# Golden Spray Ginger Ale



## JKL (Mar 23, 2018)

This is one of my favourites.  While in high school in the early 1980s I worked at a convenience store/gas bar in Iron Bridge in Northern Ontario.  In the back room of the store this bottle sat on a shelf.  I asked the owner, Jerry Kelly, to let me have it dozens of times, the answer was always no.  When he sold the business is 1985 he gave me the bottle to add to my collection.  I always assumed the bottle was from Lock City Beverages out of Sault Ste Marie simply because I lived 45 miles from the Soo and they made that beverage.  However the beverage was also made by a bottler in Fort William On.  which is now Thunder Bay.  This bottle has the Consumers Glass mark on the bottom and I assume it was a US sources bottle as both Sault Ste Marie and Fort William were border towns.  Likely not a super rare bottle but the story behind it is what matters to me.
(if there is a trick to rotate the pics please let me know)


----------



## RCO (Mar 23, 2018)

its odd that it doesn't have any bottler's name on the bottle , the other one's I've seen from the Soo . say " Soo Falls Brewing co "  on them , the fort William bottles say " Dorans beverage co "  

don't have these 2 bottles but are from pictures I have on file of Ontario bottles


----------



## JKL (Mar 23, 2018)

Dorans bought out, or became a partner with Soo Falls.  The Soo Falls brand changed to Dorans in 1960.  So the second pic you show is a pre 1960 bottle.  I remember buying 10oz Dorans as a kid. (Early elementary school).  I have a Soo Star newspaper article somewhere with the the exact timing and partners.  Dorans eventualy became  Northern Brewery.
Soo Falls was initially a brewery but switched to flavoured sodas when Ontario introduced the Tempersnce Act ( prohibition) in 1917 or 1918.  Saved local jobs at tbe time.


----------



## RCO (Mar 24, 2018)

do you have alt of bottles from the Soo area ?  I have a couple but is others I've never come across but seen listed in books 

have a 7 up from the soo , Lock city acl bottle , soo falls embossed bottle and had another old soo falls beverages bottle at one point but don't have it anymore


----------



## JKL (Mar 24, 2018)

I have the top 3.  The 7Up, the Lock City ACL and the Soo Falls embossed.  I had another Lock City embossed but broke it during a move years ago.  That bottom bottle is very cool.


----------



## RCO (Mar 24, 2018)

JKL said:


> I have the top 3.  The 7Up, the Lock City ACL and the Soo Falls embossed.  I had another Lock City embossed but broke it during a move years ago.  That bottom bottle is very cool.



there seems to be a number of the Soo 7 up around for some reason , have another one in the garage but front is mostly faded white 

I don't know much about the embossed Soo falls beverages but it was likely from the 30's , not sure how common or rare it be , seem to recall seeing one similar at the Toronto bottle show and it wasn't priced high 


back to the Golden Spray is there smaller 6 or 7 oz bottles ? I can't recall seeing one but if there was 30 oz bottles you'd think there'd be one , maybe there just uncommon


----------



## JKL (Mar 24, 2018)

RCO, you have given me a challenge.  I have to find the embossed Soo Falls bottle.  I don't have the single serve Golden Spray either but would guess, as you do, that one exists.  I'm going to start looking for those in particular.  The embossed bottles from the 30s look fantastic no matter the brand.  The ACL bottles all have a great nostalgic feel.


----------



## RCO (Mar 25, 2018)

I've never been to sault ste marie , also have a couple postcards , this one shows the city from a distance .  

sometimes it can be tough to prove a bottles existence even if it makes logical sense one exists , if they had 30 oz bottle how could they not of had smaller bottles ?  for some bottles its the 30oz one that's hard to find , its odd its the opposite for this brand


----------



## JKL (Mar 25, 2018)

I reached out to a couple antique dealers in and around the Soo.  Found one straight side embossed Lock City Beverages bottle but no one has a small single serve Golden Spray.  I Lso find it odd that my 30oz has no bottler identified.  Glad you pointed that out.  I bought the Lock City bottle.


----------



## RCO (Mar 25, 2018)

my book says Lock City Bottling works started in 1936 and lasted until 1952 , then switched name to Lock City Beverages .

so that embossed bottle is likely from the 30's or early 40's , can't recall seeing one before but is a number of early Soo bottles I haven't yet seen


----------



## Donas12 (Feb 19, 2022)

Enjoyed reading through this thread. Here is another Golden Spray bottle; a 12 oz from Kakabeka Falls Brewing, Fort William


 ON.


----------

