Did You Know?
A Quaker
invented root
beer
A pharmacist
and
entrepreneur
from
Philadelphia,
Charles
Hires,
created his
“Hires Herb
Tea” from
16 wild roots
and berries, including
juniper, pipsissewa,
spikenard, wintergreen
and sarsaparilla and
hops.Sales of the drink were slow until he introduced it at the 1876 U.S. Centennial Exhibition with a brand new name — “root beer.” This new name made it an alternative to alcoholic drinks and it was an immediate success, for him personally and for the young temperance movement that he supported.
The 115,000 glasses he sold the first year soon skyrocketed to 700 million. Hires Root Beer is still the longest selling soft drink in the United States.
— Terry Matz