Whistle Company of El Paso (1920)
The Whistle Company of El Paso began business
in 1920 at 408 San Francisco St. with A. T. Jones as its president.
Members of the Jones family were lifelong friends of the Sweeneys.
Vess Jones founded Whistle and Vess Beverages, Incorporated, of St. Louis,
Missouri, and franchised Whistle, Whizz, and Vess Dry. The same company
later produced Three V Cola and Vess flavors. Whistle was originally
franchised in 1916; Vess Dry followed a decade later. By the end
of 1920, Whistle Company of El Paso had been absorbed into the Woodlawn
Bottling Company and continued as a joint entity until at least 1928 when
Margaret E. Sweeney was the president of both companies. Although
Woodlawn continued to distribute Whistle until the mid-1930s, no further
mention was made of the company in El Paso city directories (Riley 1958:262-264,
286- 288; Condon interview; EPCD 1920-1936).
Nesbitt Orange Bottling Company (1948-1955)
Although Woodlawn listed Nesbitt Orange as
one of their beverages as early as 1944, the Nesbitt Orange Bottling Company
was not officially listed in the City Directory until 1948 with Margaret
Sweeney and May Condon as officers. When Marshall E. Condon took
the presidency of Woodlawn in 1952, he also inherited the same title for
Nesbitt Orange. Nesbitt's flavors were discontinued by the company
in 1955 when the Condons decided to devote the company's full energy to
Pepsi-Cola products. Nesbitt's Orange had been originated in 1924
and was franchised from Nesbitt Fruit Products, Incorporated, Los Angeles,
California (Riley 1958:264, 586-288; Condon letter; EPCD 1944-1955).
Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company of El Paso (1955-present)
As one of nine beverage bottling companies
in El Paso, the newly-renamed Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company had lots of competition.
The company had eight routes serving the city and, in 1954, had installed
a "pallet system with fork lift operation for increasing capacity" (EPT
4/25/1954 E11:2). The plant had a capacity to produce 300,000 cases
of Pepsi a year, a total of 7,200,000 bottles of soda. The company
employed between twenty and forty-nine people in 1958 (Directory of El
Paso Manufacturers 1958, El Paso Chamber of Commerce).
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| Figure 7b-1 - Marshall E. Condon, ca. 1960 [Condon Family Photo] |
The company relocated to a new split-level
building at 401 Raynolds St. in 1960 to keep up with increased business.
In the early 1960s, the Condons relinquished their fountain syrup business
to Duffy's Draft Beverage Company; prior to that time, all premix (already
mixed flavor syrup) was distributed by the Pepsi-Cola Company. In
October 1993, Duffy's went out of business and Pepsi resumed the distribution
of premix. The parent company introduced Patio flavors in 1963, in
an attempt to standardize the non-cola drinks distributed by its franchises.
In 1967, the corporate balance of El Paso Pepsi shifted with Dale Condon
moving to the secretary- treasurer position and Ann Condon becoming vice-president.
The family was saddened when Dale Condon died the next year, moving James
L. Larabel to the position of vice-president with Marshall's widow, Julia
Condon as secretary-treasurer. Julia had been born on June 30, 1917
and married Marshall at the age of thirty. Her parents had been friends
of the Sweeneys, so the pairing was a natural one. Throughout the
marriage, Julia played an ever more active part in the business.
Once again, a widow was successfully at the helm of an El Paso soda bottling
business (Anonymous 1985:19; Condon interview; EPCD 1961-1969; 1980 clipping).
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| Figure 7b-2 - Dale and Marshall Condon with two employees [Condon
Family Photo] |
Pepsi began using plastic containers in the
1970s, knelling the beginning of the end of an era-- glass bottles began
to be replaced. The El Paso franchise discontinued their bottling
system in 1980. Production had been geared to returnable containers
since the early days of Martin Sweeney's one-man operation, but the market
had shifted to an emphasis on non-returnable glass bottles, plastic containers,
and cans. The cost of re-mechanizing the plant was prohibitive, so
the company decided to buy packaged products from larger plants at Casa
Grande, Tucson, and Phoenix, Arizona. Marshall Condon admitted that
"these large factories can actually sell it cheaper than we can bottle
it ourselves" (1980 clipping). Despite the discontinuance of the
bottling operation, the plant continued to employ forty people, almost
as many as before, and maintained fifteen route trucks. At the 10th
Annual Awards Night Presentation in Hollywood, California, Pepsi-Cola USA
President Roger Enrico presented Marshall Condon with a plaque honoring
his fifty years of service to Pepsi-Cola, 1935-1985 (Anonymous 1985:19).
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| Figure 7b-3 - Julia Condon, Patti English, Kathleen Condon, and Carolyn
Condon - 1997 |
Although the rest of the management structure
remained essentially the same, Julia Condon became Chief Executive Officer
in 1989 and retained that position until 1997 (see Figure 7b-3).
Under her leadership the company moved to a new facility at 10841 Pelicano
Dr. on May 31, 1994 (see Figure 7b-4). Pepsi-Cola is presently the
second most popular soft drink in the city, only being outsold by Coca-Cola.
Currently (nationally), only sixteen-ounce Pepsi-Cola bottles are manufactured
from glass; all other sizes are made from plastic or aluminum. The
El Paso franchise carries only plastic and canned beverages. El Paso's
Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company remained very family oriented. Not only
was the company family owned, many of the employees were composed of family
groups. Manny Talamontes and his brothers, for example, played with
Marshall and Dale Condon as children and worked for the company for most
of their lives (although Manny was employed for a time by Seven-Up).
Until its sale on April 11,1997 to the parent franchiser, PepsiCo, the
company was the oldest continuously owned and operated family Pepsi-Cola
franchise in the United States. With that sale, the era of the family-owned
soft drink bottling plants in El Paso came end (Condon interview; EPCD
1989-1995; 1980 clipping).
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| Figure 7b-4 - Pepsi Cola Plant - 1997 |
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