Nu Grape / Nu Icy Bottling Co


Company Names, addresses, dates1:
  NuGrape Bottling Co, 210 2nd St SW (1925-1930)
  NuIcy Bottling Co, 210 2nd St SW (1931)
  NuIcy Bottling Co, 315 L St SW (1932-1933)

Notes:
 An article by Bill Baab that appears in the July-August 2007 edition of "Bottles and Extras" says that NuGrape was developed in Atlanta. Fred Branan Gary got a franchise from the Atlanta Company to sell NuGrape in Charlotte NC about 1920. He moved his franchise to Washington DC in 1922. His family joined him in 1924.2.
The article goes on to say that Welch's Grape Juice company sued NuGrape to make it put real grape juice in the soft drink2. Apparently it wasn't feasible to put real grape juice into a carbonated soft drink. Note that the first 2 bottles below are almost identical except one says "IMITATION GRAPE" and "NOT GRAPE JUICE", and the other doesn't. I suspect that the one that doesn't have that embossing is older, and that the extra embossing was added during or after the legal battles.
The Washington DC franchise seems to have changed it's name from "NuGrape Bottling Co" to "NuIcy Bottling Co", starting with the 1931 city directory. According to this web site, Nu-Icy was introduced in 1927 as a flavor line in the Nu-Grape brand.

NuGrape Bottles:

nugrape_2 book # 446
This is a 7.6" aqua machine-made crown top bottle embossed:
front: Nu Grape / A FLAVOR YOU CANT FORGET / TRADE MARK REGISTERED / BOTTLE PAT'D MARCH 9, 1920
back: Nu Grape / A FLAVOR YOU CANT FORGET / MIN CONTENTS 6 FL. OZ.
base:WASHINGTON, / D.C.
nugrape book # 447
This is a minor variation from the bottle above (mainly because it says "IMITATION GRAPE". It is a 7.7" aqua machine-made crown top bottle embossed:
front: Nu Grape / A FLAVOR YOU CANT FORGET / IMITATION GRAPE / TRADE MARK REGISTERED / BOTTLE PAT'D MARCH 9, 1920
back: Nu Grape / A FLAVOR YOU CANT FORGET / NOT GRAPE JUICE / CONTENTS 6 FL. OZ.
base:WASHINGTON, / D.C.

NuIcy Bottles:
nu_icy book # 448
This is a 9.3" clear machine-made crown top bottle embossed:
front: Nu Icy / A FLAVOR YOU CANT FORGET / BOTTLE PAT'D MARCH 9, 1920
back: Nu Icy / A FLAVOR YOU CANT FORGET / MINIMUM CONTENTS / FULL HALF PINT
base:WASHINGTON, D.C.
nu_icy_02 book # 449
This is an 11.2" clear machine-made "picnic" crown top bottle embossed:
front: Nu Icy / CONTENTS 24 FLU. OZ.
back: Nu Icy / WASHINGTON, D.C.
base:63 B 31



1 Boyd's Directory for the District of Columbia (various years)
2 Article by Bill Baab in the July-August 2007 edition of Bottles and Extras (vol.18 no4)



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This page last updated on March 27 2019.