O'Conor insisted on using only cane sugar as he claimed beet sugar was inferior.  He further promised that he used "only pure materials," and his products were "clean, pure, wholesome and just as represented."  O'Conor had been in the bottling business prior to his arrival in Alamogordo  and still owned a plant in his former home town.  He invited local citizens to visit the plant and "have a cold drink."  As of March, he expected to move to a new location "if the business goes well here" (Alamogordo Advertiser March 13, 1930).

     The business, indeed, went well.  On August 18 of that year, he purchased lot #18, block #1 from Eliza Oliver and thirteen relatives, "sole heirs of G. B. Oliver, deceased," for $800.00.  Like the earlier deeds to the Hotel Weigele and other property, the title to Crystal contained a liquor clause whereby the owner promised that intoxicating beverages would not be sold on the premises.  The plant, located at 913 Pennsylvania Ave., was almost directly across the street from the old Alamogordo Bottling Works.  The firm remained at that location until its liquidation about 1948 (NMSBD 1929, 1931; Otero County Deed Records, b. 95, p. 351-354; Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, 1942). 
 

Location of Crystal Beverage Co. - Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, 1942

     In April of 1930, Crystal touted itself as "Producers of the Finest in Bottled Soda Waters [.] We Feature Cascade Ginger Ale - Nothing Better" (Alamogordo Advertiser April 3, 1930).  A bit later in the year, the company suggested, "When It's Hot[,] Drink our bottled Carbonated Beverages[,] Pure and Wholesome [-]  Every bottle sterilized[.] Why not Order a case from your grocer or direct from Crystal Beverage Co." (Alamogordo News June 19, 1930).  O'Conor advertised the company in the Alamogordo city directory as:
 

     O'Conor also advertised in the Alamogordo News, suggesting that the public "Try This New Drink - Hop Ale (same price as our soda water)[,] Graham Paper Line - Paper bags, wrapping paper, twine, etc. Ice Cream Cones, Stone's Straw Sippers, Coca-Cola in Bottles, Pabst Blue Ribbon Beverages (Alamogordo News April 2, 1931-June 4, 1931 [p. 3 of comic supplement]).  O'Conor was obviously aware that in a town the size of Alamogordo (3,096 in 1930) selling soft drinks alone would not generate sufficient income to allow the company to remain in business.  Note that the word "beer" was not used in the ad.  Prohibition still reigned throughout the United States in 1931, so the products vended by Crystal could only have been cereal beverages or near-beers that were bottled by the surviving breweries in an attempt to remain solvent.  O'Conor may have retained Alamogordo Bottling Works' Coca-Cola franchise in the early days of Crystal, but for reasons currently unknown, discontinued Coke sales in Alamogordo for a decade.  It was not until March 18, 1937, that Magnolia Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of El Paso, Texas, began advertising in the Alamogordo News (Alamogordo News March 18-October 28, 1937).
 

Alamogordo News April 2, 1931

     O'Conor ran a sales campaign from May to August of 1931.  He offered "A New Soft Drink . . . "Hi-Peak Cola". . . A seven ounce bottle of "Hi-Peak Cola" sells for only 5 c and besides every bottle cap counts toward winning valuable premiums" (Alamogordo Advertiser May 28, 1931).  Unfortunately, I have found no succeeding account of how well the campaign worked or the names of the big winners.
 

Alamogordo Advertiser August 25, 1932

     In 1932, O'Conor asked, "Why Pay Fancy Prices When You Can Have a Case of 24 7-oz. Bottles of Cascade Pale Dry or Golden Ginger Ale [?]" The price was only "90 c Per Case Net" (Alamogordo Advertiser August 25, 1932).  Advertising was quiet until 1930 when the company introduced "BRANDMIST[,] A real soda water toddy[,] Richer and a Bit Stronger . . . All Dealers."  As an afterthought, O'Conor added "Patronize Home Industry" (Alamogordo Advertiser April 18, 1935).  By 1939, the new drink was "Sparkling Broma-Kola[,] 12 oz. Bottle 5c[.] It's Delicious" (Alamogordo Advertiser November 23, 1939).

     Born on November 3, 1872, in Albion, Illinois, O'Conor was 57 years old when he moved to Alamogordo and bought Crystal Beverage Co.  He lived on the northwest corner of Virginia Ave. and Ninth St. (currently occupied by Alamo Savings).  O'Conor was a tall man, about six feet in height, of medium build, with grey hair and glasses.  Although he sported neither beard nor mustache, he always wore the same hat.  O'Conor was "pretty gruff with the kids," but seemed to get along well with adults.  He was always seen wearing faded bib overalls and his constant companion was Old Toe (or just, Toe), a large mongrel dog of German Shepherd ancestry whose normal post was in the passenger seat of O'Conor's pickup.  When Toe died, he was buried in the back yard with a granite tombstone that said "Old Toe" (Callaway Interview; Alamogordo News June 20, 1946; Personal communication, Mona K. Carrico, December 23, 2000).

     Little information has survived about the actual working of the plant.  O'Conor's machinery was automated, at least to a degree that included conveyor belts, and he had many stacks of empty cases cluttering up the front area of the bottling plant.  This suggests that he bought his bottles in large lots, probably infrequently.  O'Conor hired schoolboys like Robert Billups to wash bottles on his semi-automatic bottle washing machine for ten cents a day.  Refrigerated soda machines were as yet unheard of in Alamogordo, so merchants cooled sodas in tubs full of ice.  O'Conor delivered his products to stores and private homes in the back of his pickup truck (Callaway interview).

     O'Conor owned Crystal until his death on June 18, 1946 at the age of 73.  On the day he died, O'Conor, who had suffered with heart trouble for many years, "was seized with an attack earlier in the day at his plant, but was determined to carry on with his work" (Alamogordo NewsJune 20, 1946).  At five o'clock in the evening he suffered another attack and died before a doctor could be summoned.  His son, Orval O'Conor, a World War I disabled veteran, died just two days later in a Veterans Administration hospital in Waco, Texas.  Orval's body was shipped to Alamogordo for a double funeral with his father, although the burial was delayed so that O'Conor's daughter, Grace Marie (Mrs. L. B. Stonebrook), could return from Hankow, China, where she and her husband were doing missionary work.  Oddly, Grace O'Conor and Grace Stonebrook purchased a burial plot from the Town of Alamogordo Cemetery Board for $50.00 almost a year after O'Conor's death, March 5, 1947.  Thomas, Orval, and Grace O'Conor currently lie side by side in Monte Vista Cemetery, Alamogordo (Burial Records, Hamilton- O'Dell Funeral Home, Alamogordo; Alamogordo News June 20, 1946, June 27, 1946).

     After her husband's demise, Grace sold the bottling company property (along with another lot) to Helen Shields for "One Dollar and Other Considerations . . . (total less than $100)" on July 23, 1946.  R. F. Douglas, J. S. Martin, and W. H. Ashley continued to run Crystal until 1948 or 1949 when the firm finally went out of business.  Douglas was probably a family friend or possibly the O'Conors' lawyer.  The two Graces sold another piece of property at 1425 Florida Ave. to Douglas and his wife, Addie, on April 21 1948.    Douglass settled the mortgage less than a year later on January 13, 1949.  Grace E. O'Conor (born 1871) continued to live in Alamogordo until her death on October 18, 1958 (NMSBD 1942-43, 1946-47, 1950; Otero County Deed Records, b. 135, p. 363, b. 141, p. 266).  With the passing of O'Conor, the era of the small bottler and the local brand also faded into history.  National franchises were about to arrive in Alamogordo.

 Location

     When O'Conor became owner of the Crystal Bottling Co. in 1930, he bought the property across the street from the heirs of G. B. Oliver, changed the name to Crystal Beverage Co., and moved the plant.  Crystal's new address was 913 Pennsylvania Ave. (now White Sands Blvd.).  The structure was the third business south of the corner of Tenth St. and Pennsylvania Ave.  Holloman Lumber Co. occupied the corner itself, followed by a restaurant, then Crystal (see Sanborn map above).

     The bottling plant covered the entire lot from sidewalk to alley, a long narrow structure, measuring 25 x 120 feet. [The Sanford Map does not show the building as extending to the alley in 1942, but it could have been expanded by the time Callaway observed the building.]  The building was built of wood and faced with two large display windows on either side of the door, a situation that allowed passersby (especially curious children) to watch the bottling operation.  The most notable features visible from the windows were large stacks of empty bottles (Callaway interview; Sanford Maps, 1942).  The building had a high ceiling with the front door offset from the sidewalk.  The alcove created by the offset door contained a window on either side (Sheffield interview).  The plant's original location is now covered by the parking lot of Walgreen's Drug Store.

      In 1931 Crystal sold Hop Ale and Pabst Blue Ribbon beverages (near-beers or cereal beverages for Prohibition-era drinkers) (Alamogordo News April 2, 1931), along with Hi-Peak Cola (Alamogordo Advertiser May 28, 1931).  The next year, O'Conor offered Cascade Pale Dry or Golden Ginger Ale (Alamogordo Advertiser August 25, 1932) and advertised Brandmist, "A real soda water toddy[,] Richer and a Bit Stronger in 1935 (Alamogordo Advertiser April 18, 1935).  His last attempt at a new product was Sparkling Broma-Kola in 1939 (Alamogordo Advertiser November 23, 1939).  No bottles for any of these have ever been found, and it is probable that they were all bottled in regular Crystal Beverage Co. containers.

     By the 1940s, O'Conor sold Strawberry, Orange, Grape, and Cream Soda and occasionally bottled a Lemon-Lime drink (Callaway interview).  All or most of those flavors were likely part of his original inventory.  The company's initial embossed, proprietary bottle may have been used from the inception of the company in 1930, although a generic, paper label container may have been used for some drinks prior to 1936.  O'Conor's earliest known containers were of the proprietary style, a trend common in the 1920s to late 1930s that applied fancy embossing and original shapes to soda bottles.
 

		Tularosa Basin Historical Society

Table 6-1 - Chronology of Alamogordo Soda Bottles