# Canada Dry low calorie beverage "no sugar " acl bottle



## RCO (Jul 18, 2014)

just got this bottle in a small assortment of bottles my parents got from a friend who is moving and didn't want them , nothing really special in the box but hadn't seen this Canada dry bottle before . I'd say its from the early 60's maybe as that's when diet seemed to get popular . in pretty good condition with most of the acl still there and in full colour


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## bubbas dad (Jul 18, 2014)

nice find. I have 2 different diet canada dry's but they are alittle newer and green. I feel that one day diet sodas we be a hot collectable


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## hemihampton (Jul 18, 2014)

I found a few low Calorie Canada Drys & Diets in a can before. LEON.


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## Robby Raccoon (Jul 18, 2014)

A few? *Coughs.*


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## SODAPOPBOB (Jul 18, 2014)

RCO: Interesting Canada Dry bottle. I have never seen one like it!                                                                        ~ * ~ 
And speaking of diet sodas ...

As near as I can determine, the first diet soda was a brand called "NO-CAL" which was introduced in 1952. I know very little about the brand but it appears to have faded away around 1958. The attached ad is from 1952 and features a bowling-pin type bottle with paper labels. I have not been able to find a NO-CAL acl and suspect they may never have made one.

From Wikipedia ... 



Hyman and Morris developed a line of carbonated, sugar-free, zero-calorie soft drinks which they called No-Cal, that they began selling in 1952.

As major soda producers such as the Coca Cola Company and Pepsi Cola launched their own diet brands in the 1960s, No-Cal found it hard to compete, lost market share, and slowly disappeared.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No-Cal_Soda

                                                                       ~ * ~

Attachment ( Single ad in three parts)

From ...

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle ~ Brooklyn, New York ~ November 24, *1952*


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## SODAPOPBOB (Jul 18, 2014)

As for the earliest major brand of diet soda, it appears DIET RITE COLA 
was the first and formulated / test marked in 1954 and went national around 
1961. The earliest Diet Rite Cola bottle I have been able to find is an acl 
dated 1955 by PAR T PAK who was related to NEHI and ROYAL 
CROWN COLA. Most of the early ads show it as only being available in cans. The 
Royal Crown green, channeled-side variation of the Diet Rite Cola bottle first appears 
around 1963 and was used for many years thereafter.  Attachments: From ... 1.  The Childress Index ~ Childress, Texas ~ April 21, 1963 2.  The Raleigh Register ~ Beckley, West Virginia ~ August 11, *1955*    ( This is the earliest Ad I could find for Diet Rite Cola - But depicts cans, not bottles )


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## SODAPOPBOB (Jul 18, 2014)

And here's the *1955 *PAR-T-PAK Diet Rite Cola bottle I spoke about. These seem to be hard to find. 1.  Bottle 2.  Base W / 5 LGW 5 for Laurens Glass Works 1955


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## SODAPOPBOB (Jul 18, 2014)

Lastly ... This is the earliest ad for Diet Rite Cola I could find which shows a picture of a bottle - which is the green, channel-sided variation by Royal Crown Cola. From ... New Castle News ~ New Castle, Pennsylvania ~ October 10, *1962*


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## SODAPOPBOB (Jul 18, 2014)

Because early diet soda bottles might become more popular and more valuable some day - and because I doubt I will ever find a NO-CAL bottle with it's paper labels still intact, I bought these two bottle caps off eBay today as a sort of investment for the future. Actually, they are kind of hard to find and even pictures of them are far and few between compared to most brands. I paid $2.50 for each of them. Of course, the collectability of diet soda bottles has to increase first before the caps ever do.


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## SODAPOPBOB (Jul 18, 2014)

RCO: I'm through hijacking your thread and hope you didn't mind. I just thought it would be fun to generate some interest in diet soda bottles. Because they were the first, I plan to keep my eyes peeled for more NO-CAL stuff such as the 1950s sign pictured below. At least it gives us some idea as to what their bottles looked like. By the way, until today I never heard of NO-CAL!


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## SODAPOPBOB (Jul 19, 2014)

RCO

So far I have been unable to find an ad or reference regarding your exact bottle, but it should be dated on the base which will give us a clue as to when that particular variation was in circulation.

The good news is that Canada Dry did indeed produce one one the earliest low calorie beverages with a brand called "*Glamor*" which appears to have been introduced in *1955*.

                                                                   ~ * ~

Current timeline for the earliest diet sodas (Subject to revision depending on future findings)

1952 = No-Cal ... ( Appears to be the first diet soda ever produced )
1954 = Diet Rite Cola ... ( Limited distribution by Nehi and Par-T-Pak )
1955 = Canada Dry Glamor ... ( Available in various flavors and not just Ginger Ale )

                                                                   ~ * ~   

This is the earliest Glamor ad I have been able to find. I believe it had a paper label.

 From ...

The Delaware County Times ~ Chester, Pennsylvania ~ January 12, *1955*


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## RCO (Jul 19, 2014)

I actually found one of those diet rite cola bottles where I was swimming however label was faded away and not in very good condition . the only other diet bottles I have would be like tab and fresca bottles I guess . there must of been a big " diet " pop craze in the 60's as that's when a lot of them seem to be from haven't seen this exact bottle from Canada dry but I know they did a number of other drinks other than just ginger ale so its not surprising there is other Canada dry bottles out there not for ginger ale .


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## CanadianBottles (Jul 19, 2014)

RCO, what does the bottom look like?  Hopefully the date code is visible, if it's a Dominion bottle.  It has a mid sixties look to me, though maybe that's just because it's a 10 oz bottle.  In Eastern Ontario and Quebec we had 1 Cal, put out by Pure Spring, but I've only ever seen the caps for that one, never any bottles.  I wonder if there were any other Canadian diet sodas, I can't remember ever seeing any.


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## RCO (Jul 20, 2014)

there isn't really much of anything on the bottom , no date or maker . I do agree it has a 60's look to it


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## CanadianBottles (Jul 20, 2014)

Is there something on the heel?  Sort of looks like the bottom-heavy rounded Consumers Glass logo.  I have no idea how to figure out the dates on Consumers bottles, or if it's possible, but they changed from the top-heavy sharp logo in 1961 so that would at least prove that it's from the sixties or seventies.  I'm pretty sure that those little indented rounded rectangles near the heal were a fairly late thing in the world of glass sodas, can't remember what they're for though.  A way for some machine to grab it?


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## SODAPOPBOB (Jul 21, 2014)

I realize the following is somewhat confusing, but is the best I have been able to come up with so far!


Of the literally hundreds of Canada Dry ads I've looked at from 1955 through 1975, only one of them showed a bottle that resembled the one in question. The primary aspect of the bottle I was looking for was the crown/map/shield that is positioned atop the boxed in words "Low Calorie Beverage." However, the bottle in question is a 10 Ounce whereas the bottles in the ads are 12 Ounce (1964) and 16 Ounce (1968). Because the smaller content bottles usually preceded the larger content bottles, it's highly possible the 10 Ounce bottle was earlier than 1968. Another thing of note is that the bottle in question has the words "Low Calorie" in a red band whereas the bottles in the ads don't. I have yet to see another bottle with the red band.     

Notice in the first ad from 1964 that it has the words Canada Dry above the Low Calorie box but does not have the map. Now compare the 1964 ad to the 1968 ad and you will see that two of the bottles have the map but the one on the right only has the words Canada Dry. Because there are so many ads to look at, which total into the thousands, I just don't have the time to look at every one of them, nor do I know exactly when these particular bottles were introduced and discontinued. But because the 1968 bottle has the map above the box, I'd say it is probably safe to assume that the one in question was also available at least as early as 1968 and possibly even a little earlier. I will do a little more search and try to narrow the bottle down to a more specific date. 

Talk about confusing, the calorie per bottle/serving is just about as confusing as it gets. Notice in the 1964 ad that it says "Less than 3 Calories Per Bottle" whereas in the 1968 ad it says "Only 1 Calorie Per Serving." 

Attachments:  ( Cropped - Images of full ads to follow on next page ) 

1.  The Kansas City Star ~ Kansas City, Missouri ~ July 1, *1964*

2.  RCO bottle for comparison

3.  The Kansas City Star ~ Kansas City, Missouri ~ March 2, *1963*


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## SODAPOPBOB (Jul 21, 2014)

Full Ads ... 1.  1964 2.  1968


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## SODAPOPBOB (Jul 21, 2014)

P.S. Although unconfirmed as yet, I suspect the 1968 "Cola" carton actually had the word "Beverages" on the bottle itself, and most likely on the cap as well.


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## SODAPOPBOB (Jul 21, 2014)

CORRECTION I accidently typed in 1963 for the second ad which should have been *1968*. Because I discovered it too late, I cannot edit it.


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## SODAPOPBOB (Jul 21, 2014)

All things considered, but still inconclusive ... No matter what word combinations I use or the date ranges I search in, the only bottle I have found that resembles the one in question is from *1968*


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## 2find4me (Jul 21, 2014)

SODAPOPBOB said:
			
		

> And here's the *1955 *PAR-T-PAK Diet Rite Cola bottle I spoke about. These seem to be hard to find. 1.  Bottle 2.  Base W / 5 LGW 5 for Laurens Glass Works 1955



I have the same bottle, mine is a Duraglas, dates 1960.


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## SODAPOPBOB (Jul 22, 2014)

For Future Reference ...

While searching for various Canada Dry products another brand kept popping up that sort of falls into the dietetic category. It was called *Sport Cola *and was introduced in 1968. It was Canada Dry's first 99% caffeine free soda and appears to have been short-lived. The latest date I can find for it is 1973. It was available in both cans and bottles. Some of the bottles had paper labels and some were acls. Apparently the Coca Cola Company bought Sport Cola in the early 1970s and shortly afterwards it disappeared off the market. (I'm not sure who introduced the first caffeine free soda).  

More about Sport Cola ...


http://www.inthe70s.com/food/sportcola0.shtml 


                                                                           ~ * ~  

Another thing I discovered along the way was this link to an RC site. Notice where it says RC introduced the first diet soft drink in 1962. I question this because we've already seen where NO-CAL was introduced in 1952, not to mention Nehi/Par-T-Pak Diet Rite Cola and Canada Dry's Glamor, both of which were introduced in 1955. Maybe the 1962 date is a typo?   

http://www.rcbeverage.com/about/index.html

"RC Beverages is proud to have participated in bringing many new and exciting soft drink innovations to the Tri-state. We helped introduce the first 16 oz bottle in 1958 and the first diet soft drink in 1962. RC Beverages also participated in launching the first soft drink in aluminum cans in 1964 and the first caffeine-free diet soft drink in 1984."


                                                                           ~ * ~

Here are a couple of articles I found on Sport Cola. Notice in the second one that actor Wally Cox was their spokesperson, which surprises me because he doesn't exactly strike me as the athletic type. Maybe their underlaying message was to suggest if you drank Sport Cola that you wouldn't end up impish like Wally Cox. ( Wally Cox was the voice for the cartoon character Underdog )


From ...

1.  The Tucson Daily Citizen ~ Tucson, Arizona ~ February 21, 1968

2.  (Two parts) The Standard-Speaker ~ Hazelton, Pennsylvania ~ June 13, 1968


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## SODAPOPBOB (Jul 22, 2014)

Interesting collection of Canada Dry bottles by forum member wonkapete from 2007 ... https://www.antique-bottles.net/forum/Canada-Dry-m103468.aspx


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## Photon440 (Jul 22, 2014)

Sodapopbob, while you mentioned"Talk about confusing, the calorie per bottle/serving is just about as confusing as it gets. Notice in the 1964 ad that it says "Less than 3 Calories Per Bottle" whereas in the 1968 ad it says "Only 1 Calorie Per Serving." the 1964 ad has both: the bottle says 'Less than 3 calories per bottle', the carton says 'Only 1 calorie per 6 oz. serving' So the calories per ounce probably remained unchanged - I'm guessing this was in the days of sodium cyclamates. It's frustrating when you know the info must be out there somewhere but it's just out of reach, isn't it?


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## mctaggart67 (Jul 22, 2014)

For those inclined to understand the history behind Canada Dry, here's a scholarly biography of J.J. McLaughlin, the drink's Toronto-based originator:http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/mclaughlin_john_james_14E.html By the way, the article doesn't address the strong presence of dry ginger ales in the Belfast tradition which were so prevalent in Canada of the late 1800s/early 1900s, on account of the strong degree of settlement from the North of Ireland, basically Ulster, in Canada at the time. Indeed, one of Toronto's nicknames then was the Belfast of Canada.


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## Robby Raccoon (Jul 23, 2014)

The  main search engines like Google, Bing, and other such will not have access to all information on the net, regardless of what is said. We'll say it like this: the internet is a stringed instrument, and each search engine plays a certain number of strings. Say Google and Bing play six, other smaller ones play four each and different or  mixed. Yet there're twenty strings on this instrument. Albeit the internet is about as old as I am, some of the strings have died away as others advanced forward. Many of the strings sit forgotten, or unused, waiting to be filled with information to collect. However it is, if the information is out there, it might be in an odd place on an odd string. This is information I've been told. It's been awhile, but it should be accurate as it fascinated me.


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## SODAPOPBOB (Jul 23, 2014)

RCO

Even though I love a good search challenge, and sometimes find what I'm searching for, this one has me stumped!  After hours of searching and looking at hundreds of images of Canada Dry soda bottles, the black & white image shown here is the only one I have found that even comes close to resembling your particular bottle.  

The primary differences between your bottle and the one from the 1968 ad are ... 

1.  Your bottle is 10 ounce. The 1968 ad bottle is 16 ounce (which is painted on the neck)

2.  Your bottle has a red band where it says Low Calorie. The 1968 ad bottle does not have the red band. The 1968 ad bottle has a line of dots between the words Low Calorie and Beverage.

3.  Your bottle has No Sugar below the word Beverage. The 1968 ad bottle does not have the words No Sugar.  

Similarities ...

1.  Both bottles are acls.
2.  Both bottles have the crown/map logo atop the Low Calorie/Beverage box.
3.  Both bottles say Beverage.


I realize I mentioned some of this information earlier, but I just wanted to emphasize it again because your bottle is starting to look as if it might be a regional variation that had limited distribution for a limited time in limited areas. Even though your bottle is not date coded, if you could narrow down where in the U.S. or Canada it originated from, that also might help to determine when it was made.  

1. RCO bottle ~ Date and location currently unknown.

2. 1968 ad bottle ~ From a Kansas City, Missouri newspaper.


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## SODAPOPBOB (Jul 23, 2014)

At first glance these two ads appear identical - but they're not! See if you can find the various differences ...


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## hemihampton (Jul 23, 2014)

One sez Flavor Drink & one don't. LEON.


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## hemihampton (Jul 23, 2014)

Here's a pic of a Couple of rare Canada Dry cone tops. LEON.


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## CanadianBottles (Jul 23, 2014)

SODAPOPBOB said:
			
		

> RCO
> 
> I realize I mentioned some of this information earlier, but I just wanted to emphasize it again because your bottle is starting to look as if it might be a regional variation that had limited distribution for a limited time in limited areas. Even though your bottle is not date coded, if you could narrow down where in the U.S. or Canada it originated from, that also might help to determine when it was made.



I don't think you're likely to find it to be a regional variation, Canada wasn't big on regional variations of bottles.  I'm not sure I've ever heard of something like that up here apart from the occasional company producing a bilingual version for use in Quebec.  Even local towns on franchise bottles is uncommon.  Probably what's happening is you're looking through pictures of American bottles while this is just a Canadian version (it has the Toronto head office on the back, after all).  Sometimes there were differences between Canadian and American bottles, for example 16 oz bottles were barely used in Canada at that time, if at all.


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## CanadianBottles (Jul 23, 2014)

Spirit Bear said:
			
		

> The  main search engines like Google, Bing, and other such will not have access to all information on the net, regardless of what is said. We'll say it like this: the internet is a stringed instrument, and each search engine plays a certain number of strings. Say Google and Bing play six, other smaller ones play four each and different or  mixed. Yet there're twenty strings on this instrument. Albeit the internet is about as old as I am, some of the strings have died away as others advanced forward. Many of the strings sit forgotten, or unused, waiting to be filled with information to collect. However it is, if the information is out there, it might be in an odd place on an odd string. This is information I've been told. It's been awhile, but it should be accurate as it fascinated me.



This is getting really off-topic, but what you're talking about is the deepnet, which I don't think has much research material in it.  It's mostly password protected sites or websites which don't want to be found with search engines.  Non password protected research material would have a hard time getting there, since it would have to remain in existence (so someone could get to the site if they typed in the URL) without being accessible by Google, which just seems highly unlikely in this decade.  There's also the darknet, which has a lot of other hidden material, but that's mostly just really old crud from the early days of the internet which can't be accessed with a normal internet connection anymore because it's incompatible.  The only useful things in there would be databases which need to be paid for to access, usually by schools, which might have a shred of useful data here and there but not enough to warrant paying for access.


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## SODAPOPBOB (Jul 24, 2014)

CanadianBottles said:
			
		

> SODAPOPBOB said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



 CB I forgot to mention the newspaper archives I am subscribed to includes a couple of Canadian newspapers. In fact, when I search those newspapers specifically and start with the search words CANADA DRY, it list 253,583 individual pages. Between 1950 to 1970 it list 44,748 pages. It is almost impossible to look at every listing, but of the hundreds I did look at there were no images of any bottles like the one in question here.


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## SODAPOPBOB (Jul 24, 2014)

CanadianBottles said:
			
		

> I'm pretty sure that those little indented rounded rectangles near the heal were a fairly late thing in the world of glass sodas, can't remember what they're for though.  A way for some machine to grab it?



CB The indents, or what are sometimes called dimples, which are typically located on the heel of the bottle, were for the purpose of holding a bottle securely in place while the applied color label was sprayed on during the so called silk-screening process. The indents/dimples were introduced in the early to mid 1930s.


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## SODAPOPBOB (Jul 24, 2014)

I think everyone is in agreement that RCO's bottle is most likely from the 1960s. The following newspaper articles should help to confirm this. But first, notice the cropped image of the back side of RCO's bottle where I underlined in red the word "CYCLAMATES" 

According to this newspaper article, the use of Cyclamates in beverages was banned in the United States effective January 1, 1970. Even though the article does not state exactly when cyclamates were discontinued in Canada, it does say ... 

"Canada Dry announced it will stop producing low-calorie ginger ale."

... so I can only assume it was most likely about the same time as the U.S. ban.  


1.  RCO's bottle - back side (Cyclamates underlined in red)

2.  Newspaper article (Part One)

3.  Newspaper article (Part Two)

Both parts are from ...

The Ottawa Journal ~ Ontario, Canada ~ October 20, *1969*


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## SODAPOPBOB (Jul 24, 2014)

If I understand this newspaper account correctly, it appears the Canadian cyclamates ban was effective at the same time it was in the U.S., which was between October of 1969 and January of 1970. And because RCO's bottle has cyclamates printed on the back, I'd say it eliminates it from being a 1970s bottle. Even though the article is dated 1974, which is apparently when the lawsuit was filed, it clearly includes the 1969 and 1970 dates. From ... The Ottawa Journal ~ Ontario, Canada ~ January 9, 1974


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## SODAPOPBOB (Jul 24, 2014)

I thought this article was interesting as well. And even though it is from a U.S. newspaper, the event it refers to was in Toronto, Canada. From ... The Morning Herald ~ Hagerstown, Maryland ~ October 24, *1969*


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## SODAPOPBOB (Jul 24, 2014)

There's this ... https://www.antique-bottles.net/forum/Tell-me-about-these-Canada-Dry-bottles-m381114.aspx Because they have the crown/map logo atop the low calorie/diet box and are similar to the bottle in question, maybe bubbas dad can help us date them and/or anything else he can tell us about them. Notice the mention of "Cyclamates"


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