from
the bottle": "Carbonated water, sugar, colour (150), flavours, food
acids (338, 270), preservative (211), caffeine."

Brad Dunham ([e-mail]), on May 31, 2001, posted the
ingredients for Dietetic Dr Pepper, circa 1963: "Carbonated water,
caramel color, citric acid, phosphoric acid, caffeine, sodium
cyclamate, sodium carboxymethylcellulose, sodium saccharin, monosodium
phosphate, lactic acid, flavoring, spices, less than 1/20th of 1%
benzoate of soda (preservative), .088% sodium cyclamate, .007% sodium
saccharine, non-nutritive artificial sweeteners which should be used
only by persons who must restrict their intake of ordinary sweets. No
fat or protein. .28% available carbohydrates. 1/3 calorie per fl. oz."

(Because of the possibility that cyclamates might promote tumors, they
were banned in the United States as of September 11, 1970.  The Food
and Drug Administration had also wanted to ban saccharin in soft
drinks and other foods in 1977 because of carcinogenic concerns, but
Congress extended an initial 2-year moratorium on any ban to the point
where the last moratorium did not expire until 2002.  In the interval,
all foods containing saccharin were required to include this label:
"Use of this product may be hazardous to your health.  This product
contains saccharin which has been determined to cause cancer in
laboratory animals."  Towards the end of the century, however, the
federal government changed its mind considerably regarding saccharin.
On December 31, 1991, while the moratorium was still in effect, the
FDA reversed itself and announced that it would no longer try to ban
saccharin in foods.  Almost a decade later, on May 15, 2000, the
Department of Health and Human Services removed saccharin from its 9th
Report on Carcinogens, where it had previously been considered
carcinogenic to humans since 1981.  The final blow came on December
21, 2000, when President Clinton signed H.R. 4577 into law, repealing
the warning label requirement.)

Tom Reed ([e-mail]) posted the "modern" ingredients
for Diet Dr Pepper in the U.S. on November 23, 1998: "Carbonated
water, caramel color, aspartame, phosphoric acid, artificial and
natural flavors, sodium benzoate (preservative), caffeine.
Phenylketonurics: contains phenylalanine."

(A phenylketonuric is a person who has phenylketonuria, a.k.a. pku, or
phenylpyruvic oligophrenia, a genetic disorder in which the body
cannot properly metabolize phenylalanine, an amino acid which is found
in aspartame.  Among other things, excessively high levels of
phenylalanine in the body can cause mental retardation, epileptic
seizures, and a decrease in melanin production.  Aside from that, the
FDA insists that "aspartame is safe for the general population.")

Dr Pepper contains 39.6 milligrams of caffeine in every 12-ounce can,
according to the Caffeine FAQ (http://www.coffeefaq.com/caffaq.html)
maintained by Daniel Owen ([e-mail]).  The Dr Pepper
company, however, claims two other amounts: 40.8 mg of caffeine per
12-ounce can, and 27.84 mg per 8-ounce serving.  Regardless of which
amount is correct, this is still a little more than Pepsi
(37.2mg/12oz), a little less than Coca-Cola (45.6mg/12oz), and nothing
compared to coffee, which could contain anywhere between 111 and 300
mg of caffeine in a 12-ounce serving, depending on how it's prepared.

The Dr Pepper company had this to say in a pamphlet it published
sometime in either the late 1950's or early 1960's: "Its unique flavor
results from the blending of pure fruit flavors (gathered from
throughout the world) with mystic spices, from far-off Madagascar, and
clean, clear distilled sparkling water."  You don't suppose one of
those spices is vanilla, do you?  On the company's web site today,
they state the obvious: "It is a blend of many spices and flavor
extracts.  The color is supplied by caramel especially made for the
product."  In addition, the company also says the concentrate for Dr
Pepper is kosher, and that "our products which contain High Fructose
Corn Syrup may contain small amounts of corn gluten."

Max Wolheim ([e-mail]), who "can't guarantee the accuracy of
any of this," posted this interesting article (with a small caveat) on
June 20, 1999:

Yes, I've heard the "23 fruit flavors" of Dr. Pepper [sic] for years.
I can tell you this is nonsense!  I can't reveal the source (he'd get
fired), but here is a list of some of the real flavoring ingredients:

    Vanillin (imitation vanilla)
    Extract of almond
    denatured rum (no joke)
    Oil of orange
    lactic acid (optional; once listed separately from
"flavorings")

Max goes on to say: "None of this is will be confirmed by the PR
people of the company, who reply with the evasive 'Dr. Pepper contains
neither rum nor vanilla.'  Substitutions are possible, depending on
the bottler, so that Dr. Pepper in one part of the country might not
taste quite the same as in some others.  But denatured rum is
universal to the formula."  Take it for what it's worth.

Brian McElroy ([e-mail]) posted to alt.fan.dr-pepper on
January 19, 1998 (and emailed me a correction on June 30, 1998), about
his visit to the Dublin Dr Pepper plant, which I think definitively
answers two questions at once:

"Just got back today from the Dublin bottling plant and museum.  There
has been a lot of debate on what flavor Dr Pepper really is, so I
asked Mr. Kloster [Bill Kloster], the plant owner, who has worked in
that plant for almost 60 years.  According to him, Dr Pepper is a mix
of 23 different fruit flavors. The original creator wanted to create a
drink that tasted like the smell of a soda shop.  When you walked into
a soda shop in that day, you smelled all the fruit flavors of the
different sodas all mixed into one.  So he basically took a bunch of
flavors and mixed them, and came up with Dr Pepper.  He said Dr Pepper
does not and has never had prune juice in it."

Alas, Brian may have been one of the last people to ask Bill Kloster
that question.  Mr. Kloster passed away on September 24, 1999, at age
81, having spent 67 of those years working for the Dublin Dr Pepper
plant (minus two years off for service during World War II).  His
dedication to keeping pure cane sugar in Dr Pepper will be sorely
missed.

2.3    What's the recipe for Hot Dr Pepper?

Hot Dr Pepper?  Yes, indeed.  It's a real drink, and it's been around
for quite a while--at least since the early 1960's (even though
there's no mention of it at all in the 1965 edition of Cookin' With Dr
Pepper--go figure).  However, since Dr Pepper--and the soft drink
industry in the U.S. as a whole--switched from cane sugar to high
fructose corn syrup as a sweetener, many people have complained that
Hot Dr Pepper does not taste nearly as good as it did before the
switch, so the Dr Pepper company has refrained from promoting the
recipe as ardently as it had in the past.  Nevertheless, people still
drink it hot, with the recommendation that Dr Pepper with cane sugar
be used for best results (see question 12 for how to get some cane
sugar Dr Pepper for yourself).

The recipe itself is quite simple:  First, cut a nice, thin, round
slice of lemon for yourself and place it in the bottom of a cup--I
suppose a coffee mug or teacup works best.  Next, heat your Dr Pepper
in a saucepan until it looks like it's boiling (even though it'll only
be about 180░ F, the carbonation will make it look hotter).  Then pour
your "steaming" hot Dr Pepper into the cup, over the lemon slice.
That's it!  I haven't tried it yet myself, but people who have swear
it's pretty good.

(There is an official recipe on the www.drpepper.com web site, but
it's not too much different from the one above.  Then again, how many
different ways can you say "Heat Dr Pepper and pour it over lemon"?)

2.4     What Dr Pepper imitations exist, and where can you find them?

The most famous (or is that infamous?) imitation, Mr. Pibb, is
Coca-Cola's unsuccessful effort to drive the good Dr out of the
market.  According to Phil Thomas's site, misterpibb.com (the most
thorough Pibb site I've seen so far), "Mr. PiBB was born in the summer
of 1972," with test-marketing beginning on June 28 of that year.
Chris Houser on his Pibb page
(http://bluWeb.com/us/chouser/info/pibb/) stated the drink was
"originally sugar-free," but that seems to be incorrect since Thomas
has a very detailed section on the history of sugar-free Mr. Pibb, "a
saccharin-sweetened version of [the] spicy cherry carbonated soda,"
which was apparently first test-marketed in 1973.  In any event, you
can find the fructose and sucrose-laden Mr. Pibb in most places in the
Southern and Midwestern U.S., and almost nowhere in the Northeastern
U.S.

Interestingly enough, Advertising Age reported in their December 1,
1997, issue that Coca-Cola was planning to release a brand new
knock-off of Dr Pepper sometime in 1999--probably due in no small part
to sluggish sales of Mr. Pibb, which had only a 0.6% share of the US
soft drink market in 1996, compared to Dr Pepper's 5.8% share.
However, as of this writing, I have yet to see any evidence that this
new concoction has been released anywhere, so maybe Coca-Cola decided
to quit while they were ahead--or is that behind?

Originally, I had a table here listing 38 different DP clones, but
then I saw a web site with a table listing over 50 clones, including
pictures and locations where they were all bought, so I decided to
leave well enough alone. Suffice it to say, if all accounts are
accurate, there are over 70 different past and present Dr Pepper
imitations out there--and none quite as good as the original, of
course.  If you want to know more, these sites stand out:

Wouldn't you like to be a Pepper too . . . is the largest index of
clones and clone sites that I've seen.  The leader in the field with a
mega-list of imitations and a picture next to each name.  The
compilation picture of fakes is worth a visit all by itself, but the
rest of the site is no slouch either.
http://www.marion.ohio-state.edu/fac/schul/drp/dr.html

Not Quite What The Doctor Ordered is a comprehensive, well-researched
site which has rankings and pictures for each clone.
http://www.fakedrpepper.com/

Kibo's Fake Dr Pepper Roundup has a taste test of several fakes.
http://www.kibo.com/kibofood/dr_pepper.html

Dr. Beverages Page is a colorful list of the various Pepper-like soda
cans collected by
Lars Christensen ([e-mail]).
http://members.tripod.com/lchristensen/drs/index.html

The (Not Very) Authoritative Doctor Soda Page lives up to its (now
parenthetically appropriate) title, listing only 27 sodas total (and
that's including Dr Pepper and Diet Dr Pepper).  But since the
author's from MIT, I'll forgive them; people there have more important
things to do than track down all the DP clones in existence.
http://www.mit.edu/afs/sipb.mit.edu/user/dfm/www/doctorsoda/index.html

Dr Pepper Rip-Off Page is an evangelistic clone page, waging war
against all "infidels" who dare to doubt the superiority of the
original.
http://members.tripod.com/skintigh/drpepper/index.html

I'm a Pepper!  is now part of the greater freezepop.net site,
dedicated to the band, freezepop--though this particular page doesn't
seem to be easily accessible from within the site itself.  Anyway,
here is chronicled an annual taste-test of clones which has been
taking place every year since 1999, and it's definitely deserving of
props for the effort, detail, and breadth going into these tastings
each time.  Though I did take the authors to task a while ago for
singling out Dr Pepper for its "pruney-ness" (see question 2.1 if
you're still not sure about the prunes yourself), the tasting trail
that's been blazed in the interim has made up for it.  Well done!
http://www.freezepop.net/pepper/

Dr. Pepper Rip Off Reviews [sic] is an interesting attempt at clone
comparisons, hindered only by its significant lack of clones: only 9
are listed and only 2 are tasted.  Good luck.
http://www.econ.ucdavis.edu/graduate/kitmitto/pepper.html

Dr. Schnee Memorial Chapel is a site dedicated--obviously--to Dr.
Schnee, of all things, listing a few other clones in the process.
http://www.thespleenpress.org/schnee/

The Van Gogh-Goghs' Doctor Soda Taste Test! compares 46 different
sodas (45 clones plus the original), which should be enough to keep
most people busy for a while.
http://www.vangoghgoghs.com/drsodas/tastetest.html
Their main page:
http://www.vangoghgoghs.com/drsodas/drstrip.html

Dr. Pepper and the Imposters [sic] is a short page which offers some
large pictures of the original and some imitations to those
interested.
http://www.cruftbox.com/cruft/images/pepper/pepper.html

Fake Dr Pepper Land is a slick looking site that gives you a brief
tour of a few dozen imitators via Flash animation.  I must admit, it
has some of the most nicely photographed cans out there; but the site
is also completely lacking in details about the individual brands
themselves.  The best feature: Free desktop wallpaper of all the fakes
in one place!  It's not quite as impressive as the massive picture of
fakes on the "Wouldn't you like to be a Pepper too..." site
(http://www.marion.ohio-state.edu/fac/schul/drp/images.html), but it
will fit on your screen all in one shot.
http://www.frenchboxing.com/dp/

The Quest Of The Dr. Thunder Clones is a site that I seemed to have
overlooked in my travels, since I first noticed it in April, 2003, and
it doesn't look like it's been updated since April, 1999.  I suppose
I'm lucky I didn't miss it altogether, considering how so many of
these other sites have disappeared!  Anyway, this site turns the clone
idea on its head, by presenting 9 drinks which are allegedly clones of
Dr. Thunder--and one of the clones is Dr Pepper?!  See for yourself;
there's not much else there.
http://www.angelfire.com/al/polariswatercraft/thunder.html

Dr. Jason is Alive! is a list of 49 clones, many of which seem to have
been "donated namelessly by a weak, annoying person."  A few more
photos wouldn't hurt.
http://www.drjason.com/index.html

Dr Crap at afiler.com is a one-page review of 5 clones with some
interesting layout.
http://www.afiler.com/weirdfood/

Dr. Goldberg contains intensely personal reviews of 29 clones
(although one of them is Dr. Brown's Black Cherry, which I don't think
should be included, since Dr. Brown's was established 16 years before
Dr Pepper was invented) with clickable closeups, if you're so
inclined.
http://www.livewithouta.net/dr_goldberg/

Robert Paloutzian's El Genero(r) Brand Web Page has a nice group shot
of 29 DP clones on top, followed by a picture of 14 Mountain Dew
clones on the bottom.
http://www.paloutzian.com/robert/pepperclone.htm

There were once even more imitation sites out there, but--like so many
other places on the Internet--a bunch have shuffled off this
electronic coil.  Among the missing are:

The Dr Pepper "Clone" Page last seen at
http://library.cmsu.edu/kw/pepper/imapep.htm
http://www.lib.msu.edu/weessie2/pepper/imapep.htm

Dr Pepper Clones last seen at
http://www.stat.ncsu.edu/~bmasmith/drpepper.html

Dr Kenton's Generic Dr Peppers last seen at
http://www.senselessknowledge.com/drkenton.html
http://www.kentonville.com/drkenton1.html
http://www.kentonville.com/drkenton.html

OOO's list of Dr. Pepper Clones [sic] last seen at
http://www.polyholiday.com/lists/pepperclones.html
(probably serves it right for calling itself "officially the original
list" of clone sites)

The Dr. is IN!!! last seen at
http://members.aol.com/zumbles/clones.html
(probably serves it right for containing the exact same list as the
one on polyholiday.com)

Mmmmmm... Dr. Drinks last seen at
http://mombasa.anthro.utah.edu/wooding/Dr.Drinks/

In addition, a brand new category was added to Yahoo! on November 12,
1998 (the same date this FAQ was added to Yahoo!): Home : Society and
Culture : Food and Drink : Drinks and Drinking : Dr Pepper :
Imitations.  And all six "New" sites in this category were--drum roll
please--the first six sites from the original list way back when there
were only six sites to choose from.  In other words, this FAQ is now
responsible for a new Yahoo! category!  And to think I thought I
wasn't influencing anyone . . .

But, lest you think Yahoo! is the only game in town, another engine
named dmoz.org also has a category for DP pretenders:
http://dmoz.org/Recreation/Collecting/Food_and_Drink_related/Soda/Dr_Pepper/Imitations/.
Last time I checked, dmoz.org had more sites listed than Yahoo!, but
both had less entries than the list above you now.  Whether either one
will catch up before the other is anyone's guess.

2.5     What's the difference between Dr Pepper made with Imperial
Cane Sugar, and Dr Pepper made with high fructose corn syrup?

In the opinion of everyone who's tried it and commented on it here on
alt.fan.dr-pepper and to me in person, the cane sugar version tastes
better.  It's also the sweetener which was originally used to make Dr
Pepper in the first place.  Personally, I think the taste of the cane
sugar product is more well-rounded and less fizzy than the one with
high fructose corn syrup.

2.6     How can I get some cane sugar Dr Pepper?

You can either:

a) Visit the plant in Dublin, Texas--the oldest Dr Pepper bottling
plant in the world and the only plant in the U.S. which is allowed by
the Dr Pepper corporation to still manufacture the soda with cane
sugar. The Dublin Dr Pepper Bottling Company is located at 221 South