Hires Root Beer

Hires Root Beer is a historic American root beer brand associated with one of the earliest large-scale commercial versions of the beverage. Charles Elmer Hires, a Philadelphia pharmacist, developed and marketed his own root beer recipe in the 1870s. The product was introduced commercially in 1876, when Hires sold packets of concentrated powder that consumers could mix with water to produce approximately one gallon of root beer. He also promoted the beverage at Philadelphia's Centennial Exposition that year, helping it gain public attention beyond the traditional household preparation of root beer. Hires positioned the drink as both a temperance beverage and a wholesome alternative to alcoholic drinks. Early advertising presented it as a healthful preparation made from a broad mixture of roots, berries, herbs, and spices, and used claims about blood purification and general vitality that reflected nineteenth-century patent-medicine and temperance marketing. The brand's messaging later included slogans such as "The Temperance Drink" and "Join Health and Cheer; Drink Hires Rootbeer." Hires became notable not only for its recipe but also for its unusually aggressive and modern advertising strategy. The business expanded beyond powdered home mixes. In 1884, the Charles E. Hires Company began selling liquid extract and syrup for soda fountains, while also shipping the product in kegs. A branded fountain dispenser, known as the Hires Automatic Munimaker, supported service through drugstores, restaurants, and other soda-fountain outlets. By 1890, the company had incorporated, and it was distributing bottled root beer. The brand reported selling more than one million bottles by 1891, illustrating the transition from a household preparation to a packaged soft drink. During the twentieth century, Hires maintained several formats. Bottled and canned root beer became the principal consumer products, while extract kits remained available in the United States and Canada for much of the period from the early 1900s through the 1980s. These kits allowed consumers to combine Hires concentrate with water, sugar, and yeast. Although the kits were an important part of the brand's heritage, most consumption came from ready-to-drink packaged root beer. Ownership changed repeatedly. Consolidated Foods acquired the company from the Hires family in 1960 and sold it to Crush International in 1962. Procter & Gamble acquired Crush in 1980, and Cadbury Schweppes purchased the soft-drinks business in 1989. Following Cadbury's 2008 separation of its beverages business, the brand became part of the company later known as Dr Pepper Snapple Group, which subsequently became Keurig Dr Pepper. Hires was also affected by regulatory and formulation changes. Sassafras oil, historically associated with root beer flavoring, was restricted by the United States Food and Drug Administration in 1960 because of safrole, a compound identified as carcinogenic and capable of causing liver damage. Manufacturers later used safrole-free sassafras flavoring or other natural and artificial flavor systems. Hires' historical ingredient descriptions included carbonated water, sweeteners, caramel, and flavoring components such as birch, licorice, vanilla, sarsaparilla, hops, wintergreen, ginger, and other botanical extracts. The brand's visibility declined in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries as its corporate owner prioritized other soft-drink brands, particularly A&W Root Beer. In Canada, Hires soft drinks were reportedly displaced in retail and vending channels by Pepsi-owned Mug Root Beer during the 1990s, while Dr Pepper-related distribution emphasized Stewart's Root Beer. A Canada Dry Motts alcoholic beverage combining Hires Root Beer flavoring with vodka has also been associated with the name in Canada. In the United States, Hires production was phased out or became increasingly difficult to find. Keurig Dr Pepper no longer listed Hires among its principal brands by 2023. The last identified canned production was by the American Bottling Company in Ottumwa, Iowa, while Kalil Bottling Company of Tucson, Arizona, was the last reported producer of Hires fountain syrup before selling its operations to Keurig Dr Pepper in August 2024. Because the brand has not been clearly declared formally discontinued and has had limited specialty or licensed presence, its current status is best treated as uncertain rather than definitively active or defunct.

Hires Root Beer originated in Philadelphia through the work of pharmacist Charles Elmer Hires. The brand's conventional origin story places Hires' discovery of root beer during his honeymoon in 1875, although historical accounts differ and the exact circumstances are uncertain. By 1876, he had created and marketed a commercial recipe. The first major format was a packet of powdered concentrate priced at 25 cents, with each packet intended to produce about one United States gallon of beverage. Hires promoted the product at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition by distributing free samples and describing it as a concentrated preparation of numerous wild roots and berries. The brand's early identity combined temperance, botanical tradition, and health-oriented advertising. Hires presented root beer as a non-alcoholic alternative and used claims about purification, vitality, and healthy appearance. Such claims were common in nineteenth-century beverage promotion, although they should be understood as historical advertising rather than contemporary medical evidence. The company also developed an unusually sophisticated advertising culture. Its promotional language framed advertising as essential to commercial visibility and helped make Hires one of the best-known packaged root beer names in the United States. In 1884, Hires broadened the business by introducing liquid extract and syrup for soda fountains. The company shipped product in kegs and developed the Hires Automatic Munimaker, a dedicated dispensing apparatus. This expansion allowed the brand to participate in the rapidly growing American soda-fountain trade. In 1890, the Charles E. Hires Company incorporated and began distributing small bottled servings. The company stated that more than one million bottles had been sold by 1891, marking an important step in the transformation of root beer from a homemade or pharmacy-made preparation into a branded commercial soft drink. Hires remained available in multiple forms during the twentieth century. Ready-to-drink bottles and, later, cans were the main products, but home-production kits also remained part of the portfolio in the United States and Canada. These kits generally required consumers to mix extract with water, sugar, and yeast. They were sold from the early twentieth century into the 1980s, while packaged root beer accounted for the larger share of consumption. Traditional root beer flavoring was affected by the regulatory treatment of sassafras oil. Sassafras had long been connected with root beer's flavor profile, but the oil contains safrole, which was identified as carcinogenic and harmful to the liver. The United States Food and Drug Administration banned sassafras oil for use in food and beverages in 1960. Subsequent flavor systems could use safrole-free sassafras derivatives or combinations of natural and artificial flavors. Historical descriptions of Hires ingredients included carbonated water, sugar, dextrose, caramel, and extracts or flavor notes associated with birch, sassafras, licorice, vanilla, spikenard, sarsaparilla, hops, wintergreen, pipsissewa, and ginger. Corporate ownership changed several times. Consolidated Foods bought the company from the Hires family in 1960 and sold it to Crush International in 1962. Procter & Gamble acquired Crush in 1980, and Cadbury Schweppes acquired the soft-drink business in 1989. In 2008, Cadbury separated its beverages operation, which became Dr Pepper Snapple Group and later Keurig Dr Pepper. During this period, Hires competed for internal corporate support with other root beer names, especially A&W. As the owner concentrated distribution and marketing on other brands, Hires became less visible in ordinary American retail channels. The decline was also pronounced in Canada. Hires was no longer broadly sold there by Keurig Dr Pepper, and retailers and vending operators had replaced it with Pepsi-owned Mug Root Beer in many locations by the 1990s. Dr Pepper Snapple Group instead marketed Stewart's Root Beer in the Canadian market. The Hires name has nevertheless appeared in a Canada Dry Motts alcoholic product combining root beer flavor with vodka, showing that the brand identity has had limited licensed or adjacent-market use beyond the traditional soft drink. By 2023, Hires was absent from Keurig Dr Pepper's online all-brands listing. The last reported canned production came from American Bottling Company in Ottumwa, Iowa. Kalil Bottling Company in Tucson, Arizona, was identified as the final producer of Hires fountain syrup until its operations were sold to Keurig Dr Pepper on August 9, 2024. These developments indicate that Hires is no longer a broadly distributed mainstream root beer, although the available record does not establish a single formal discontinuation date or rule out residual specialty, fountain, licensed, or regional availability.

• 2024

  Kalil Bottling operations transferred

  [1]Hires Root Beeren.wikipedia.org

  Kalil Bottling Company sold its operations to Keurig Dr Pepper on August 9, 2024; Kalil had been identified as the last producer of Hires fountain syrup.

• 2023

  Removed from Keurig Dr Pepper brand listing

  [1]Hires Root Beeren.wikipedia.org

  Hires was no longer shown in Keurig Dr Pepper's online all-products brand listing.

• 2008

  Beverage business becomes Dr Pepper Snapple Group

  [1]Hires Root Beeren.wikipedia.org

  Following Cadbury's beverage divestiture, Hires became part of the business later known as Dr Pepper Snapple Group and then Keurig Dr Pepper.

• 1989

  Acquired by Cadbury Schweppes

  [1]Hires Root Beeren.wikipedia.org

  Cadbury Schweppes purchased the relevant soft-drinks business from Procter & Gamble.

• 1980

  Acquired by Procter & Gamble

  [1]Hires Root Beeren.wikipedia.org

  Procter & Gamble acquired Crush International, bringing Hires into its soft-drink portfolio.

• 1962

  Sold to Crush International

  [1]Hires Root Beeren.wikipedia.org

  Consolidated Foods sold the brand and company interests to Crush International.

• 1960

  Acquired by Consolidated Foods

  [1]Hires Root Beeren.wikipedia.org

  Consolidated Foods acquired the company from the Hires family; the same year, United States restrictions on sassafras oil affected traditional root beer flavoring.

• 1891

  Early million-bottle sales claim

  [1]Hires Root Beeren.wikipedia.org

  The company reported sales exceeding one million bottles.

• 1890

  Company incorporated and bottled distribution expanded

  [1]Hires Root Beeren.wikipedia.org

  The Charles E. Hires Company incorporated and began supplying small bottled servings.

• 1884

  Liquid extract and fountain syrup introduced

  [1]Hires Root Beeren.wikipedia.org

  The company expanded into liquid extract, soda-fountain syrup, keg distribution, and dedicated dispensing equipment.

• 1876

  Commercial introduction

  [1]Hires Root Beeren.wikipedia.org

  Hires began selling powdered root beer concentrate and promoted it through free samples at Philadelphia's Centennial Exposition.

• 1875

  Reported root beer discovery

  [1]Hires Root Beeren.wikipedia.org

  The brand's traditional account says Charles Elmer Hires encountered root beer during his honeymoon, although historical sources differ on the details.

Historically positioned as a wholesome, non-alcoholic temperance drink with botanical heritage, family appeal, and a distinctive old-fashioned root beer flavor.

• Ready-to-drink soft drink · 1890

  Hires Root Beer

  The core Hires product was a packaged carbonated root beer sold first in bottles and later in cans. Its historical flavor profile drew on botanical ingredients and extracts associated with traditional American root beer. In later formulations, regulatory restrictions on safrole-containing sassafras oil required the use of revised flavor systems.

• Home beverage concentrate · 1876

  Hires Root Beer Extract and Home-Brewing Kits

  Hires sold powdered and liquid concentrates for household preparation. The kits enabled consumers to combine Hires extract with water, sugar, and yeast to make root beer, and were available in the United States and Canada from the early 1900s through the 1980s.

• Soda-fountain syrup · 1884

  Hires Fountain Syrup

  Liquid syrup allowed drugstores, restaurants, and soda fountains to prepare Hires root beer for customers. The company developed dedicated dispensing equipment and also distributed syrup in kegs. Kalil Bottling Company was identified as the last producer of the fountain syrup before its operations were transferred in 2024.

• Alcoholic ready-to-drink beverage

  Hires Root Beer and Vodka

  In Canada, the Hires name has been associated with a Canada Dry Motts alcoholic beverage combining root beer flavor with vodka. This product represents a later licensed or adjacent use of the brand rather than the traditional non-alcoholic soft drink.

• 1960Blossom Dearie advertising jingles

  United States

  A mid-1960s campaign used jazz singer Blossom Dearie and a comic, Betty Boop-inspired vocal style to deliver an energetic Hires Root Beer jingle.

  Outcome. The campaign reinforced Hires' playful mass-market personality during the television and radio advertising era.

  Source
• 1890Temperance and health-oriented advertising

  United States

  Hires promoted the beverage as a non-alcoholic temperance drink and used expansive health-oriented claims emphasizing botanical ingredients and physical well-being.

  Outcome. The campaign helped distinguish Hires from alcoholic drinks and contributed to its early mass-market identity.

  Source
• 1876Centennial Exposition sampling

  United States

  Charles Hires distributed free glasses of his root beer at Philadelphia's Centennial Exposition to introduce the product to new consumers.

  Outcome. The event helped establish public awareness during the brand's commercial launch.

  Source

• 2023

  Phase-out from mainstream United States distributionStrategy

  Background

  Hires had become less visible as Keurig Dr Pepper promoted other brands, especially A&W Root Beer, within its portfolio.

  Action taken

  The brand was no longer included in Keurig Dr Pepper's online all-products brand listing.

  Aftermath

  Regular national availability appears to have ended or become highly limited, although the record does not establish a formal discontinuation date.

  Source

• 1990

  Reduced Canadian retail presenceStrategy

  Background

  Hires lost Canadian retail and vending visibility as Mug Root Beer became a replacement in many channels during the 1990s.

  Action taken

  The brand's Canadian distribution was reduced while the corporate soft-drinks portfolio emphasized other offerings, including Stewart's Root Beer.

  Aftermath

  Hires became a limited or unavailable mainstream soft drink in Canada, although the name later appeared in an alcoholic beverage.

  Source

• 1960

  Reformulation after sassafras oil restrictionsOther

  Background

  Traditional root beer flavoring commonly used sassafras oil, but safrole in the oil was identified as carcinogenic and harmful to the liver. United States regulatory action in 1960 prevented its continued use in the traditional form.

  Action taken

  Hires and other root beer producers had to rely on safrole-free sassafras flavoring or alternative natural and artificial flavor combinations.

  Aftermath

  The change altered the flavoring practices of traditional root beer brands while preserving a recognizable botanical profile through substitute ingredients.

  Source

1. 1Hires Root Beeren.wikipedia.org