The Yowells experienced only minor problems with sugar rationing during World War II, but prices of the sweetener soared.  They bought sugar from James A. Dick Co. in El Paso in 400- 500 lb. bags.  The company bought some sugar from Tony Fernandez of Coca-Cola in Juàrez, but the Mexican company used brown sugar that was too dirty for American consumption.  The filtering process necessary to clean the sugar to U. S. standards made the final product as expensive as buying sugar in El Paso.
 

Figure 11b-1 - Barq's ad in the El Paso Coliseum 10th Annual Championship Rodeo program (1947) [Courtesy of Joew W. Yowell]	Figure 11b-2 - A Barq's Delivery Truck (1947) [Courtesy fo Joe W. Yowell]

     Yowell initially rented an old garage at 906 Texas Ave. but soon outgrew the limited space in 1944 and moved to 315 E. Missouri Ave.  Although the building is gone now, it was then at a place where the city was expanding.  The expansion created problems when the city installed parking meters on the street in front of the plant and began "giving the drivers a hard time" when they parked along the street to load full cases and unload the empties.  The harassment became so bad that Yowell relocated again in 1954 to 1315 West Main Dr.  About 1960, the company bought rest of block (Yandell Blvd. & W. Main Dr.) and built a new warehouse (EPCD 1939- 1955).
 

Figure 11b-3 - Barq's Employees (1947), John W. Yowell, far left [Courtesy of Joe W. Yowell]	Figure 11b-4 - The Barq's Fleet of Trucks in front of 315 E. Missouri [Courtesy of Joe W. Yowell]

     Yowell was noted in El Paso as a shrewd businessman, and the growth of Barq's is a demonstration of his prowess.  Other bottlers respected Yowell but were occasionally unnerved by his tactics.  According to Robert R. Ritter, Yowell was "a thorn in everybody's side" because he was "always cutting prices" (Ritter interview).  Thorn or not, Yowell's tactics worked. 

     Yowell reintroduced Nu-Grape Soda to El Paso in 1945.  Although Empire Products Corporation had introduced Nu-Grape to El Paso in 1931, the drink had faded into oblivion by the 1940s.  About the same time (1945), the company reintroduced Orange Crush (another former Empire product) to El Paso along with a drink called Dr. Wells that was similar to Dr. Pepper [Orange Crush was franchised by the Orange Crush Company of Evanston, Illinois, and Dr. Wells was distributed by Ludford Fruit Products, Incorporated, Los Angeles, California (Riley 1958:286-288)].  In 1951, Yowell's son, Joe, joined the Navy and served four years during the Korean conflict, returning in March 1955. 

 Yowell took on another new line, Double Cola, in 1954 to compete with Coke, Pepsi, and RC.  Although he bottled the drink at the West Main plant, he advertised in the telephone directories as the Double Cola Bottling Company in 1955 and 1956 and even went so far as to put Double Cola Bottling Company signs up on the building and paint Double Cola on the doors of his trucks.  Barq's added Bubble Up, franchised through the Bubble Up Corporation of Peoria, Illinois, in 1955 and prepared for an even greater expansion.  Despite the growth, Barq's employed less than twenty people.  As part of the new growth, Yowell brought his son, Joe W. "Dub" Yowell into the business (EPCD 1954-1956; EPTD 1955-1956; Directory of El Paso Manufacturers 1955; EPHP4/24/1954 39:1; 4/28/1956 F12:1). [Double Cola had been introduced in 1936 (Riley 1958:268, 286-287)]
 

Figure 11b-5 - The New Fleet of Double Cola Trucks in back of 315 E. Missouri (1654) [Courtesy of Joe W. Yowell]