2337 Russell

My favorite building in McKinley Heights is one that doesn't get much attention. It's a little boarded-up single-story storefront at 2337 Russell. I’m sure I drove by it a thousand times before I learned the story.

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Charles Leiper Grigg came to St. Louis from Prices Branch, a small community about 75 miles outside of St. Louis.  When Grigg arrived in St. Louis, he took a job working for Vess Jones. Vess had been running a soft drink company most St. Louisans would become very familiar with. It was there that Grigg invented what is objectively the best orange soda on the planet, Whistle. There was some drama between Grigg and Vess, so Grigg left the company (thus leaving Whistle behind), and invented another orange soda - Howdy.

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Unfortunately, Howdy couldn't compete with the nation's best selling orange soda, Orange Crush. Grigg figured it was time to try something new.

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In 1929, two weeks before the stock market crashed, Grigg introduced the world to Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda. The soda contained - you guessed it - lithium. The same lithium that has been used forever to treat bipolar disorder and depression. The ad campaign for this soda promoted its uplifting effects.

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Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda isn't the smoothest name, so it was whittled down and changed entirely to 7up. There's a lot of gossip about where the 7 came from. Some say it's because the original bottles held 7 ounces, some say it was because there were 7 ingredients, and some say it's because lithium has an atomic mass of 7. Only Grigg knew the real reason.

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1931 advertising that shows 7up cures morning mouth.

mohistory.org

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When the government banned lithium in soft drinks (1948), it was removed from 7up.

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7up was family owned until 1978 when it was sold to Philip Morris who sold it to Hicks & Hass who merged with Dr. Pepper who was purchased by Cadbury Schweppes who turned into the Dr. Pepper Snapple group who merged with Keurig Green Mountain and is now Keurig Dr. Pepper.

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What does the 7up story have to do with the little building on Russell? Well in 1933, the Howdy Bottling Company leased the building. That building is where they bottled 7up.

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1935 panoramic photo showing 7up trucks outside of the bottling plant and store on Russell

mohistory.org

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1934 advertisement promoting the use of 7up as a mixer in alcoholic drinks.

St. Louis Globe-Democrat, February 6, 1934

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The bottling company didn’t stay here long. By 1937 they had outgrown their small bottling plant on Russell and moved to a larger facility. 

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Even though the 7up story didn’t start or end here, this building played an important role in the growth of the company. 

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-Erica Threnn