In 1906 Martin R. Sweeney became dissatisfied
with his occupation as a plumber and joined in the competition with Houck
& Dieter, Purity Bottling and Manufacturing Company, and Henry Pfaff
as an El Paso soda bottler. He soon took on a partner to form Woodlawn
Bottling Company and grew into one of the most successful, long-term, family-owned
businesses in El Paso. The firm began bottling Pepsi-Cola in 1935
as the first Pepsi franchise in the State of Texas and is known today as
the Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company of El Paso.
Martin R. Sweeney Bottling Works (1905-1908)
Martin R. Sweeney was born in St. Louis, Missouri,
and arrived in El Paso in 1903 or early 1904. He began his life in
the city as a plumber for Frank Riley, but transferred to the Frazer Brothers
by 1905. In these early years, Sweeney was somewhat footloose, boarding
with a variety of people and changing his living quarters at least annually.
In the latter half of 1905, he made the decision that charted his course
for the rest of his life. Like Lon Gardner (Purity Bottling and Manufacturing
Co.), Sweeney saw a need in the young city and set out to fill it.
Liquor dealers like Houck & Dieter and Henry Pfaff had been the only
soft drink bottlers in town, selling carbonated beverages to be used mostly
as chasers. Sweeney set up his bottling works in 1905 on East El
Paso Dr. but moved to Alameda Ave. two years later. Sweeney also
served on the city council later in life and was noted for his performance
as an actor in city plays. In 1909 he found a new name for his operation
(Condon interview; Condon letter; EPCD 1904-1909; undated newspaper clipping).
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| Figure 7a-1 - Martin R. Sweeney [Condon Family Photo] |
Woodlawn Bottling Company (1909-1955)
The new business, Woodlawn Bottling Company,
opened its doors on Frutas Ave. in 1909 under the proprietorship of Martin
R. Sweeney and John J. McArdle. McArdle came to El Paso about the
same time as Sweeney and entered into the junk business. Either McArdle
was an unusual junkman, or he changed businesses, for, in 1908, he advertised,
"horns, hair, bones." According to Angus and Harris, the company
may have been named after Woodlawn Park, a favorite picnic spot as far
back as the 1890s (EPCD 1904-1909; Angus & Harris 1993:145-146; Condon
interview).
The company's earliest beverages were Woodlawn
and Toltec brands. The Toltec Brand was probably begun in honor of
the Toltec Club, an elegant men's club of the early twentieth century.
Founded in 1902 (Owen P. White says the club was founded in 1904 - White
1923:325), the Toltec Club catered to wealthy members who could afford
the $100 initiation fee and dues of $50 per year. A formal organization,
it entertained such distinguished visitors to El Paso as Mexico's presidents
Díaz and Madero and Theodore Roosevelt. The club flourished
until 1917 but began its deterioration with the onset of Prohibition.
In its weakened condition, it could not survive the perils of the Depression
(Sonnichsen 1968:270-271). The name, however, lived on as a Woodlawn
beverage until the 1940s.
By 1911, Sweeney was again the sole proprietor
of the firm and moved his operations to 913 East Second St. Woodlawn
was an obvious success, relocating again to larger quarters at 802 South
Florence St. in just two years. Shortly thereafter, in 1915, Sweeney
married Margaret Condon, a choice that proved to be a wise one (see Figure
7a-2). Margaret (always called Maggie) took an active part in the
business from the start and became a valuable asset. Prior to her
marriage, Margaret had been a school teacher. She began her career
in 1907 as principal of Concordia School, No. 1 but changed to a regular
teaching job at San Jacinto School the following year. She continued
teaching at San Jacinto until her marriage to Sweeney. Margaret remained
an integral part of the company for the rest of her life. The Florence
St. plant was a two-story building where Maggie worked upstairs in the
mixing room. When she changed mix (e.g. from grape to ginger ale)
she would tie a cork labeled with the appropriate flavor on a string and
pass it down to the family on the lower floor. On Friday afternoons,
they would pool the money they had made that week, pay off the bills, and
split up the rest (Condon interview; EPCD 1907-1913).
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| Figure 7a-2 - Margaret Condon Sweeney [Condon Family Photo] |
During Prohibition Sweeney
briefly tried a cereal beverage (near-beer) called Barlo and distributed
Blatz, formerly a Milwaukee beer. Mostly, however, Woodlawn bottled
normal soft drinks, selling Whistle, Toltec Punch, Toltec Ginger Ale, and
Toltec Grape along with "Pure Apple Cider In Bulk And Glass Jars" by 1920
(see Figure 7a-3). At some point the company added Hires Root Beer.
The new drinks improved sales to the point where Sweeney bought a second
delivery truck. About this time, Sweeney also operated a small bottling
works in Juárez, a location where the family used to visit and picnic.
Because of the growth in customers during Prohibition, Sweeney expanded
his plant taking over most of the block. The following year, the
company added True Fruit Beverages and boasted "We Control Whistle Syrup
Rights for New Mexico and Arizona" (condon interview; Condon letter; EPCD
1914-1921).
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| Figure 7a-3 - El Paso City Directory, 1923 |
Woodlawn became a corporation in 1926 with Sweeney
as president. Two years later (1928) Martin R. Sweeney died, setting
a precedent that would later be followed by Empire Products Corporation,
Magnolia Coca-Cola Bottling Company, and other El Paso bottlers where women
became heads of bottling companies (these widows were quite successful
in the El Paso soft drink business). As controlling stock owner,
Martin's widow, Margaret E. Sweeney, became president of Woodlawn Bottling
Company and Whistle Company of El Paso. The stunning loss was followed
almost immediately by the stock market crash that heralded the beginning
of the Great Depression in 1929. The new president added Whizz and
the newly-franchised Vess Dry Ginger Ale (the precursor of the later Vess
flavors that were to become popular in El Paso in the 1960s) to the list
of Woodlawn products in hopes that the new drinks would help the company
weather the Depression (Riley 1958:265; EPCD 1926-1928).
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| Figure 7a-4 - El Paso City Directory, 1928 |
Times were indeed tough, although El Paso's suffering
was relatively light until late in 1931. In that year, Woodlawn plant
workers labored nine hours a day, six days per week and supported four
one-ton capacity trucks. Only three plant workers operated during
most of the year with an increase to four and five during the peak summer
months. In 1931, Woodlawn sold 16,652 cases of six- or seven-ounce
bottled product and 931 cases in twelve-ounce containers for a total of
17,463 cases of carbonated soft drinks at an average case price of 77¢.
In addition, the company sold 5,192 cases of still (non-carbonated) beverages.
By 1933, times were desperate, indeed. The number of plant employees
dropped to only two who worked four, seven-hour days. The average
price per case rose to 92¢ although total sales of carbonated drinks
plummeted to just 6,516 cases, a decrease of 62.7%. Still beverage
sales also fell to 2,596 cases of all sizes (U. S. Census of Manufactures,
1931 and 1933). In order to survive, the plant geared up to produce
Mar-Dale Table Syrup (named for Marshall and Dale Condon, Sweeney's nephews),
vinegar, chilies, and even bluing (unidentified 1980 newspaper clipping).
Marshall Condon later confessed, "We bottled anything that might make a
dollar" (Condon interview).
Before Martin Sweeney's death, Margaret Sweeney
had been joined in the business by her sister, May Condon (see Figure 7a-5),
and brothers, John C. and James Leslie Condon. James Leslie (always
called, Leslie or Les, to distinguish him from his father) began his working
career as a clerk for Lapowski Mercantile Company in 1908 but soon quit
to work in father James Condon's grocery store. From 1912 to 1917,
he held a variety of jobs, including driving for J. C. Peyton, clerking
for Mine & Smelter Supply Company, and driving for James Nations, Nations
Packing Company, suppliers of wholesale meats and cold storage. Les
joined what was to become the Condon family business at Woodlawn in 1918
and, except for a brief stint in the Army the following year, continued
with Woodlawn as a driver, clerk, salesman, general manager, and production
manager for the rest of his life (EPCD 1908-1945).
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| Figure 7a-5 - May Condon [Condon Family Photo] |
As her first job, May joined Les as a clerk at
Lapowski Mercantile Company in 1908 but changed to the Popular Dry Goods
Store the following year. In 1910, she rejoined Les at her father's
grocery but left the next year to become a clerk at Pioneer Abstract &
Guarantee Title Company, a position she retained for over twenty years.
Although May did not join her brother and sister at Woodlawn until about
1934 (originally as a bookkeeper), she outlasted all of her siblings and
was sole owner of the company in 1950 (EPCD 1908-1950).
John, the older brother, was a clerk for D.
H. Curran in 1907 before changing to Lapowski Mercantile Company with Les
and May the following year. In 1908, he again joined Les and May
in working for his father, James. John married in 1912 and moved
to Anaheim (or possibly Canoga Park), California, where his wife gave birth
to two sons, Marshall (born September 15, 1913) and Dale (born January
2, 1916). John's wife and their third child died during its birth,
and a grieving John carried on in California. By 1922, he had returned
to El Paso and become a foreman for the city engineers but soon decided
to join Les as a salesman for Woodlawn. The entire family now helped
run the plant as a loosely-knit partnership, and the boys, Marshall and
Dale, grew up as a part of the business, working after school. The
boys learned to operate the bottling machinery as well as to drive a truck
and become familiar with the route procedure. Later, they became
full-time employees, Marshall in 1936 and Dale the following year.
Marshall, the more serious of the two brothers, married Julia Conolly in
1947; Dale, described as more happy go lucky, remained single until 1955
(Condon interview; Condon letter; EPCD 1907-1937; 1980 newspaper clipping).
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| Figure 7a-6 - John Condon and his son, Marshall, ca. 1928 [Condon Family
Photo] |
During the next decade, Woodlawn
changed very little, although the company experimentally sold Dr. Wells,
a Dr. Pepper imitator, for a short period around 1934-1936 (Condon journal
1934-36). The Condons made a major change, however, in 1935 with
the addition of the Pepsi-Cola franchise, the first in the State of Texas.
Long-time family friend, Clinton L. "Bud" Jones, was the territorial representative
for El Paso and a vast area that included the Dakotas, Montana, Washington,
Oregon, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, California, Arizona, and New Mexico. Pepsi
presented Jones and the other three territorial representatives with great
incentive to sell franchises. Each received a two-cent royalty for
every case sold within his territory. Jones was understandably happy
to present such a mutually-satisfying opportunity to his good friend, Margaret
Sweeney, and Sweeny, wisely, accepted. Jones's company, Duffy's Draft
Beverages, distributed pre-mix fountain syrup for Pepsi Cola in El Paso
and throughout the Southwest from the early 1960s to 1993 when the firm
finally disbanded (Anonymous 1985:19; Martin 1962:63-34; Condon interview).
The addition of Pepsi-Cola boosted the company's flagging sales, and, by
the end of the decade, Woodlawn distributed Pepsi in West Texas, New Mexico,
and Arizona (El Paso Times and El Paso Herald Post Classified Booster Directory
1938-1939).
Pepsi-Cola was very lenient with their franchise
agreements at that time. All that was required of Margaret Sweeney
was a down payment of $320 to cover the initial supply of bottles, labels,
concentrate, and other necessities. The original bottles came with
paper labels which caused constant problems. The glue used to affix
the label to the glass bottle had to be adhesive enough to maintain contact
but solvent enough to be removed by the bottle washing equipment.
An acceptable compromise was not achieved. Most stores at the time
employed "wet" coolers, usually a box or barrel filled with ice.
As the ice melted, the cooler filled with water, frequently washing off
the labels (Condon interview; 1980 clipping).
With the acquisition of Pepsi, the company
dropped Whistle and Whizz. But soft drinks were still Woodlawn's
primary product. In 1941, Clicquot Club mixers, out of Millis, Massachusetts,
were added to the beverage list, followed by Nesbitt's Orange in 1943.
Margaret Sweeney instituted other practices to increase sales, like the
1940 Pepsi-Cola contest. Two hundred eighty-nine contestants shared
$1,500 in prizes with a $500 first prize winner. By 1945, national
products were in fashion, and the long-standing Toltec flavors were listed
by Woodlawn for the last time. The firm dropped Clicquot Club in
1947, the same year Margaret Sweeney hired W. J. Diebels as manager.
During World War II, both Condon brothers became members of the armed forces--Marshall
in the Army, Dale in the Navy. Both saw service from 1943 to 1945.
Interestingly, Jesse Lowe, who gave Marshall his second job (as a typist)
in the Army, became Condon's employee after the war. Lowe found the
heavy work required in handling cases of soft drinks too physically demanding
and switched to Nabisco, but he remained a life-long friend of the Condons.
Woodlawn was hit by the same problems caused by wartime sugar shortages
as other bottlers across the nation, but conditions never became so bad
that the company had to shut down operations (Riley 1958:286-287; Condon
interview; EPT 5/19/1940 8:2).
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| Figure 7a-7 - El Paso City Directory, 1947 |
Figure 7a-8 - Dale and Marshall Condon, 1948 [Condon Family Photo] |
By 1949, only May Condon and Margaret Sweeney
were left on the Board of Directors as both John and Leslie Condon had
died earlier in the decade. Margaret Sweeney joined her brothers
in death the following year, leaving May as the sole owner. May Condon
soon sold her interest in the business to her nephews, Marshall and Dale
(see Figure 7a-8), both of whom had been active in management since their
return from the service in 1946. The brothers abandoned corporate
status in favor of running the business as a partnership. By that
time, the plant employed sixteen people. Woodlawn was the first in
El Paso to raise their wholesale case price to $1.00 in 1950. After
a period of fifteen months, other bottlers followed Pepsi's example with
Hope Smith of Coca-Cola being the last holdout (Condon interview; Condon
letter; EPCD 1949-1957; EPT 4/5/1953 B6:1; 1/1/1987 D7:1).
During this period, Marshall managed production
and the office staff, while Dale supervised sales and routes, often running
a route personally. The firm operated ten routes during the summer
in both El Paso and Hudspeth Counties and boasted annual sales of 300,000
cases. The Condons attributed the high annual sales at least in part
to the wise use of advertising--ten radio spots per day for both Pepsi
and Nesbitt's Orange. In 1954, the company received Pepsi-Cola's
Per Capita award, and May, Marshall, and Dale accepted the plaque on behalf
of the company (see Figures 7a-9 & 7a-10). The Condons renamed
the corporation the Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company of El Paso in1955, and
reincorporated the following year with Marshall as president and Dale as
vice-president (Anonymous 1954; EPCD 1957).
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| Figure 7a-9 - Marshall and Dale Condon, Per Capita Award, 1954 [Condon
Family Photo] |
Figure 7a-10 - Dale, May, and Marshall Condon, Per Capita Award, 1954
[Condon Family Photo] |
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