Poly Pop: The Drink Before Kool-Aid

Growing up, if you asked me which kind of Coke I wanted, the answer was generally Dr. Pepper. In Texas, the word "Coke" was (and perhaps still is in some places) not only a brand name but the general term for "soft drink." My father, who has always had a flare for unusual expressions, would ask if you wanted a "Poly Pop." Sometimes he would even riff off of Poly Pop and call it a "Polly-wolly-doodle-all-the-day." For the majority of my life, I just considered "Poly Pop" one of my father's trademark phrases and assumed that he just made it up.

Imagine my surprise to learn that Poly Pop was the brand name of the planet's first powdered soft drink and was named after Fort Worth's Polytechnic neighborhood. The drink, which was invented by a saintly Willie Wonka-like figure in 1922, became so increasingly popular that a factory had to be built to satisfy the demand. You see, Poly Pop was a big deal. It was a million dollar industry with international distribution. But somehow Kool-Aid, which was invented a few years later, edged Poly Pop out and sent the drink into obscurity. Let's raise a glass to Poly Pop. Polly-wolly-doodle-all-the-day!

Here is a Hometown by Handlebar post, written by longtime Star-Telegram writer Mike Nichols, about Poly Pop.   

http://hometownbyhandlebar.com/?p=8288