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CURRENT NEWS:
DR PEPPER MUSEUM MOURNS THE LOSS OF MR. BOISE STERLING
The Dr Pepper Museum morns the loss of Mr. Boise Sterling. Boise passed away from natural causes on November 14, 2009 in Garland, Texas. He was born on September 13, 1926 to Edgar and Betsy Sterling in Alexandra, Louisiana. Boise was retired from The Dr Pepper Company where he worked as an accountant for 35 years. He was an active member of the Dr Pepper Collector's Club, the 10-2-4 Club, and a Charter Life Member of the Dr Pepper Museum. Boise is survived by his wife Nannie Sue Sterling who he met in the 1950's when they both worked for the Dr Pepper Company. A graveside service will be held at 1:30 PM Tuesday, November 24, 2009 at Dallas/Fort Worth National Cemetery, 2000 Mountain Creek Parkway, Dallas, Texas 75211
Over the years, the Sterlings amassed one of the largest collections of Dr Pepper memorabilia in the country. The Dr Pepper Museum acquired a portion of this wonderful collection in 1990. These items were the core of the museum's collection during the early years of operation. In January 2004, many of the finest pieces were exhibited at the museum in a six month showing of the Sterling Collection.
Slate of Directors and Officers for 2010
President Bob Cragen issued a call for nominations at the July 23, 2009 meeting of the Board of Directors. A report on the progress of the Nominating Committee was made to the Executive Committee on August 27, 2009. The Nominating Committee met on Thursday, September 24, 2009 to consider nominees for the 2010 Directors, Officers and Executive Committee of the Dr Pepper Museum and Free Enterprise Institute.
The Committee submits the following slate of candidates for Directors for approval by the Board of Directors and election by the membership:
Nominated for three-year terms on the Board of Directors:
Place 8 Howard Edmiston
Place 9 Angie Wallander
Place 10 Mel London
Place 11 Felicia Chase Goodman
Place 12 Bill Tilghman
Place 13 Jim Alexander
Place 14 David Allen
Nominated for a two-year term on the Board of Directors:
Place 4 Andrew Springate
Nominated for one-year term on the Board of Directors:
Place 15 Holt Getterman
Nominated for membership as a Distinguished Director (one-year term):
Frank Alexander, Jim Ball, Gaylan Beavers, Charles Brizius, Virginia Clements, Jim Clifton, Larry Dagley, Claude Ervin, James Hardwick, Jack Kilduff, Wilton Lanning, Scott Livesay, Robert O'Beirne, Richard Scott, Bill Tolaney, James L. Turner, and Jim Westberry
Nominated for membership as an Ex-officio members of the Board of Directors (one-year term):
Calvin Smith (Consultant); B.J.Greaves (Architect); and John Fletcher (Marketing)
The Committee submits the following slate of candidates for Officers and Executive Committee for approval by the Board of Directors and election by the membership:
Nominated to be an officer of the Board of Directors
President Elect: Jim Clifton (President for 2011)
Vice President: Robert Borchgardt
Secretary: Janet McCarty
Treasurer: Richard Kaga
Past President: Bob Cragen
Matt Morrison (President for 2010 elected at last year’s Annual Meeting)
Nominated for membership on the Executive Committee:
Gaylan Beavers, Angie Wallander, Lee Lydick, Pat Cargill and Randy Slaughter
DR PEPPER MUSEUM FEATURED IN ARTICLE
The Dr Pepper Museum was featured in a front page article in the Waco Tribune Herald on July 14th, 2009. The article was then picked up by the American Bottler's Association and sent out to all of their members. The article by Wendy Gragg is an in depth interview with Mary Beth Webster, Collections Manager and IT Specialist, and featured 3 great photos. Awesome job, Mary Beth! Read more about it below.
Dr Pepper Museum items often star in TV shows, movies
By Wendy Gragg Tribune-Herald staff writer
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
In a building on Fifth Street, in a warehouse of a room, are shelves stacked high with antiquities.
“Who would have ever thought there was all this stuff,” said Mary Beth Webster, collections manager at the Dr Pepper Museum.
Since 1885, Dr Pepper and its sister sodas have been marketed in just about every way imaginable. You name it, it’s been done, and more than likely, Waco’s Dr Pepper Museum has at least one of those items in its collection.
“I could work here for the next 50 years and still have plenty to do,” Webster said, looking around at the stacks of nostalgia, including gems such as a “Be a Pepper” bicycle and walls lined with glass soda bottles.
Webster is in charge of all the historical objects on exhibit and in storage at the museum. It might sound like a lot of boxes and crates and labels. But, as Webster has found, working with all things Dr Pepper comes with a little bit of glamour and a heavy dose of fun.
A large part of Webster’s job is working with Dr Pepper’s corporate offices, Dr Pepper Snapple Group, and providing pieces that have been requested on loan for one reason or another.
A couple of weeks ago, the museum got a call from corporate requesting that some 1960s Dr Pepper bottles be sent to the set of AMC’s Golden Globe-winnning series, “Mad Men.” No problem, Webster said. TV shows “Good Eats” and “Modern Marvels” have requested images, as well.
“Mad Men” is just the latest to take advantage of the museum’s vast collection of vintage Dr Pepper items. The most recent Indiana Jones movie, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, borrowed a mint-green, rust-covered Dr Pepper vending machine along with some diner-type accessories.
“We went to the movie theater as a big group to look for the stuff. I didn’t see it, but we were in the credits,” Webster said.
Hollywood types aren’t the only ones who value the museum’s expertise in Dr Pepper history.
Webster also fields calls from individuals all over about Dr Pepper. People want to know how old their bottle is or know what their memorabilia is worth (something which, as part of a nonprofit organization, she can’t answer).
Her favorite questions, she said, are from people who say their father or grandfather worked in a Dr Pepper plant somewhere and ask if the museum has any information about their relative.
“I actually have some of that information and can help them,” Webster said.
Chris Barnes, spokesman for Dr Pepper Snapple Group, which is separate from the Dr Pepper Museum, remarked on the museum’s collections and vast repository of knowledge concerning Dr Pepper.
“They’re a fantastic partner and a great resource to our consumers,” Barnes said. Dr Pepper Snapple Group has even put its collection of items in the care of the Dr Pepper Museum.
“The great thing about the people at the museum is they really embody the fun personality of the brand,” Barnes said.
Fun is the word Webster also uses when talking about her job. She loves it, she said, and it’s a job she worked hard to get.
After high school and some junior college, Webster enrolled at Baylor University, where she double-majored in museum studies and history. Already a fan of the museum from childhood visits, she decided it would be a great place to work part time.
“I basically called them and bothered them until they created a position for me,” she said. She graduated in December 2006 and then was promoted to collections manager at the museum.
Wilton Lanning Jr., founding president of the museum’s board of directors, calls the museum an asset to Waco and to Dr Pepper and said he has heard it referred to as the Smithsonian Institute of beverages.
The museum may be the pinnacle of Dr Pepper past, but Webster is working hard at keeping it up-to-date. Within the last two years, she has added fan pages, a Twitter account and a blog.
“The video blogs we do get huge responses and huge reactions,“ she said. “I just want (the museum) to be accessible to people who can’t come to it.”
PRESS RELEASE
May 4, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
In September 2008, The Dr Pepper Museum was contacted by
Mr. Bill Waters concerning a notebook he had recently purchased.
Mr. Waters believed that the notebook was from the Old Corner
Drugstore in Waco, Texas and contained information about the
creation of the soft drink now known as Dr Pepper.
Mary Beth Webster, Collections Manager, examined copies of several pages from the notebook at Mr. Waters' request. Mr. Waters requested that the Museum assist him in determining if the writing samples he provided of what appear to be the handwriting of Dr. Charles Alderton and Wade Morrison are genuine. The Dr Pepper Museum does not employ a handwriting expert. We were unable to authenticate the handwriting for Mr. Waters.
The notebook was recently made available for purchase through Heritage Auction Galleries in Dallas, Texas. It is described as - Dr Pepper: The Original "Dr Pepper Pepsin Bitters" Formula Handwritten in the ledger book from the Waco drugstore in which it was invented. A 360+ page ledger book, 8.5" x 13.5", with hundreds of drug and product formulas written and tipped in, circa 1880-1920.
After viewing the page posted on the Heritage Auction Galleries website, David Thomas, Senior Vice President of Research and Development at Dr Pepper Snapple Group, stated that this is not a formula for the soft drink Dr Pepper. It is a recipe for a bitters digestive that bears the Dr Pepper name.
The Dr Pepper Museum believes that there is a strong possibility that the book is from the Old Corner Drug Store. While this notebook would be a valuable addition to any collection of objects from the Old Corner Drugstore, the Dr Pepper Museum stands behind Dr Pepper Snapple Group’s statement that it is not the recipe for the soft drink Dr Pepper.
From Dr Pepper Snapple Group:
May 4th, 2009
Dear Dr Pepper fans:
We want you to know that recent claims regarding the auction of an "early" Dr Pepper recipe are all wet.
While it’s true that everyone wants to be a Pepper, not everyone can make Dr Pepper. That skill rests in our capable hands. Many have tried over the past 125 years to copy the unique 23-flavor formula that is Dr Pepper, but no one has succeeded. The “recipe” in question isn’t the Dr Pepper formula. Heck, it isn't even a recipe for a soft drink. If anyone thinks he can take ingredients such as wahoo bark, bitter orange peel and mandrake root and whip up an early version of Dr Pepper, he will be “bitterly” disappointed.
The 23 flavors are a mystery…kind of like the missing period in Dr Pepper.
Rest assured, Dr Pepper's 23-flavor blend is safely under lock and key in an undisclosed location. The room is under 24-hour video surveillance and only one person in the world has access to this room. Only three members of the Dr Pepper family know the formula, and they aren’t talking. We know…we’re monitoring all of their emails, Twitter feeds and Facebook updates at 10, 2 and 4 every day.
In short, while the ledger currently on auction may be an interesting historical artifact, it does not contain the formula for Dr Pepper.
Trust us…we’re the Dr Pepper Snapple Group.
BOARD AND STAFF OF THE DR PEPPER MUSEUM MOURN THE LOSS OF MR. JOHN ALBERS
Mr. John Albers passed away October 9, 2008, at the age of 77 after several months of illness. John Albers was instrumental in the creation of the Dr Pepper Museum and he and his wife Janet were frequent contributors to the Museum. The Museum’s original collection (The Sterling Collection) was obtained through the efforts of Mr. Albers. He served as a distinguished director on the Museum’s board of directors for several years.
He was a Dr Pepper executive from 1971 to 1995, and was president, chief operating officer, CEO and chairman of the company. He led it through five leveraged buyouts and was a top executive when it launched its popular "Be a Pepper" campaign. He was always focused on the company, and it was said that Dr Pepper was his second family. He will be missed.
NOMINATING COMMITTEE REPORT
SLATE OF DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS FOR 2009
The Nominating Committee of the Board of directors met on Tuesday, September 23, 2008 to consider nominees for the 2009 Officers and Directors of the Dr Pepper Museum and Free Enterprise Institute. The Committee submits the following slate for approval by the Board of Directors and election by the membership:
Nominated for three-year terms on the Board of Directors:
Place 1 Lee Lydick
Place 2 Bob Cragen
Place 3 Tom Tyler
Place 4 Holt Getterman
Place 5 Robert Borchgardt
Place 6 Richard Kaga
Place 7 Randy Slaughter
Nominated for a one-year term on the Board of Directors:
Place 14 Terry Maness
Nominated for two-year term on the Board of Directors:
Place 15 Angie Wallander
Nominated for membership as a Distinguished Director (one-year term):
Frank Alexander; Jim Ball; Gaylan Beavers; Charles Brizius; Virginia Clements; Jim Clifton;
Claude Ervin; Jack Kilduff; James Hardwick; Wilton Lanning; Scott Livesay; Robert O'Beirne;
Richard Scott; Bill Tolany; James L. Turner; Jim Westberry
Nominated for membership as an Ex-officio members of the Board of Directors (one-year term):
Calvin Smith (consultant)
B. J. Greaves (architect)
John Fletcher (marketing)
Nominated to be an officer of the Board of Directors:
President: Bob Cragen
President Elect: Matt Morrison
Vice President: Jim Alexander
Secretary: Pat Cargill
Treasurer: Frank Alexander
Past President Holt Getterman
Nominated for membership on the Executive Committee:
Gaylan Beavers
Jim Clifton
Lee Lydick
Randy Slaughter
Robert Borchgardt
WHATABURGER REMODEL FEATURES DR PEPPER
The Dr Pepper Museum was proud to attend the October 4, 2008 official opening of the downtown Waco Whataburger. The Whataburger, located right off of south-bound I-35 on 7th Street, has been Dr Pepper-themed for many years, but Whataburger stores across the country are getting makeovers, and it was only natural that the faded, well-loved Dr Pepper decor be switched out for newer more attractive items. The event was hosted by Whataburger and Dr Pepper Snapple Group and was well-attended by representatives from both companies as well as several Dr Pepper Museum staff.
RETIRED PEPPERS VISIT THE
DR PEPPER MUSEUM
On September 18, 2008, 31 retired Dr Pepper employees were bussed
down from Dallas and visited the Dr Pepper Museum. They toured the
museum's Kellum-Rotan building, enjoyed a delicious catered lunch in
the museum's courtyard, then completed their visit with a tour of the
Artesian Manufacturing and Bottling Company building and the new
W.W. "Foots" Clements: Dr Pepper Salesman exhibit.
A video about the Dr Pepper Museum produced
by the City of Waco
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