Feature article
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Ski: Lake weekend led to soft drink’s name
By Fred Sauceman
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| Dot Myers |
Dot Myers’ day on the lake in 1958 catapulted her into soft drink immortality. Dr. Charles Little, a chemist with Chattanooga’s Double Cola Company, had just developed a formula for a new citrus-flavored drink, the company’s answer to Sun-Drop.
Double Cola management asked employees to come up with a name for the beverage. Dot and her husband David had just spent the weekend skiing on Chickamauga Lake.
“I just couldn’t think of anything I liked better than to ski, so I put down ‘Ski’ and ‘Skee,’” Dot remembers.
She won. “Ski” was selected, and the name has remained the same ever since, as has the formula, featuring fresh lemon and orange juices.
Ski never caught up with the name recognition of Sun-Drop. It’s even scarce in East Tennessee. Get beyond the Red Bank Bi-Lo, and it virtually disappears.
It was a drink I hadn’t even heard of until this past spring. I was on the hunt for another regional drink, Kentucky’s Ale-8-One, produced in Winchester since 1926. By the time you get as far west as Bowling Green, Ale-8-One is scarce. Searching a cold drink case in a convenience store there, I noticed, instead, bottles of Ski, picked one up, and noted a Chattanooga address line.
That led me to look into the history of the Double Cola Company. I discovered that Little and colleague Joe Foster had established the business, originally called the Good Grape Company, in 1922. In 1924, the name changed to Seminole Flavor Company, and the first cola, Marvel, was produced. That later changed to Jumbo Cola.
In 1933, the formula was perfected and the product was soon made available in 12-ounce bottles, twice the size of other colas — hence the name, Double-Cola. The Seminole Flavor Company name was officially changed to Double-Cola in 1953.
Double Cola made more history in 1957 when it became the first major American soft drink to be sold in 16-ounce bottles. Bottle size had been reduced to 10 ounces during World War II when sugar was rationed.
Rachel Ryan, marketing coordinator for Double Cola, says the drink is “in the middle, not as sweet as Pepsi and not as much bite as Coke.”
Double Cola is now owned by London-based K.J. International, but the corporate offices remain in Chattanooga. The parent company owns the various Double Cola brands and produces concentrate, which it sells to bottling facilities in the eastern United States. Bottlers then sell products to distributors.
Ski, claims the company’s Web site, “has more body than the typical carbonated beverage” and is “one of the best-kept secrets in the industry.”
Dot Myers has worked for the Double Cola company for 54 years, with seven different presidents. Her title is executive assistant, but when questions about soft drink history arise, younger employees yield to her, the company historian.
She has never tired, over the years, of tasting the product she named.
“I like the refreshing taste of Ski. It’s so bubbly and good. It has a sunny taste.”
Rachel Ryan says Ski is especially popular in the Chattanooga and Nashville areas and in the western part of Kentucky. Cases of Double Cola, Diet Double Cola, Ski, Diet Ski and Cherry Ski are available for purchase through the company’s Web site, double-cola.com.
Dot Myers shared with me her recipe for Ski Punch. Ever loyal to Southeast Tennessee products, she specifies Mayfield’s ingredients to complement the Ski.
Dot Myers’ Ski Punch
• A carton of Mayfield’s Green Fruit Punch
• A carton of Mayfield’s Lime Sherbet
• Six bottles of Ski
• Mix together ingredients.
Dot says if you don’t have enough juice, add more Ski.
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The Southern Appalachian Plant Society and the Downtown Kingsport Association have asked me to let you know that the Homegrown Tomato Fest III will take place Saturday, Aug. 11, from 9 a.m. until noon at Glen Bruce Park in downtown Kingsport.
The public is invited to taste the many varieties of tomatoes and to judge the tomato salsa entries.
In addition, competitions will be held for the best-tasting tomato, biggest tomato, prettiest, ugliest, most bizarre and best-dressed tomato. The Southeast Culinary & Hospitality College will provide demonstrations, and an art show will feature tomato- and garden-inspired art. The Times-News is a co-sponsor.
For more information, call the Downtown Kingsport Association at 246-6550.
--------GoTriCities--------
Food writer Fred Sauceman, author of the book “The Place Setting: Timeless Tastes of the Mountain South — from Bright Hope to Frog Level,” is senior writer and executive assistant to the president for public affairs at East Tennessee State University. E-mail him at sauceman@etsu.edu.
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