A&W Coolness

Do I have the best wife ever or what. Not only does she put up with my sickness about root beer, she finds me way cool things like this A&W cooler in Logan, Utah.

We tell people we went to Logan to see a good friend, but my motivation was to get some Root Beer Float Milk from Gossner Foods. Very good.

While in Logan we saw an Antique Mall and my wife pointed out the cooler to me.  She even negotiated a lower price for it. I love my wife!

The shelf life on this Root Beer Float Milk is about 10 months. It is also quite inexpensive. The main thing is that when it is cold, WOW! it is like drinking the left overs of a root beer float after the ice cream is all melted. Next time I will buy a case of it.

But here is my new pride and joy. I can hardly wait for the next Church Root Beer Social to show it off. When I told my wife what I think it is worth she said I should sell it.  HA HA! Not a chance.

Too Expensive for Me!

Here are several Root Beer items I saw while traveling, but did not buy because they were very high priced.  I thought I would at least take a picture so I could say I saw one.

Very cool cardboard sign,  The next one is cardboard also. $700.00 for the pair. Ouch.

First bottle cap sign I had seen but $500 was too rich for me.

I really wanted this one but $400 was just to pricey for me.

Turns out I have one of these but this one was way more than what I paid.

East Coast Root Beer Treasures

We recently took a trip from Colorado to Ogunquit Maine.  Along the way we stopped at many Antique and Collectibles shops. We found a few treasures. We went to many shops in Pennsylvania hoping to find some cool Hires items, but we did not. What we found on Hires as in Ohio at the Heart of Ohio mall just south of Springfield.

Here are some of what we found.

Fist time I have seen:  HI-Top Root Beer and Leary's Root Beer.  This is the first RICHardsn bottle I had ever seen.  Finally, a paper label Hires from the 1930s and a clear ol'Smoothie.  I already have a brown ol'Smoothie bottle.

I saw a lot of Ma's Old Fashion Root Beer bottles. I really like the Walker's Root Beer.  I had not heard of this brand before either.

The Hires can has Roberto Clemente on the back.

Silverfross Root Beer mug, Richardson's Liberty Root Beer and a German Hires mug.

Two different Rochester Root Beer mugs and a Stewart"s Mug

I love Root Beer candy and found the Russel Stover at the factory in Abilene Kansas.  The other two I already have but bought more since they are not found in the Colorado area very easily. 

Howel's Root Beer sign from the 1930's

Hires Root Beer sign from the 1960's

All in all it was a fun trip. I saw a lot of things I did not buy, mostly because they were too pricey.  I will do a separate blog entry on those items.

Hires is ALIVE!

Went to Salt Lake City to visit friends on a mission.  Cindy and I had the chance to do to the Hires Big H
(www.hiresbigh.com) drive in hamburger joint.  It was really good. I had heard about it a couple years ago but this is the first time I have had a chance to go there.

I took a picture of this below sign that explains why the name Hires is in the drive in name.

I also took the opportunity to pick up a few other items, like the T Shirt below.

And when I paid my bill I asked if I could have one of each of their drink cups.  No Charge!  I like this place.  I had a root beer float, of course, and will definitely go back whenever I get the chance.

I also found a couple Root Beer brands I did not have.  One is from the Lion House next to the Joseph Smith building and the other was from Deseret Books across the street.  Then top it off I also found some root beer extract at Orson Gygi's.  All in all a fun trip.

Keck's Longhorn Root Beer

I recently went on a trip to Missouri with my son to do some maintenance on his property.  While there we were looking on the internet for any root beer events in the area. We found that there was an event going on at Odessa, Missouri the next day and that there would be a root beer wagon at the event.  Since Odessa was only about 30 minutes to the east we decided to go.

This is what we found.:  Keck's Longhorn Root Beer

We met Connie Keck and had a great time talking and drinking Root Beer.  She brews her own root beet and brings it to the show in kegs.  Then as you order it she fills the bottle of your choice and puts a cork in it.  It is a great tasting root beet, and I have drank a lot of root beers. A nice smooth taste that does not have too much carbonation.

Connie, shown here next to me and my Grandson Matthew, has been brewing root beer and going to events for 21 years.  You can check out her web page at  kecksrootbeer.com  She also has a facebook page you can check out  www.facebook.com/kecks.rootbeer

Of course I had to bring some home so Cindy could try some.  If you want some you will have to find her at an event.  Her web page shows her calendar so you can see where she will be.  This was a great find.

Two Great Treasures

Over the last week or so I have added two great treasures to my collection.

First is what I think to be a Frostie Root Beer barrel marker.  It is solid metal, it looks like brass.  Is 4.5" high, 13" across and is in the shape of an arc that is about 17" inches in length.

It could be a print head for printing the logo on boxes or crates.  In any case, it is very unique and the only one I have ever seen.  A nice gentleman from Huntsville, Alabama found my blog and contacted me.  We were able to come to terms and now it is mine.  I love it. Thanks Donald.

The second great treasure is a John McDonald Root Beer paper label bottle from around 1915.  It is in a Leadville Embossed soda bottle. My brother-in-law found this for me while he and his wife were passing through Leadville, Colorado. This one is pretty hard to find also. Thanks Greg.

Thanks to all the people viewing my blog and sending me emails and and pictures.  I love to hear from you.

Root Beer Riches from the West

I recently went on a several day trip through the states of Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Montana. Our main purpose was to visit family and friends.  But of course we had to stop of antique stores along the way.

We also went to the Root Beer Store in Lynnwood, Washington. Very fun place. I found many root beer items and brands I did not have.

Here are a few of my finds.

From the Root Beer store I was able to add 10 new brands of root beer I have not tasted. This was a welcome addition to my fridge in the garage.

I also found a few cans that are great. Turns out the Nehi was a duplicate but the other two were good, bringing my total cans to about 145

I found a few bottles at various places along the way.

A couple of the bottles were very large.

Then at our last stop I found the bottles that got me excited.  First was the brown Barq's bottle which I was sure I did not have. When I got home I discovered that I did indeed have it.  I really need to start checking the blog before I buy to ensure I do not wasted money on duplicates.  It is a very old Barq's bottle so perhaps it will sell in my fleamarket booth.

Next to the Barq's bottle is a Rosebud Soda bottle with an old Hires paper label.  I was so excited to see this that my desire to have an old Hires bottle over ran by ability to think clearly.  Once I got it home and started researching I discovered that the 12 Fl oz label in on a 7-1/2 fl oz bottle.  Although the label appears real, and the bottle is still a very nice Rosebud soda bottle, I  believe some simply stick a Hires label on a bottle to make it sell easier. Bummer for me, but then I gain knowledge through trial and error.

I found two new Dog n Suds mugs that are large and a nice addition to my collection.

I thought $3.00 for this MUG glass was reasonable. I have not seen another one of these before.

My most fun was at the Root Beer Store. In addition to the root beer mentioned above, I found several root beer items to add to my misc. collection. I am looking forward to our first Bar B Q so I can try out the root beer mustard and BBQ sauce.

Here is the piece I really enjoyed finding. It is a thin plastic Hires calendar from 1970.  This happens to be the year Cindy and I were married. I told her I was buying it for romantic reasons. She did not believe me for a second.

I hope you enjoyed this blog. It was sure a fun trip. I am now thinking about where else I can go.