DR. ENUF IS HERE!
The story of Johnson City Tennessee's most famous product

Dr. Enuf today has become synonymous with Johnson City, TN and Tri-City Beverage in particular. While Mountain Dew is arguably the most famous product that was partially created in this city, Tri-City being the first franchise to bottle the drink, Tri-City Beverage stopped bottling the brand in the mid-sixties. Dr. Enuf which the company still bottles has surpassed it's sibling by the fact that not only is it legendary, but it's still the main product line of the company which is still bottling in Johnson City today, making it a national brand that still feels local. Much like Mountain Dew there are some myths that hang around this brand as well, the main one being that the brand was introduced to Johnson City in 1949.(1) Yet unlike Mountain Dew's myth I now have proof that the brand wasn't introduced until later.

In 1949 William Mark Swartz, President of Mark Williams Chemical Co. of Chicago, Ill., decided to create a soft drink that would relieve fatigue, headaches, indigestion etc. for his employees, but mostly the drink would be an energy booster. He applied for a trademark for the drink on May 19, 1951, and according to most sources advertised in Bottler's World for franchises, one of which was Tri-City, the trademark was granted on December 2, 1952.(3) The trademark was first used in commerce on April 4, 1951, according to the trademark website, so I wonder if Dr. Enuf truly was actually created in 1949.

On June 20, 1951, the first ad for Dr. Enuf shows up in the Johnson City Press Chronicle.(2) This ad is offering Dr. Enuf free to four hundred randomly selected individuals who would qualify by sending in the attached coupon.(2) The ad makes a big deal about these four hundred being the first to try Dr. Enuf, which was obviously not available to the general public at this point in time in the Johnson City area. The next item is a quarter page ad that appears on June 27, 1951 which is an "Introductory Offer" of ninety-eight cents per 4 bottle carton.(2) A half page ad follows this on June 28, 1951, with another full page on July 5, 1951 that features for the first time testimonials of the people who were selected for the free Dr. Enuf in Johnson City.(2) Then the biggest ad of all is placed on July 12, 1951, this ad is a full two page ad.(2)

Thus began the story of Dr. Enuf in the only place that the brand actually took off and thrived. Tri-City Beverage would bottle the brand locally until the early 1990's when they would finally go national with the brand thus joining other "local" brands like Cheerwine, which the company distributes. As a personal point of interest, I became aware of the brand during this period, when is finally penetrated the coal fields of Southwest Virginia, and upon first taste hated it only to pick it up again later with better results.

There is another legend that needs to be looked into, this is the myth that Tri-City Beverage were the ones who were granting franchises to other bottling companies after they acquired their own franchise. This is based on the assumption that Tri-City actually owned the brand since that time, I guess that picture of the formula being transported in a locked case at Tri-City airport in 1951 has them assuming that Charlie bought the brand then. I don't think that this is true and research into the Dr. Enuf trademark backs my theory up. The Mark Williams Chemical Company were the owners of the Dr. Enuf trademark until signing over the trademark to the Dr. Enuf Corporation of East Tennessee (aka Tri-City Beverage) on September 11, 1989.(3) So it is much more likely that it is Mark Williams Chemical that is handing out franchises, maybe with the help of Charlie Gordon, which might be the bit of truth behind this particular legend.

According to the Dr. Enuf website on August 23, 2000 "New" Diet Dr. Enuf was available, this introduction must predate the site a bit as there is no press release announcing this in the press room.(4) In May 2001 it was announced on the Press Room section of the Dr. Enuf website that the company was going offer the brand nation wide; however, an updated press release on February 05, 2002, which is the version of the story that is still on their site, replaces the older release causing me to speculate that due to some unforeseen complication they didn't go national until 2002.(4) By May 13, 2002 they had started selling their products online aside from the Dr. Enuf products they also offered the Charlie O's line and Gordon's Cream Soda line.(4) On June 21, 2002 the company announced their new product Dr. Enuf Herbal which is a cherry flavored version of Dr. Enuf infused with Ginseng and Guarana.(4) Diet Dr. Enuf Herbal was announced on November 6, 2003.(4) The product would be packaged in plastic bottles for the first time with the introduction of the 16oz bottles on July 19, 2004 for the specific use in vending machines.(4) These have since been replaced with the 20oz bottles, which can only be obtained in certain machines as most distribute the glass versions. Finally the company stopped using aspartame in their diet drinks in favor of Sucralose(4), in the form of the Splinda brand at the moment. The company introduced the retro acl glass bottles in 2007. That pretty much catches us up on the modern history of the brand and it's evolution within the past ten years.

In conclusion, no matter what came before, Tri-City are the sole owners of the brand today and apparently sales are still going well if the sheer amount of product in the Tri-Cities and adjoining areas is to be believed. Dr. Enuf may have not been created here; however, the area has certainly adopted the brand as their own.

Tri-City Beverage during the introduction of Dr. Enuf

The first Dr. Enuf ad from June 20, 1951. Just click on the ad to enlarge.

The second full page Dr. Enuf ad from June 27, 1951. Just click on the ad to enlarge.

The half page Dr. Enuf ad from June 28, 1951. Just click on the ad to enlarge.

The third full page Dr. Enuf ad from July 5, 1951. Just click on the ad to enlarge.

This is the two full page Dr. Enuf ad from July 12, 1951. Just click on the ad to enlarge.

7oz earlier double Paper label Dr. Enuf bottle dated 1951

7oz later single Paper label Dr. Enuf bottle dated 1951

7oz Paper label amber Dr. Enuf bottle dated 1951. It is still capped and was bottled by the Dad's Root Beer Bottling Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who also bottled the Dr. Enuf Cola evidenced by the cap below.

7oz Dr. Enuf bottle dated 1952, couriously it doesn't have a town name on it, I'm beginning to think that none of the earlier acl bottles did.

Johnson City apparently wasn't the only franchise that bottled Dr. Enuf early on. This is a bottle cap from Dad's Root Beer Bottling Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The odd thing is that this cap isn’t for the Lemon Lime based Dr. Enuf that was bottled in Johnson City, Tenn, but was actually a Dr. Enuf COLA. Tri-City wouldn't try a cola until the early 1990's. The cap came from a full bottle of Dr. Enuf Cola that I bought off of eBay, the bottle was dated 1953 and can be seen below. Due to the cap rusting I have since opened it and the liquid inside was indeed a cola, and no I didn't taste it, I don't think that fifty five year old cola would be very pleasurable to drink.

7oz Dr. Enuf bottle dated 1953.

A Dr. Enuf six pack from the 1950's.

Early Dr. Enuf sign

7oz Dr. Enuf bottle dated 1965

7oz Dr. Enuf bottle dated 1967

7oz Dr. Enuf bottle dated 1972

7oz Dr. Enuf bottle dated 1977

7oz Dr. Enuf bottle error bottle

6 1/2oz Dr. Enuf bottle dated 1978

10oz styrofoam Dr. Enuf bottle

10oz Dr. Enuf Cola Number 7 of first 24 bottled on August 12th, 1992. Unfortunately Dr. Enuf Cola was a flop.

12oz Dr. Enuf 50th anniversary bottle from 1999

12oz Dr. Enuf bottle from around 2000. Tri-City Beverages launched their drenuf.com website in 2000, and started putting the web address on the back sticker, this label still has the “Ask your doctor about Dr. Enuf” tag line on it like the earlier 1999 version. This would be dropped on later releases.

12oz Dr. Enuf bottle from somewhere around 2005. This bottles back label is starting to conform to the modern version of the label available today, actually it’s almost exact except for the placement of some of the paragraphs. The front label still has the bottom of the art work as the end of the sticker which would be rectified on later releases, then there’s the older style cap.

12oz Dr. Enuf clear sticker label bottle from 2007. Still sporting the front label of earlier releases, but the back label has now become the modern version.

12oz retro style Dr. Enuf ACL bottles from 2007 and 2008

12oz Dr. Enuf and Diet Dr. Enuf sticker label bottles from 2009

12oz Dr. Enuf and Diet Dr. Enuf Herbal sticker label bottles from 2009. The front sticker now extends past the artwork making a better looking label.

10oz Dr. Enuf and Diet Dr. Enuf styrofoam label bottles from 2009

10oz Dr. Enuf Herbal styrofoam label bottle from 2009

20oz Dr. Enuf and Diet Dr. Enuf plastic bottles from 2009

20oz Dr. Enuf Herbal plastic bottles from 2009

20oz Dr. Enuf clear plastic bottle

If you want to find out more or want to try this brand check out.

www.drenuf.com

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