Dr. Brown's

Dr. Brown's
TypeSoda
ManufacturerDr. Brown's Beverage Company, L.P.
Country of origin New York, United States
Introduced1869
Websitehttps://www.drbrownssoda.com/

Dr. Brown's is a brand of soft drink made by Dr. Brown's Beverage Company, L.P. It is popular in the New York City region and South Florida, but it can also be found in Jewish delicatessens and upscale supermarkets around the United States and in English-speaking neighborhoods in Israel. Slogans for the products have included "Imported From the Old Neighborhood" and "Taste of the Town".[1]

Dr. Brown's was created in 1869 and was commonly sold in New York delicatessens and by soda salesmen who sold the product from door to door in Jewish neighborhoods.[2][1] According to former marketing director, Harry Gold, a New York doctor used celery seeds and sugar to invent the soda and celery tonic now known as Cel-Ray, which was advertised as a "pure beverage for the nerves".[3] However, some have speculated that there may never have been a Dr. Brown and that the name may have been only a marketing invention.[4][5]

In the early 1930s, before Coca-Cola received kosher certification, many Jews drank Cel-Ray soda as well as the other soda flavors that had been created by Dr. Brown's. The labels were designed in the 1970s by Herb Lubalin and features a New York vignette taken from old prints, to emphasize the brand's origins in 1800s New York.[6]

Dr. Brown's varieties include The Original Cream Soda (regular and diet), Black Cherry soda (regular and diet), Ginger Ale, Root Beer (regular and diet), and Cel-Ray (celery-flavored soda). Former flavors include Cola, Orange, Grape, Tune-Up (Lemon) and Club Soda.

Dr. Brown's soda is typically sold in 12-ounce cans and two-liter bottles.

  1. ^ a b Hillinger, Charles "Drink of the Deli People : Dr. Brown's Cream Soda Making Its Mark Outside of New York", Los Angeles Times, July 04, 1986. Accessed December 5, 2014.
  2. ^ Nickell, Joe (2011). "'Pop' Culture: Patent Medicines Become Soda Drinks". Skeptical Inquirer. 35 (1). Committee for Skeptical Inquiry: 14–17.
  3. ^ Yin, Sandra The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, Volume 1, p. 651.
  4. ^ "Cel-Ray". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 2020-08-19.
  5. ^ Pollak, Michael (October 14, 2011). "Answers to Questions About New York". The New York Times. Retrieved 2020-08-19.
  6. ^ Schneider, Daniel B. (22 December 1996). "F.Y.I." The New York Times. Retrieved 15 May 2023.