Glass of any sort was scarce in El Paso prior to the coming of the railroads.  During the Spanish Colonial Period (1556-1821), goods were transported by careta (ox cart) from Mexico City along El Camino Real (The Royal Road) to Santa Fé, New Mexico, utilizing El Paso del Norte as a way station.  The long trip provided only necessary items, allowing very few glass articles to penetrate into the area.  When the Santa Fe Trail opened in 1821 the caravans often continued to El Paso and into Mexico, but glass items remained at a premium (Lockhart 1996:151-152).  It was not until the Southern Pacific Railway, coming from the west, arrived in El Paso on May 19, 1881, that bottles, windows, and other glassware became commonplace in the small dusty town.  On December 16, the Southern Pacific met the Galveston, Harrisonburg, and San Antonio at Sierra Blanca, Texas, linking the town to both coasts (Timmons 1990). 

Houck & Dieter (1881-1912) 
    John Philip Dieter was a man who saw opportunity and took action.  As the railroad approached El Paso, he and his partner, A. L. Houck of Wichita, Kansas, could see that the population of the small village would increase and that a larger, thirsty population would be ready for beer and other drinks.  According to the El Paso Times (1/1/1885), "The firm of Houck & Dieter which commenced busines as wholesale agents for beer and mineral waters, on the 2nd of February, 1880, has during the year been doing good business."  The original warehouse was on San Francisco St., and the firm only sold beer and mineral water that came from outside the city.  Originally, all bottled goods were brought by wagon from the end of track.  According to the Times, "the first car load of beer was hauled by teams from the construction camp of the ‘front.'" 

     Although Dieter was primarily interested in alcoholic beverages, he was farsighted enough to realize that the coming of the railroads meant an opportunity to fill the needs of a multitude of different thirsts.  On April 1, 1881, less than two months prior to the arrival of the railroad, the firm of Houck & Dieter opened its soda bottling establishment in El Paso.  According to the El Paso Times, the new establishment was "a branch of A. L. Houck & Co., Santa Fe, New Mexico, the largest and most extensive wholesale beer and soda house in the territory."  Dieter managed the El Paso establishment that the Times crowed was "the largest establishment west of Chicago, employing a large number of men" (EPT 1/1/1882 2:3). 

     Although the Times may have exaggerated, Houck & Dieter could rightfully claim a thriving business.  The firm bottled Soda Water, Sarsaparilla, Royal Ginger Ale, Seltzer Water, Champagne Cider, and other carbonated beverages.  Royal Ginger Ale enjoyed a particularly good reputation in early El Paso.  In addition, the firm distributed Appolinaris Water, Nassau Selter, Manitou Mineral water products, and Stafford Mineral Springs Water.  The El Paso branch bottled five hundred dozen sodas a day,  while their second plant, across the Rio Grande in Paso del Norte, Mexico, had a capacity for two hundred fifty bottles per day.  In addition, the firm sold Anheuser Busch St. Louis Beer and was the city's leading supplier of ice (EPT 6/10/1881 3; EPT 1/1/1882 2:3) .  In the beginning, its only competitor was Coffin & Co. who sold "Complete Outfit[s] for Manufacturing Mineral Water, Selter, Ginger Ale, Lemon, Sarsaparilla" and other carbonated beverages.  Coffin & Co. promised that "All orders in the City and along the line of the Railroad will receive prompt attention" (EPT 6/10/1881 4:6). 

Figure 5a-1 - Sacramento Chief 4/15/1899

 Walking into the yard, there was to be seen nothing but bottles, bottles, everywhere.  Bottles in kegs, bottles in boxes and barrels, and bottles in high heaps.  Of them all, Houck informed the reporter, there were over a million on hand then.  "I let people know that I pay the highest market price for bottles, and they come to me every day in immense quantities, from all over the Territory." (SFWNM 7/5/1880 1:3) 

     The A. L. Houck Company also manufactured lighter drinks, including soda, ginger ale, sarsaparilla, seltzer, and champagne.  Demand for these softer beverages was obviously lighter, as the firm only produced two hundred dozen (2,400) of them daily.  At what Houck called "low" prices, the firm sold "beer at $2.50 per dozen, soda at 60 cts, sarsaparilla 60 cts, ginger ale 50 cts, seltzer $2.50." Although I have been unable to ascertain with certitude how long A. L. Houck & Co. were in business, the firm was planning to construct a new building in March 1881 and continued to advertise Anheuser Busch Lager Beer and Crystal Ice throughout that year (SFWNM 7/5/1880 1:3; 1/9/1881; 3/9/1881; 3/17/1881).  Although the firm continued to produce soft drinks, it primarily associated itself with alcoholic beverages, listing itself as "Houck, A. L. & Co., Beer Bottlers and Ice Dealers" in 1882 (Green 1882:130).  The firm was beset with bad luck a year later when a fire destroyed part of the plant around February 5.  Most of the company's energy at the time was devoted to cutting and hauling between 8,000 and 10,000 tons of ice, much of which was shipped to Albuquerque.  Although the ice haulers feared that the fire damage would result in the loss of their winter's wages, Houck paid them off on February 8.  By the eleventh, Peter Winne, an insurance agent from Denver, had made good on Houck's losses.  Houck apparently went out of business in 1882, possibly because of the fire, and redirected his energy into Houck & Dieter (SFDNM 1/8/1883-2/11/1883). 

          Houck & Dieter eventually branched out to Douglas, Arizona, probably in late 1903.  In a letter to the Pabst Brewing Company, Kansas City, Missouri, dated July 16, 1903, Dieter ordered a “wagon which we deem suitable for the Douglas Business.”  At this point, Deiter had already determined that the cost to construct a “cold storage building” in Douglas would be $1,975.  Additional costs would include an architect “to prepare and receive bids” and someone to superintend the actual construction “who is conversant with the requirements of a cold storage house” (Dieter letter, July 16, 1903).  It appears that Houck & Dieter’s Douglas business was a warehouse for their products rather than a bottling works in itself.

     Their plant was located on the south side of Twelfth St. between F and G under the management of Charles J. Lachance.  The firm sold wines, liquors, cigars, Pabst beer, and some form of soda water.  Although there is no record of when the business was established, it was in place in time to be listed in the 1904 Douglas city directory.  By 1907, Houck & Dieter's Douglas operation had closed, possibly as a result of heavy competition from the newly formed Copper City Brewery that operated from 1904 to 1916.  Because Houck & Dieter's soft drink production was secondary to the liquor and beer trade, they may have been overwhelmed by the new competitor.  The Copper City Brewery produced Copper City and Tanhauser beers and attempted to survive Prohibition by selling Barette (two percent beer) along with soft drinks such as soda water and ginger ale.  A series of "beer wars" in the city starting in 1904 badly deflated prices and may have driven Houck & Dieter out of business in Douglas (DACD 1904-1907; Sunsiter 1/1/1996 1:3).  The 1907 closing date may also be connected with Dieter's death in that year. 

     The El Paso firm was originally located on San Francisco St. but moved to Fourth St. between Santa Fe and Chihuahua Streets after a flood in 1884.  The new location was on higher ground.  Shortly after the move, the partners built "a large icehouse . . . in which this winter 600 tons of natural ice will be stored, so that should we be so unfortunate as to suffer from washouts again this year, we will not suffer from the want of cooling drinks" (EPT 1/1/1885).  The term "natural ice" probably refers to ice cut in the mountains during the winter, hauled to El Paso, and stored in a well-insulated building.  This appears to be the same method used by A. L. Houck & Co. in Santa Fe, although there the ice supply would be closer.

     Although originally a partnership, the firm appears to have been run in absentia, with both Houck and Dieter residing elsewhere until Dieter relocated permanently to El Paso in 1888 to take over personal operation of the business.  Dieter, however, had come to El Paso at least long enough to get the business well established before vanishing again.  He was still in the city on New Year's Day to be interviewed by the Times, although when he left again is unknown.  The first extant El Paso City Directory (1885) lists Dieter at the firm's address.  He is next show living at the Grand Central Hotel by 1888. 

     With a capital of $90,000, the firm incorporated in 1900 with J. Philip Dieter as president and  Fred G. Lemley as secretary and treasurer and opened an office at 220 South El Paso Dr.  Along with El Paso, the company sold to anyone wishing service up and down the railroad line.  Houck & Dieter advertisements ran in newspapers in Alamogordo (from 1899-1904) and Las Cruces, New Mexico.  The office moved to 125-127 San Francisco St. in 1909 and remained there until the company dissolved.  Abe M. Heineman assumed the presidency after Dieter's death in 1907 with Hugo Eichwald as vice-president and Fred G Lemley still in the position of secretary and treasurer.  The power structure remained the same until the merge with Purity to form Empire Bottling Works in 1912.  Even though Houck & Dieter terminated their production of carbonated beverages with the advent of Empire, the firm continued in the liquor trade until the advent of Texas Prohibition in 1918.  Although Heineman continued to serve as president of Empire Bottling Works, Hugo Eichwald became president of Houck & Dieter in 1916 and held that position until the corporate dissolution two years later.  Despite the break with Empire, Houck & Dieter continued to distribute mineral waters until the firm closed  (EPCD 1885-1918 [1902, 82 "Corporations"]). 
 
 

Figure 5a-2 - 1906 Houck & Dieter Postcard to Las Cruces

     Heineman arrived in El Paso a year after Eichwald and was just in time to be elected president of Houck & Dieter.  He may, in fact, have been imported to fill the position.  Like Eichwald, he lived in hotels (such as the Hotel McCoy, Hotel Lincoln, and Hotel Linden) and never achieved permanence, despite enduring until the closing of the firm and continuing as president of Empire Bottling Works.  In 1917, still nominally the head of Empire, he moved to Los Angels and never returned to El Paso (EPCD 1888-1917). 

     At some point Houck & Dieter published an undated booklet called 200 Spicy Toasts at a price of ten cents.  The booklet listed various toasts for all occasions, contained a series of exotic drink recipes, and advertised Hed-Eez.  Captions like "Hed-Eez cures Hed-Akes," "Hed-Eez is made of Celery," "Hed-Eez moves the Bowels," or "Hed-Eez is a Nerve Tonic" formed headers on all pages of the booklet.  Although the product never appeared in any of Houck & Dieter's city directory ads, it may have been a patent medicine distributed by the company or may have been a joke.  The booklet did suggest, however, the Hed-Eez was available at "the Soda Fountain" (Richard Chavez collection, El Paso). 

     Dieter was involved in a second firm that was less well known, at least in El Paso.  Along with his partner, George D. Sauer, he founded the firm of Dieter & Sauer in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.  Although the firm was first listed in the El Paso City Directory at the northwest corner of Calle del Comercia and Avenida Lerdo in 1898, it was probably in existence earlier, possibly as the second branch of the bottling works mentioned in the 1882 Times article.  In apparent competition with Houck & Dieter, the company promoted Apollinaris Company Mineral Water in 1898.  Dieter & Sauer advertised itself as "transporters and jobbers, groceries, liquors, wines, cigars" (EPCD 1898-89; EPT 1/1/1882 2:3). 

     In 1906, the company moved across the Rio Grande to locate at 210 San Francisco St. with George D. Sauer as manager.  The timing of the move is interesting but requires some background information.  On March 17, 1858, Gobernador Guerra of the Mexican estado of Tamaulipas issued a decree establishing a Zona Libre (free zone) along his state's adjoining border with the American state of Texas.  The Zona Libre granted bordering towns special exemptions from the exorbitant tariff duties required by Mexico.  For most of the nineteenth century, the zone remained active only in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, but Mexico extended the Zona Libre to the Pacific Ocean (including El Paso, Mexico–later Ciudad Juárez) on March 25, 1884.  These conditions encouraged firms in El Paso, Texas, to establish branches in El Paso, Mexico or relocate across the Rio Grande.  It is likely that Dieter & Sauer had chosen their location to take advantage of the zone's favorable trade conditions.  Mexican President Benito Juárez abolished the Zona Libre on July 1, 1905, thus removing the incentive for firm's Mexican location and probably hastening the move to El Paso the following year )Bell & Smallwood 1982:9-11, 44, 58-59). 

     The firm was no longer advertised in the city directories after Dieter's death in 1907.  Sauer went on to form the George G. Sauer & Company, "commission merchants, export and import" at 715 Myrtle Ave.  The firm specialized in "THE CELEBRATED A FLOR DE MEXICO, CUBAN HAND MADE CIGARS" and boasted, "We also make the well known El Paso McGinty 5-Cent Cigar" (EPT 7/19/1906 2:6).  In 1915, in addition to running his company, he became president of Runkle & Peacock, Inc. as well as vice president of the El Paso Brewers Association.  By 1920, he was no longer involved with Runkle & Peacock and was listed as residing in Red Bank, New Jersey.  He returned to El Paso in 1923, rooming at the Toltec Club, but soon went back East permanently to New York City, although his company continued to flourish in El Paso until 1934 (EPCD 1898-99-1908-1930; EPT 12/25/1889 8:4). 

     J. Philip Dieter was an interesting figure in early El Paso.  Born Johan Philipp Dieter in Gross-Biberhau, Germany on February 2, 1851, Dieter came to the United States as a young man and married his first wife, Anna E. McNeal, on November 12, 1873.  The couple lived in Wichita, Kansas, and produced three children all of whom were victims of a cholera epidemic there.  He met and befriended Amos L. Houck in Wichita and arrived in El Paso prior to the arrival of the railroads in 1881 (Dieter n.d.:19; geneaological material prepared by Sigrid O. Harnsberger and other descendents of Dieter).  The  El Paso Times described him as "a courteous gentleman thoroughly posted in all the details of this extensive manufactory, and is always ready to impart information to the many people who visit the works" (EPT1/10/1881 2:3).  A later edition showed that Dieter may not always have been so courteous at home when his wife, Annie, divorced him on October 22, 1887 (Beard 1995:291; EPT 10/23/1887 3).  He soon remarried to Minna Sophie Henriette Bruhn, sister of his lifelong friend, Henning Bruhn.  Bruhn, a fellow German, was manager of the Lone Star Brewing Company of San Antonio.  In response to Dieter's long-range proposal, Minna had telegraphed a reply that consisted of a single word:  Ja. After the couple enjoyed a three-month honeymoon in Europe, they returned to El Paso (Harnsberger genealogical data).   Prior to his remarriage, Dieter had lived at the Grand Central Hotel, but the couple moved to 302 S. Stanton St. while waiting for the construction of their eleven room house at 404 Magoffin Ave. which was not completed until 1898.  By the turn of the century, Dieter was president of the El Paso Cigar Manufacturing Company, president of Consumers Ice Company, and president of the International Light and Power Company along with his connections to Houck & Dieter and Dieter & Sauer.  In 1905, Dieter bought the El Paso Brewery out of receivership for $60,000 against a bid by William Griesser, the original builder and promoter of the establishment [Henning Dieter's notes in Minna Dieter's diary (op. cit.) disagrees with the $60,000 figure in the Times article.  Henning notes on page 52 that on March 1, "Dieter bought the El Paso Brewery for $76,500, paid $25,000 down, signed a note for $51,500.  He sold the brewery in September for $225,000 cash and paid off the note on December 7."].  At the time the brewery contained in its vats 2,793 barrels of beer worth $30,000. J. Philip Dieter died September 23, 1907 and was buried in Concordia Cemetery in El Paso (EPCD 1888-1908; EPT 3/15/1905 8:5; Tombstone of J. P. Dieter, Concordia Cemetery).  His tombstone reads: 

He was best remembered by El Pasoans as the owner a mansion that he built for his wife, Annie, around 1880.  The house was constructed of dark red brick with a beautiful walnut staircase leading to the upper story.  The main entrance had "doors paned with sand blasted glass and etched in fancy design" (EPHP 8/27/1935 6:3).   The house was so ponderous that it became the second site of the Hotel Dieu Hospital in March 1892 and was later used as a boarding house before it was razed in 1936 (EPHP 11/14/1936 3:2; EPT 12/23/1936). 

     His partner in the firm, Amos L. Houck, was equally as noteworthy.  Born in Massillon, Ohio of Pennsylvanian parents around 1847, Houck had married his wife, Jennie, by at least 1876.  Jennie, too, was from Ohio, and the couple had two children, a boy named, Rex, and a daughter that the census only enumerated as "Baby" in 1880 (Twelfth census 1880).  Houck was in Wichita at least as early as 1872 when he and partner with J. A. Wallace formed the firm of Wallace & Houck, "dealers in farm machinery, wagons, buggies, etc." (Anonymous 1881:51).  The farm machinery was displayed at 308 and 310 Douglas, while the "spacious carriage and wagon repository" was located across the street.  The firm of Wallace & Houck was so successful that they opened branches in Kingman, New Mexico Territory (now Arizona) and Saratoga, Kansas. 

     By 1878, he was listed in the City Directory as a partner in Houck Brothers Hardware along with his father, Samuel (Bentley 1910).   The Houcks shared a home at that time but moved into separate quarters the following year, although they remained in business together until at least 1880 when Amos listed himself as a "Hardware merchant."  In 1887 he extended his operations to join W. A. Thomas in the firm of Houck & Thomas Real Estate.  The following year, the company added loans to their listing and, as Houck, Thomas & Co., had become proprietors of Sarcoxie Lime Works (Wichita Board of Trade 1887:107; Wichita City Directories 1877-1878, 1881-1888; Tenth Census 1880:5).  Houck apparently left the hardware business at some point to concentrate on real estate.  In the 1891 City Directory, the hardware business is listed as Samuel Houck, Hardware, Stoves, and Tinware.  Like his El Paso partner, J. Philip Dieter, Houck built a mansion.  Located on North Topeka Ave., the structure soared five stories into the air with an elaborate, wrap-around porch in front and a minaret-like tower guarding the approach.  Houck may have suffered setbacks and/or ill health, however.  He was listed as a boarder at the Carey Hotel in 1894 and thereafter vanished from the Wichita City Directory Wichita Board of Trade 1887:34; Wichita City Directories 1889-1895; Wichita Daily Eagle 10/9/1887.  The boom in Wichita was over but where Houck resided during the next nine years is unknown.  However, he resurfaced in El Paso in 1903 and worked as a salesman for Houck & Dieter until 1906.  At that point the impressive Mr. Houck again vanished, possibly this time in death (EPCD 1903-1906).

     Gardner, known at that point in his life as Lon or Lonnie, galvanized into action.  With $1,750 in venture capital, he opened the Purity Bottling & Manufacturing Company in April, 1906.  The original works, located "in a small adobe shack at Texas and Campbell Streets" (EPHP 9/2/1939 8:6), produced about 200 dozen bottles per day.  This hand-operated plant produced a sufficient quantity of "pop" to warrant the purchase of "a lovable, but spavined old horse, called Friday"(EPHP 9/2/1939 8:6) from Joe Wright at a cost of $15.00.  Although Friday's front legs were so stiff that they would hardly bend, he was able to pull a "little wagon [Gardner] had bought from the Myers Vehicle Co. with a small payment down and the rest eventually" (EPH 2/11/1928 1:1).  At that time Gardner made all his own deliveries. 

     Gardner claimed that he "pioneered soft drinks into stores and soda stands" (EPH 2/11/1928 1:1).  He encouraged high school (and younger) students to set up their own small businesses in the form of soda stands where passersby could slake their thirst with a cold bottle of Purity's Pale Dry Ginger Ale or one of his other flavors.  Success inspired other students to set up their own stands made from empty boxes, and soon young entrepreneurs, many of whom later became successful El Paso businessmen, were vending Purity beverages throughout the city (EPHP 9/2/1939 8:6).

     Gardner wrote a short but interesting piece for fellow bottlers in The Bottler's Helper in 1907: 
 

There are two interesting implications from this article.  First, Gardner was obviously highly involved in the bottling industry even at this early period of his career.  This may indicate that he had some experience in bottling (other than delivering for El Paso Ice and Refrigeration Co.) previous to the beginnings of Purity.  Second, he implies that his bottles have paper labels.  The other common labeling device at the time was embossing.  Embossing was certainly not cheap or easily applied.  That implication is far reaching in that it also suggests that his competitors may have used paper labels.  Thus far, I have discovered no examples of paper labels on early El Paso bottles. 

    Apparently Gardner had begun expansion even at this early date.  Phoenix, Arizona collectors report digging numerous bottles from Purity Bottling & Manufacturing Co. in city dumps.  This created somewhat of a mystery for them.  Gardner did not label his Purity bottles with the El Paso city designation, so Arizona collectors assumed it was an Arizona company, and some thought the bottles may have belonged to the Purity Soda Works of Tucson (personal communication - Michael R. Miller).  The railroad connection, however, made intercity (and interstate) commerce not only possible but fairly easy. 

     By 1908, Gardner, along with a partner, Benjamin A. Booth, began listing the company in the City Directory.  Booth had come to El Paso in 1903 and worked for two years at Busy Bee Confectionery before operating a boarding house at 215 Wyoming.  He continued to maintain the boarding house when he entered in business with Gardner.  The business was such a success that Gardner and Booth were forced to seek larger quarters, moving the firm to 613 San Antonio St. in 1909.  The same year Booth was replaced by William R. Piper, a cashier for Austin & Marr.  Like Booth, Piper had come to El Paso in 1903. He was a cashier for Southwest Telephone & Telegraph prior to joining Austin & Marr (a real estate, rental, loans, and insurance company) in 1910.  There he remained until the firm became the James L. Marr Company where he held the position of secretary in 1916.  He continued his position and added the responsibilities of secretary and treasurer for the  Marr Brothers Investment Company and treasurer for Mortgage Trust Company from 1918 to 1923.  By 1925 the firm had become the Marr-Piper Company with Piper as president; he was concurrently secretary treasurer for the  Southwestern Tourist Camp Company.  The following year he had dropped the tourist business but remained top man at Marr-Piper.   Marr-Piper continued in existance until 1937, although Piper became involved in various other real estate, rental, and loan agencies concurrent with his activities in Marr-Piper into the 1940s.  John Shea, a new arrival in El Paso, joined Piper and Gardner in 1910.  The three continued their involvement together until the merge with Houck & Dieter in 1912.  With the dissolution of Purity, Shea became a conductor from 1913 to 1916, then worked as a jitney operator and elevator man at the smelter until he retired in 1920 (EPCD 1903-1940).

Figure 5a-3 - Empire's First Ad in the 1913 El Paso City Directory

Figure 5a-4 - Empire's Ad in the 1919 El Paso City Directory

     Empire grew rapidly.  In 1917, the firm constructed a "five story brick building which houses the largest soft drink supply business in the entire country" on the corner of Mills Ave. and Florence St.  Empire now serviced "a territory from San Antonio to Phoenix" (EPH 7/14/1920 5:5).  At some point, Empire opened a branch in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, and advertised ins products as being available form both plants in 1920.  The Juárez plant was probably closed with the change to Empire Products Corp. in 1925; it was certainly gone by the Empire advertisements in 1931 (EPHP 7/3/20 12:1; 4/3/31 16:1).  Although Heineman retained his position as president of the corporation, he moved to Los Angeles to expand operations to the West Coast (EPCD 1917). 

     About this same time, Gardner may have done some growing on his own.  An enigmatic entry in the New Mexico State Business Directory for 1916 lists "Coca-Cola Bottling Works, L Gardner, prop" in Deming, New Mexico (less than 200 miles from El Paso).  Having seen the phenomenal success of Hope Smith with the Coca-Cola franchise in El Paso, Gardner may have jumped at the chance to open one of his own–but he had to go to Deming to do it.  This was the first Coca-Cola franchise in Deming (Munsey 1972:305) and led to the Las Cruces franchise a year later.  By 1917, however, the franchise was taken over by Southwestern Coca-Cola Bottling Company, managed by Melvin Phillips with L. H. Phillips as general superintendent.  The company gained control of the Coca-Cola Bottling Company in Phoenix in 1918 and continued to use the name Southwest Coca-Cola Bottling Company at that location until 1950.  The Deming branch, however, was renamed New Mexico Coca-Cola Bottling Company in 1930 (NMSBD 1916-1930; Phoenix City Directories 1905-06-1950).  Gardner may have taken on more than he could handle or may simply have made a smart business decision in selling out. 
 

Figure 5a-5 - 1923 Empire-Link Ad

Figure 5a-6 - Sun Carnival Empire Dr. Pepper Ad

     National sales produced occasional interesting situations.  Bronco, for example, was advertised as having a "kick."  Gardener described an incident: 
 

Gardner was proud that "in El Paso [Old Monk] outsells any national product in a 5¢ bottle with the exception of Coca-Cola"(EPH 2/11/1928 1:1). 

     With the repeal of Prohibition, Empire added Anheuser Busch to their list of products, distributing Budweiser beer in bottles and draft until 1957.  In 1938, Gardner's daughter, Isabella C. Zimmerman, became a vice-president of the corporation and was followed by her husband, William W. Zimmerman, who was elected as a vice-president and sales manager two years later.  Empire celebrated its thirty-third anniversary in 1939 by placing its twelve-ounce bottle of Pale Dry Ginger Ale on sale for five cents.  The popular drink had been priced at fifteen cents per bottle for several years.  By 1940, the company was branching out with a plant in Las Cruces, managed by C. W. Thompson and a representative, John Gomez, at 210 South Bullard in Silver City, New Mexico (although neither New Mexico location was still listed in the 1942-43 directory).  When Lawrence retired from Empire in 1944, Nell S. Gardner assumed the presidency, with the Zimmermans as vice-president and secretary/treasurer.  Lawrence Gardner may have become feeble and been moved into a nursing home.  He was listed at a different address from Nell in 1949.  Gardiner died in 1950 (EPCD 1931-1944; NMSBD 194041-1942-43; EPHP 9/2/1939 8:6). 

     Lawrence Gardner had been known as a "nice guy;" he used to teach the old ladies on Kern Place to make wine.  Gardner would take grapes and equipment from Empire into their homes and cheerfully instruct them in the winemakers' art.  His wife, Nell, was known as a "sweet" lady to some (Price interview) but was described by others as a "formidable woman, tall, erect, bordering on being heavy-set. . . . She always wore a hat, more often a rather broad-brimmed hat" (EPHP 11/10/1976 8:3).  Nell shared a bit of her personal philosophy on her 85th birthday: 
 

Nell was known for being conscientious and taking her duties seriously.  Once when she was due to speak at a ladies club, she fell and broke her wrist.  Undaunted, she immediately went to the doctor's office and had the wrist bound with a bandage.  Although the doctor implored her to remain and allow him to properly set and treat the injury, she declined and continued on to her appointment.  At the conclusion of her talk, she returned for proper treatment.  Her daughter, Isabella, on the other hand, had a different reputation.  She was once described as "the meanest woman on the face of the Earth" (Price interview), a person who hated everyone.  Although her detractors disliked her, she was Nell's only child, and her mother mourned her untimely death in 1958 (EPHP 11/10/1976 8:3). 
 

Figure 5a-7 - 1947 Empire Products Corp. Receipt

Figure 5a-7 - 1948 Empire Products Corp. Bill

     Nell Gardner had left a remarkable legacy of civic service behind her.  Aside from her business achievements, she had been a member of the Altrusa Club, Pan American round Table, and secretary-treasurer of the Woman's Department of the El Paso Chamber of Commerce.  She was highly involved with the Pilot's Club, starting the first unit outside the U. S. (in Juarez, Mexico) and acting as the driving force in establishing the Pilot Home for the Aged in 1937, prior to the realization for a need for elderly care by most Americans.  She was one of the first women elected to the Board of Regents of the University of Texas in 1932.

     The Grapette franchise in El Paso opened its doors as the Grapette Bottling Company located at 2127-29 Texas Ave.  The owner of the franchise, Jennings A. Smith, a newcomer to El Paso, operated the company until 1947 when he sold it to Charles R. Magness, Jr.  Magness, the former owner of a shoe store in Little Rock, Arkansas, moved the plant to 541 Magoffin Ave. to begin his new operation.  Magness was apparently a better shoe salesman than a bottler; the company deteriorated until he was willing to dispose of it at "a bargain price" in 1952 (Price interview; EPCD 1942-1955; EPT 4/5/1953 B13:4). 

     William Kent Elliott, John Christie, and Richard C. Price bought Grapette in November 1952.  Price, born in Denver, Colorado, in 1924, was and is a colorful character, lively and enthusiastic.  His personality well fitted him for the roll of arbiter and peacemaker among the El Paso bottlers.  He lived in Denver, Colorado, prior to the purchase of Grapette and had heard of a wholesale tobacco and candy business in Colorado Springs that he wanted to buy, but he could not get the financing.  About that time, he called his brothers-in-law, Elliott and Christie, in El Paso in an attempt to raise the necessary money.  Elliott and Christie said that his mother-in-law, Mary Wilcox, had previously bought the Grapette Bottling Company as a tax write-off but was tired of the place.  He offered Price the opportunity to come to El Paso and run it.  Price took the chance, and, along with Elliott and Christie, began the operation of Grapette (Price interview). 

     Elliott and Christie were Price's brothers-in-law, married to his wife's sisters.  Both were long- time El Paso residents.  William Kent Elliott started out in El Paso (in 1947) as a salesman for Continental Oil Company but had switched to selling cars at Rugel Motors by 1950.  He stayed at Rugel, becoming general sales manager by 1955, until he became involved with Grapette (1956), although he continued selling cars for his father's dealership, Lone Star Motor Company.  By 1957, he had already had enough of Grapette and devoted his time to the automotive industry as vice president of Lone Star Motor Company, Lone Star Equipment Company, and Lone Star Motor Finance Company.  With a small break about 1950, as assistant secretary and treasurer of  C. l. Hill, Inc., an investment company, John P. Christie made a career with Pioneer Abstract & Guarantee Title Company, a group controlled by his wife's family.  Like Elliott, his association with Grapette was temporary.  Price's wife was the former Jean Wilcox; her father, Harvey Wilcox, owned Lone Star Motor Company and was the distributor for all GMC automotive products in El Paso except Buick (Price interview; EPCD 1947-1957). 

     The plant at that time employed seven people, all managed by Price.  Price announced in 1954 that the company intended "to make El Paso and the vicinity more soft drink conscious" (EPT 4/25/1954 E11:2) by administering a "test survey of its 11 beverages and . . . revising ingredients of meet results of the survey" (EPHP 4/25/1954 39:1).  Originally, Grapette products were marketed in six-ounce bottles packed in thirty-bottle cases. Grapette was made with almost pure grape juice--and very little carbonation.  One El Paso church purchased twelve cases of Grapette and stored their supply in a closet throughout the winter.  In the spring, the church passed out the drinks to their young choir members who promptly displayed evidence of intoxication.  Investigation disclosed that the Grapette had fermented during the winter to become a weak wine.  Price and the church officials agreed that in the future, Grapette would only be consumed while fresh from the bottler (Price interview). 

     During the 1950s, many Lower Valley farmers, such as Lee Moore and Sam Moore, operated vast farms that employed large numbers of Braceros from Mexico.  Most of these large farms operated their own commissaries along with other support businesses, such as blacksmith shops and/or drug stores.  Generally these stores were supplied by wholesalers, such as Freedman & Bendolin who offered low-quality gloves and other supplies to Braceros at inflated prices.  These commissaries also carried large quantities of bottled sodas.  Even though many of the Braceros would throw away the bottles instead of returning them, the high-volume sales attracted bottlers like Price to the Lower Valley trade.  Price would have his drivers load their trucks until he was "afraid the tires would blow" and sent them to the Lower Valley farms.  The lucrative trade continued until the late early 1960s when the bottlers were "run out by pills, powder, and punch mix" (Price interview). 

     Price became good friends with John Yowell, owner and manager of Barq's Bottling Company.  Because the two men could trust each other, they devised ways to use cooperation as a tool to benefit both companies.  Between them, they controlled 85-90% of the flavor business in El Paso, so they divided the public schools between them--Barq's would have a machine in one school, Grapette/Empire one in the next.  That way each company would have less stops, which added up to less unproductive driving time, but would still vend approximately the same amount of product.  It was a situation where both companies could gain and no one would lose (Price interview).