Did Dr. Pepper Lose Their Famous Soft Drink Recipe?

It’s not clear what was in an old book that a man in Texas bought. Bill Waters was just traveling through the panhandle of Texas; when he found an old ledger filled with formulas in a Texas antique store. He paid 200 dollars for the old tablet and began to notice some strange things in the old book; several different recipes for things like piano polish, cough syrup, and hair restorer. One recipe that caught his eye was for “D Peppers Pepsin Bitters” and this made Mr. Waters do some research on the old book.

He noticed some letterheads were from a Waco Drug Store and while doing research he found it was the first place that Dr. Pepper was sold at and this was W.B. Morrison & Co. Old Corner Drug Store. Charles Alderton was a pharmacist working in the Waco Drug Store and he started selling Dr. Pepper in 1885. The owner of the drug store in Waco, Texas was Wade Morrison. This was the start of the popular soft drink and today millions have tried Dr. Pepper. Also appearing on the cover of the book in faded letters was “Castles Formulas“. John Castles was a part owner of the drug store and was also a drugist there.

The people that run Dr. Pepper today in Plano, Texas says that the recipe is nothing like the 23 flavors that make up Dr. Pepper today. They suggest it might be a formula for something else and perhaps a stomach remedy. The book’s formula for the D Peppers Pepsin Bitters includes things like sweet flag root, syrup, and mandrake root. Apparently these are not the ingredients in the 23 flavors that make up Dr Pepper today. Only 3 people in the whole world know the exact recipe or formula for the 23 flavors in Dr. Pepper.

Does the Old Ledger with Formulas Have Any Value?

Apparently the $200 that Bill Waters spent on the old book while traveling through Texas isn’t a total lost. It is going to go on the auction block May 13th. People interested in obtaining this old ledger that does have historic value can place bids with the Heritage Auction Galleries that is based in Dallas, Texas. The old book that has more than 360 pages and its size is 8 1/2 by 15 1/2 inches is expected to get bids of $50,000 or more. I would think this would be a hot auction item and a lot of Dr Pepper fans may factor in on the price that this old book will eventually sell for. It doesn’t look like there is anything to gain from this book and the famous Dr Pepper recipe, but the historical value of this item is huge. It should be interesting to see what it does auction off for and the sell date right now is for May 13th. Congratulations to Bill Waters, who is 59 years old, for discovering this gem in a antique store in the panhandle of Texas.