DrSCKnowles
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Wow! That is some thorough documentation! Nice work!I was able to find some of the basic information about the Allen Bottling Co. using old newspapers, but there's a lot to find here it seems.
The earliest trace I can find of the company under "Allen Bottling Co" is an ad in The Wichita Beacon from March of 1910:
View attachment 252402
From this ad we learn that the company was established in 1892, and confirm what Leon (hemihampton) above said - they sold not only mineral water, but bottled soda and ginger ale, siphons, fruit ciders and juices, milk shakes and fountain syrup, and more. Here's one from a few months later, which gives an address of 517-519 Tremont Avenue in Wichita:
View attachment 252403
A little deeper research indicates that Tremont Avenue was renamed St. Francis Avenue, located in the south-central portion of the city (https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=60594).
It was owned (at least in July 1913) by W.H. Hazelton and Ralph Lightner: View attachment 252404
It seems they bottled or distributed a little bit of everything, from local stuff to more widely-distributed drinks - Early on I can find mentions of Conway Springs Water, Sinalco, Grape-Rite, Pineapple Nectarade, and a few of their own concoctions, including "Allen's Red Tame Cherry" and "Allen's Orient Ginger Ale" in the mid-1910s. By 1917 they were bottling non-alcoholic beverages - I can find ads for "Pablo", made by Pabst Brewing Co., "Puritan", the self-described "Unexcelled Cereal Beverage" according to the ad (yuck), and Milo (another non-alcoholic beverage), for which they took out huge 1/4 page ads in some cases. Other things they bottled included Miller High Life (originally non-alcoholic), Green River Soda, and Hires Root Beer
It seems that Conway Springs Water & Geuda Springs Water were by far their best & longest running sellers, but they sold their own flavored sodas (the Grape-Rite, Tame Cherry, Orient Ginger Ale, and later a Strawberry, Orange Freeze/Sour, Lemon Sour,) into the early 1920s. Here's a few articles about the company:
15 Jun 1919:View attachment 252406 22 Jan 1922:View attachment 252405 1 May 1922: View attachment 252407