Birth of the Kik Kola Company of Montreal

[bottlebugs]

ever watched those ol' gangster movies? They moved liquor from Miami to NYC and from Montreal to NYC

btw...here's the pertinent dates in my forensic analysis...

1910s Grandson of AJ Delatour fails ladies hats and starts bottling soda
1911 origin of Kik Kola according to Miami newspaper's intro Kik in 1941
1920s Delatour supplying concentrate to Montreal bottler or vice versa
1924 registers Statue of Liberty image on Ginger Ale Label
1926 Lazarus Bloom sodas bottled by America Dry Corp.
1930 Delatour dies, ending family involvement in soda business
1930 Kik Company attempts to register product in Canada
1931 America Dry of Canada formed.
1930s Kik bottled by Bloom under authority of America Dry of Canada.
1935 Kik registered in Canada
1936 Kik Kola registered in NYC

 

[bottlebugs]

Kik Company began business in 1934, presumably operating out of the America Dry bottling plant at 3821 Rivard St. The Kik Company registered their Canadian trademark on April 10, 1935. By September 13, 1935 there were already 13 bottlers around Quebec, and the main plant had moved to a new larger location at 1387 Villeray St. The 1936 Aerated Waters report shows this address for Kik and no listing for America Dry (as it moved to that location as well). Kik was not a cola product at first - it was made from pure fruit juice and pure water. Kik was not patented in the US in 1936, the Canadian company America Dry registered the trademark there (after it was already established in Canada). I was unable to find any newspaper accounts of it ever actually being bottled or sold in the US. It was likely just a pre-emptive move in case they wished to expand in the future, which eventually occurred in 1941 when they opened their first US plant in Miami.

A much anticipated KiK 3 cent cap came by post today. The skirt has only the address of the America Dry bottling plant on 3821 Rivard Street so this much can be established as true. It is the perfect match for my 1932-34 America Dry of Canada bottle. I have another KIK cap in my collection with an updated logo, plus KIK COMPANY MONTREAL written on the skirt. It must have been either abandoned or used very shortly on the 1935/6 3 cent bottle. Now to find a Kik 6 cent cap like in the picture. Tall order.