Waco, Texas, June 12, 1885: Charles “Doc” Alderton, a pharmacist at Morrison’s Old Corner Drug Store at Fifth Street and Mary Avenue downtown, has finally developed a soda fountain drink he thinks thirsty customers will enjoy and order every time they come into the drug store.
He calls his newly concocted soft drink the “Waco.” All this week, customers have come into the store, sat down at the soda fountain counter and laughingly shouted out, “Hey, Doc, give me a shot of Waco!”
“Doc” Alderton loves to work behind the soda fountain counter when he’s not in the pharmacy, and he loves to hear that shout out for a “Waco.”
Customers have been telling him for years that they were tired of the “same ole fruit flavored drinks” he served. They wanted something different. Alderton promised he would create exactly what they wanted.
For the better part of a year, the good doctor has been applying his pharmaceutical knowledge to blending assorted fruit flavors and conducting various experiments to come up with just the right taste for his new soft drink.