82. The Coolest Place in Turn-of-the-20th Century Manila: CLARKE’S No 2 Escolta

IMAGE 1: CLARKES’.The first ice cream and refreshment place in the Philippines, 1908.

The first thing that shocked the first Americans who came to occupy our islands  was the sizzling, searing tropical climate that proved to be unbearable for many. An American child visiting turn-of-the-20^th century Manila bawled out her discomfort: “It’s not the hotness that I mind so much, mamma, but the wetness of the hotness!”. Another foreigner described the humidity as “heat that blisters and burns, that withers and consumes, that seems to dry the marrow while it boils the flesh”.

Filipinos, of course, had no trouble dealing with the long, sweltering summers they were born in. There were cool dips in river, in nearby bays and falls of which many abound in Manila and its outskirts.

Before the advent of the “ice age” and refrigeration, natives took to drinking juices believed to have cooling effects on the body.  Coconut water was a favorite drink; but since the nut and husk absorbs heat, it was cooled first by immersing the coconut in water, as is true for other fruits. Caimito (star apple), pakwan (watermelon),  certain citrus fruit juices like dalandan, kamias and the leaves of dayaps (lime), have cooling properties as well.

 But Americans were strangers to these fruits. They craved for the cold comforts of their winter, and missed the heat-soothing, ice cold drinks and desserts that were so readily available back home.

The scream for ice cream, heard by Clarke.

Fortune-seeking  businessmen sought to capitalize the need to make life more cool and comfy especially foreign residents by importing ice blocks from New England. These were first shipped to Southeast Asian countries like Hong Kong and the Philippines in the middle of the 19^th century.

The arrival of ice in the country opened up a whole new world of opportunities for American entrepreneurs. They quickly became importers, distributors and sellers of newfangled domestic appliances like wooden ice boxes, chests and coolers—precursors of the modern refrigerator. 

IMAGE 2: MEET MET. Metcalfe “Met” A. Clarke. Founder and proprietor of Clarke’s, which he started on a shoestring budget. To augment  his income from the soda parlor, he sublet the second floor to American soldiers as living quarters.

 But another prospector did much better. When Chicago-born Metcalfe A. Clarke learned of the arrival of American soldiers unused to Manila’s suffocating, tropical weather, he leased a space in the west end of fashionable Escolta—Manila’s “Fifth Avenue”--in the public square of Plaza Moraga, at the foot of the Jones Bridge.

 He turned this space into an oasis of refreshment which opened on December 1899: CLARKE’S, regarded as the first ice cream parlor in the Philippines. 

IMAGE 3: CLARKE’S AT 2 ESCOLTA.  Where American expatriates found cold comfort, great food and company.

 Vintage postcard courtesy of Arch. Edward de los Santos, Pinoy Kollektor.

Summer lovin’, had me a blast.

Serving western-style ice cream, confections and breads, CLARKE’S  found immediate patronage not just from thirsty and heat-weary American military men, but also from the expatriate residents of Manila.

Its charming, modern interiors featured American soda parlor wire chairs (“batibot”) that came in adult and children’s sizes. Wood-bladed electric fans hummed from the high ceiling to fan customers as they snacked off dainty Dresden china while attended to white-uniformed Chinese and Filipino waiters.

CLARKE’S ice cream was the delight of Manilans as a new century unfolded. One summer, the soda parlor served pink ice cream made from evaporated milk in tin cans. The ice cream proved to be an irresistible hit. Patrons who have tasted the frozen novelty swear it’s the best-tasting flavor in the Far East. Classic flavors like vanilla, chocolate, strawberry were also available,  providing instant relief by cooling the senses.

IMAGE 4 AS AMERICAN AS A SODA PARLOR. Patrons, mostly businessmen, tourists and locals, 

chill out at Clarke’s with interiors duplicating the classic look of American soda parlors—right down

to the “batibot” chairs, ceiling fans, and soda jerks in uniforms.

Ice cream and pastries and candies. Oh my!

The leading “salon de refrescos” of the Orient--as CLARKE’S was known—also served an assortment of breads and pastries, stick candies, lollipops and chocolates. With money flowing in,  Clarke put up a lucrative bakery and confectionary factory in the Sta. Cruz district, to heed the clamor for genuine, wholesome and clean breads and sweets.

For Americans in Manila, local breads will not do. “The bad kind of bread comes from the Chinos and the native pest houses”, a concerned writer once noted. “And I have noticed with disgust young American children sucking native sugared  perils in the shape of cakes made the Lord only knows in what filthy fashion”. 

IMAGE 5: BREAKING BREAD. The Clarke’s Bakery and Confectionary Factory, 

housed in a 3-storey building on Calle Obando, Sta. Cruz. Operations 

were ran by American experts who supervised a coterie of Filipino bakers.

 On the other hand, “good bread” could be had at CLARKE’S. Clarke took his company motto to heart:  “Cleanliness is next to godliness”. He guaranteed, “You could eat your lunch off the floor of the bakery”. The staff of Filipinos, supervised by Americans,  were required to bathe and change even before going to work.

 He also equipped his bakery with state-of-the art baking machines such that no human hand touches the dough. The mixing, kneading and shaping processes were all done by these mechanical marvels—and the result was bread of superior purity and wholesome quality. What was more amazing was that the machines could churn out 450 loaves of bread in 7 minutes, enough to feed Manilans many times over!

IMAGE 6: SWEETS FOR MY SWEET. On the third floor, Filipina workers wrap baked goodies and Clarke’s Superior Candies for distribution and sale at the Escolta shop, and also for provincial orders.

 CLARKE’S  baked confections—gingerbreads, cakes, Danish, rolls---were served with aromatic cups of his famous Café Mayon coffee brand. The beans were homegrown in his Indang, Cavite farm, which he, himself, roasted and ground.

Hanging out with chill seekers

While it was true that people originally went to CLARKE’S for its exceptional refreshments, many travelers and tourists hied off to No. 2 Escolta  “to wallow in the atmosphere whose influence will fairly eradicate the “blues”. 

 

IMAGE 7: DAYDREAMS & ICE CREAMS. The one place in Manila where anybody meets everybody.

A habitué astutely observed: “Notice the happy greeting and smiling faces of the throngs who meet there daily. Do they not seem more intensely pleased with themselves and their fellow man in general, around and about this corner, than at any other place or time? You could not describe it…but you can feel it!”

Indeed, CLARKE’S, in its heyday was “the mecca of epicurean Manila-ites and epicures of many others”.  It was the place to see and to be seen. It was said that to be famous, one had to have his photograph taken in CLARKE’S.

It was in CLARKE’S that a cable was composed during a visit of U.S. Secretary of War William H. Taft’s party, announcing  the engagement of presidential daughter Alice Roosevelt , eldest of Pres. Theodore Roosevelt,  and Nicholas Longworth, a Republican politician. 

IMAGE 8: MATCH MADE IN CLARKE’S. The cable announcing the engagement of Alice Roosevelt with Nicholas Longworth, was composed in Clarke’s. The two were in Manila, part of an American diplomatic mission that travelled to Hawaii, Japan, China, Korea and the Philippines. Picture: Wikimedia commons.

The reason, they say, for the energy of the place is no less than Mr. Met Clarke himself, who, from the very first have been able to invest his employees with that genial “I-really-want-to-please-you” spirit that seems to prevail in the very air.

For all that—and more—Mr. Met Clarke was handsomely rewarded with windfalls of success. He became the first president of the Manila Merchants Association, an organization that unified leading American and Filipino businessmen of their day. Under his helm, the association produced promotional trade books and brochures, supported the great Manila Carnival and addressed labor concerns. 

IMAGE 9. CLARKE AT THE CARNIVAL. The soda parlor shop was replicated in the float of Clarke’s that participated in the first Manila Carnival parade of 1908.

Frozen assets,  business meltdown.

In 1903, Mr. Clarke and a few associates organized the Benguet Consolidated Mining after acquiring some mining claims in Benguet , Mountain Province. He probably felt the need to diversify his business after the Insular Ice Plant was built in 1902 near the Puente Colgante bridge. It would just be a matter of time, he might have thought,  that his pioneering food business would find competition.

Clarke invested heavily in the mining company that began with a simple 3-stamp amalgamation mill. He soon expanded it to include a cyanide and sand leaching plant that he personally financed. A typhoon however flooded the mines and destroyed the plant, even before he could recoup his investment.

IMAGE 10: YOU JUST GOT SERVED. Mr. Met Clarke hobnobbing with visitors and patrons in his famous ice cream shop.

With the entire capital wiped out, Clarke was forced to auction off his ice cream shop business in 1911. His  Philippine ventures gone, Clarke called it quits  and returned to the U.S. where he died sometime later  in California.

Years after his passing, oldtimers would still reminisce about CLARKE’S, a landmark symbol of American influence that came to define the new sophistication of the modernized capital city and its tastes for life’s finer things. 

IMAGE 11: A COOL DINING PLACE. A 1909 Clarke’s trade ad for a souvenir program.

 For a decade,  it became a place of convergence for Manila’s social and business communities—to cool their heels, to discuss and settle issues, or simply to watch the world go by. Indeed, as its advertisements proclaimed—it’s the best known corner in Manila. Because, if you are looking for a friend—you can find him at CLARKE’S!

SOURCES:

Devins, John Bancroft, An Observer in the Philippines, American Tract Society, 1905. p.117

Picture source: The Philippine Magazine, Manila, August 1908 issue.

Alvina, Corazon., Sta, Maria Felice P. Halupi: Essays on Philippine Culture, Capitol Publishing House, Inc., 1989. P. 139,

De los Santos, Edward: http://pinoykollektor.blogspot.com/2013/04/escolta-at-turn-of-century-postcard.html

Clarke’s: http://www.jenniferhallock.com/tag/clarkes/

These Vintage Photos of Binondo, Escolta, and Divisoria Will Remind You of Manila's Glory Days. Spot.ph:

https://www.spot.ph/newsfeatures/the-latest-news-features/72111/photos-pasig-river-binondo-divisoria-escolta-a1806-20171127-lfrm3

81. The Car Is Born: EARLY YEARS OF PHILIPPINE MOTORING

Image 1: BABY, YOU CAN DRIVE MY CAR. The Israels, Benito and Adrienne, try their new French-made car on an Alsatian road. The Israels were relatives of the Ullmans, part-Germans who settled in the Philippines as businessmen. Dated 1926.

An index of affluence for Filipino in the days of the American rule was the possession of an automobile. To this day, having a car—next to owning a house—continues to top the list of  goals of every working Pinoy. After all, a car was more than just a functional transportation invention; it was a status symbol, a statement of success to be driven and flaunted on the road.

Image 2: HORSELESS CARRIAGES. Automobiles along the shopping district, Calle Escolta. 1920s.

This obsession with cars is reflected in the current number of vehicles that were registered in the Philippines in 2017, reaching an all-time high of over 10.4 million units. It is inconceivable to think that less than century ago, in 1928, there were only 19,791 automobiles in our islands, mostly concentrated in our cities and major town centers where majority of the good roads and thoroughfares were.

Image 3: CRUISING TAFT. One of the modern macadamized roads built during the American period is Calle Rizal (started in 1899), later renamed Taft Avenue. The avenue provided supreme driving pleasure for the motor enthusiast.

For all the years that Spain ruled the Philippines, it had very little to show when it came to its public works records. The task of road and bridge-building was often undertaken by their missionaries. When the Americans took over, they were aghast at what the natives had to undergo to travel from one town to another. For example, a man living in a sitio some 100 miles from the city had to equip himself with 3 horses to reach Manila, and—due to extreme road conditions-- he could not always be sure that he could reach the city on a living horse!

Eventually, the Americans, through the Bureau of Public Works, embarked on an extensive, national road-building that saw dramatic increase in kilometrage of all classes of roads. By the end of the 1920s, over 12 thousand kilometers of new roads had been added, speeding up the transport of goods and products to key markets, and spurring livelier economic activities. Rich Filipinos began discovering  too, that these new highways were also the perfect avenues on which to display himself and his grand equipage—the automobile.

Image 4: A FORD YOU CAN AFFORD. Ford Model T, 1914 model. The people’s car was so affordable, prices started at $400. Photo: Wikimedia commons.

Nothing  impacted the nation’s mobility , so much as the automobile—the rickety, sputtering, still-imperfect machine that arrived in the final years of the 20^th century.  German engineer Karl Benz is credited with developing the first motorcar in his workshop in 1885, which, in a test run,  covered a distance of 1 kilometer at a speed of 15 kph.

The building of a single car, however, took many months; it was left to American Henry Ford to find a way to shorten the process. This, he did, by  introducing a conveyor-belt moving assembly line in 1913, that could put together an automobile  in just 90 minutes, making the production of cars commercially viable. The result of Ford’s breakthrough efforts was the introduction of the affordably-priced Ford’s Model T—“ a car for the multitude”—launching the era of popular motoring around the world.

Image 5: BEFORE THE CAR, WAS THE CARROMATA. Mode of public transport before the advent of cars were horse-drawn carriages of all shapes and sizes called carromatas, calesas, caruajes and quiles.

As an American-ruled territory, the introduction of the automobile to our islands was assured. For their modes of transport, Filipinos were used to riding animal-pulled vehicles—like the caruajes ( also known as “rokabays”, must-haves for prominent Filipinos), quiles, caretons, calesas and, in the rural areas, the wheel-less, sled-like  paragos.

Now, the prospect of owning this modern motorized wonder was becoming a reality.

The first automobile in the country was brought in by the famous “La Estrella del Norte”, a department store founded by the Levy Brothers that started as a watch and jewelry shop in Iloilo. In the early 1900s, the flourishing ‘La Estrella” opened a large branch along Escolta, and diversified its inventory of stocks to include bicycles, phonographs, moving picture machines—the first of their kind to be seen in the country.

Image 6: LA ESTRELLA AUTO PALACE, Dealer of Essex, Hudson, and spectacular Dodge cars. 1929.

The La Estrella car was acquired by a medical doctor of note, Dr. Juan Miciano, a UST physician.  The automobile was a French-made Richard-Brasier, that came all the way from the Paris car manufacturing plant founded by Charles-Henri Brasier  and partner r. On an average, it took a little over 3 months to ship an automobile from Europe or the U.S., to Manila.

Though extremely expensive (over Three Thousand Pesos, roughly $1,540) in the first decade of the 20^th century, automobiles found ready buyers, mostly from Manila’s elite set, like Don Benito Legarda who bought a Renault in 1904.

Image 7: CHEVY RUNS DEEP. Lucy Martin, a popular vaudeville dancer who performed in Manila, drove a Chevrolet during her stay in the islands. Late 1920s.

Efficiency in car manufacturing brought prices down significantly, and cars were soon being snapped up through easy installment plans. Vaudeville star dancer Lucy Martin even bought a Chevrolet while performing here in Manila in the late 1920s. Other favorite cars included the Blackhawk, a lower-priced companion car to the Safety Stutz, the speedy Hupmobile, and Chrysler’s De Soto.

Image 8: DRIVE NOW, PAY LATER. Car prices for different models of Chevrolet and Pontiac, from 1929.

 After “La Estrella”, Erlanger and Galinger, a well-known brokerage firm, began selling motor vehicles as well. In 1902, the U.S-made Locomobile was offered for sale by the company, only the second car brand to be made available in the country. Soon, more brands came into the market: Oldsmobile, named after founder and pioneer auto maker Ransom Eli Olds, made its first appearance in Manila in 1906.

Image 9: BACHRACH AND ROLL. The first commercial automobile imports company was the Bachrach Motor Co., founded by Emil Bachrach. 1940 ad.

1907 marked another milestone with the establishment of the first commercial automobile imports in the Philippines by Russian-born American, Emil Bachrach, who had come to the Philippines in 1901 to look for his fortune. His early enterprises included a watch shop, a credit company, and a furniture business that proved to be very successful.

Image  10: 1929 BACHRACH MOTOR CO. AD for DURANT TRUCKS AND NASH CARS.

The visionary, in anticipation of the growth of the automotive industry, opened a new company, Bachrach Motors, and snagged the lucrative Ford Motor franchise, Thus, that same year, the very popular Model T was launched in the Philippines.  It would later add Nash, Packard, Chalmers, Cadillac and Willys Overland in its roster of vehicle brands. Bachrach Motors remained in business for long, fruitful years---supplemented with a Garage and Taxicab Co. and the Rapid Transit Co., the first bus line of Manila. After Bachrach died in 1937, the operations was continued by his family, ceasing only in the mid 1960s.

Image 11: CONVERGENCE POINT. Plaza Goiti (now Plaza Lacson) was a busy meeting point of vehicles—from calesas, streetcars and automobiles. 1920s.

The advent of the automobile—that noisy, but irresistible symbol  of 20^th century progress—did not banish the horse overnight. But many Filipinos began transforming their livery stables into spacious garages for their modern vehicles. The plazas of Manila became the convergence points of  caruajes, calesas and now, the automobiles. But in bustling Escolta, touted as Manila’s Fifth Avenue, the spanking new automobile reigned supreme. Daily, Iberian señoritas, well-heeled families and their uniformed chauffeurs, all church-bound to Tondo, Sampaloc and Sta. Cruz would pass by the busy, cosmopolitan street.

IMAGE 12: MACONDRAY & CO. dealer of De Soto cars; FRENCH MOTOR CO., sole agent for the Graham Sedan 1928.

The demand for cars spurred the growth of the automotive industry, and revolutionized commercial transportation in the country. As a result, entrepreneurs cashed in on the auto boom by going into car dealerships  in Manila and beyond. The 1920s and 1930s ushered in the golden age of Philippine motoring, with international car models appearing on our new city avenues and boulevards.

Image 13: BLACKHAWK, named after an Indian chief, was one of the most promoted cars in the Philippines in 1929. It was manufactured by the Stutz Motor Car Company in Indianapolis from 1929 to 1930.

Levy Hermanos, for example, spun off the Estrella Auto Palace from its main “La Estrella” store in Escolta. The car dealership on Gandara St. offered the spectacular Dodge Super 6, Essex and Hudson models in 1929. At its peak,  it carried 21 different car and truck brands, operating fully until the 1950s.

Image 14: LUNETA MOTOR CO. One of the biggest and most popular car dealers in the country, with a big showroom in Escolta. It was known for its posh Chrysler-Plymouth automobiles. 1938.

Luneta Motor Co., in Plaza San Luis, was another famous go-to place for prestige brands like Chrysler-Plymouth, which came on sale in the mid 1920s. In 1937, the company mounted car shows that demonstrated the strength and durability of the car. In 1955, Luneta Motor Co. also undertook distributorship of jeepney bodies made by Francisco Body Builders (soon to become Francisco Motors Corp.), which was then appointed to assemble Ford Consul and Thames trucks for the premiere auto dealer, that was in business until the 1960s.

Image 15: FORD CARS by MANTRADE.  Manila Trading and Supply Co. was into office equipment and rubber products before selling cars. It is now called Nissan-Mantrade. HUPMOBILE, a very popular car model, as advertised by PARSONS HARDWARE CO. 1929 ads.

Along Malecon Drive is located the Manila Trading and Supply Co. (the future Mantrade), which began as a dealer of various branded products---office machines (Remington typewriter), rubber materials (United States Rubber), and later,  automobiles by Ford. In 1920, it focused exclusively on being a Ford dealer, and pre-war branches were put up all  over the country, including a showroom in Escolta.

It reorganized after the war and put up an assembly plant in 1955. The American-owned company would go on to sell Ford brands, like Cortina, Thames, Transit and Taunus.  In the 1960s, ownership was transferred to a group of Filipino businessmen, and continued to lead the way in car dealership. Today, after over 100 years, it is still in operation, known by its new name, Nissan Mantrade.

Image 16: PACIFIC MOTORS, dealer of PONTIAC—“the car you’ll be proud to own”; PACIFIC COMMERCIAL AD, dealer of CHEVROLET SIX, 1929 ad.

 There were a dozen or so other dealers and authorized auto distributors scattered around the city: Macondray & Co. , located in Hidalgo, Quiapo with branches in Iloilo and Cebu, specialized in De Soto;  Pacific Commercial Co. (Plaza Sta. Cruz), distributor of General Motors and all Chevrolet models ; Pacific Motors, distributors of Pontiac, Oakland, Cadillac and La Salle; Manila Motor Co. Inc., in Ongpin (with branches in Baguio and Bacolod); French Motor Co. (Rizal Avenue), Parsons Hardware Co., sales agent of the Hupmobile; and Automotive Sales Co. (along Pinpin St.) which sold Buick automobiles.

Image 17:  FILLER’UP. Print ad for Shell Fuels and Motor Oil, from the Asiatic Petroleum Co. (P.I.) Ltd., and Associated Gasolineand Cycol Motor Oil, from Associated Oil co. 1930s  ad.

With the arrival of automobiles came the rise of gas and service stations. Fuel companies like Shell (through the Asiatic Fuel Co.) and Associated Oil Co. were already around by then, and expanded their product line to include motorcar fuels and oils. Standard Oil. Co, of New York was also supplying filling stations with Socony oil and lubricants.

Image 18: SERVICE WITH A SMILE. A 1920s ad of the Motor Service Co., supplier of car accessories and genuine replacement parts.

Maintenance and auto supplies shop, like the Motor Service Co., Inc, offered tires, tubes, replacement parts and accessories through its Central Auto Supply branch along Avenida, cor Azcarraga St.

Image 19: THREE MEN AND A CAR. Three Filipino dandies take their large car of unknown make to Baguio. 1936.

 From commercial and business use, automobiles soon became “personal transportation” for private owners, as more latest models coming in, equipped for thrill and speed (early cars could not even top 30 mph in the 1900s). Young men from affluent families took their cars out for joyrides and pleasure trips along Dewey, Avenida and Escolta, while making a statement in their streamlined motor on wheels. Spanking-new Studebakers, Roosevelts and Cadillacs lined the streets of Manila, competing for space and attention.

Image 20:  MERCURY RISING. A student shows off his new Mercury, a premium car produced by Ford Motor Co. Late 1940s photo

A maximum speed limit of 8 miles per hour was set within Manila in 1920, which was oftentimes violated by reckless drivers. By then, there were already 8,000 automobiles plying the city roads at all hours.

Image 21: THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST. The consequence of driving too fast. The driver punctured a tire, swerved in to a ditch and lost control of his car. 1938 photo.

The number of accidents continued to mount however. The most common traffic violation was overspeeding. A 1933 newspaper account observed: “Our motorists have developed a mania for speed, resulting in the inevitable consequence of suffering from accidents and the tragedy of either death or injury of the passengers of the car”. Other reasons include not having the right of way, wrong passing and not making signals when turning.

Image 22: TALLERES DE AUTOMOBILES, or Manila Motor Works, an early auto repair and service shop founded by former mechanic Pedro Reyes in 1928. Photo from Progress Magazine, 1958.

But one man’s car crashes  can be another man’s livelihood. Motor shop repairs were soon being set up, and enjoyed good business, as in the case of the Manila Motor Works. In 1928, Pedro Reyes, a former mechanic of Pacific Commercial Co., and a shop superintendent of Teal Motor Co., founded his Talleres de Automobiles  along Avenida, and grew it to become the nation’s most progressive and reliable auto body repair shop and truck body builder until the 1950s.

 What the early Filipino driver of the 1900s could never know was that, even as more roads, bridges, and highways were built, and more cars rolled into our islands, the capital city, given its design and limits, would one day be bursting at the seams  with a burgeoning post-war population and the continuous migration of people to Manila from the provinces.

Image 23: AVENIDA MADNESS. Bumper-to-bumper traffic along Avenida Rizal, with calesas and automobiles jockeyng for positions on the 4-lane avenue

 By the 1950s, traffic was becoming a concern as public buses, private cars and the new king of the road—jeepneys—vied for space on the road. Today, the car that accelerated our commercial progress is the same machine being blamed for the slowdown  of business activities.

Image 24: IT’S WORTH THE TRIP. Members of a family makes a stopover at Kennon Road in their spacious late 40s model Oldsmobile. The postwar years saw more Filipinos owning cars, and making more trips to other parts of the country, boosting domestic tourism. Photo from 1957.

Still, it could not be denied that the automobile allowed a man his physical freedom never thought possible. Where before, an islander’s only world was his water-locked town, or that rural folks could only visualize the sights and sounds of a city, the car has given him the power to travel like the wind, to extend the boundaries of his experience, to feel the emotions of many regions and many cultures, in effect, to explore his Filipino-ness.

 SOURCES:

Various 1929 Graphic Magazine issues:

“A Bit of Transportation History”. 30 Oct. 1929, p. 8

“Traveling Like the Wind”. 25 Sep. 1929, p. 14

“Evolution of the Automobile”,30 Oct. 1929, p. 10

“Lure of the Highway”, 6 Nov. 1929, p. 44.

 “Motor Car Accidents”, The Sunday Tribune Magazine, 23 April 1933. p. 8

 Reader’s Digest, “The Origins of Everyday Things”, Reader’s Digest Association Ltd., 1998., p.

 Kraus, Michael. Kraus Vera, Family Album for Americans, Ridge Press Inc. 1961, published by Grossett and Dunlap. Pp. 231-247.

 Ragoon, Richard Wilhelm, “How much were cars in PH back in the day?”.posted 9 Feb. 2018. https://www.topgear.com.ph/features/feature-articles/Philippine-cars-cost-history-a52-20180209

 

80. 15 BEVERAGES YOU WON’T FIND IN YOUR SARI-SARI STORE ANYMORE

One of the best ways to cool off is to go to your nearest sari-sari store and pick a 5 or 10 centavo bottle of your favorite soft drink. There’s Sunta, if you wanted an orange soda, Bireley’s if it’s choco-milk you want, or for a crisp, lemony kick--Hi-Spot. These soft drink brands, unfortunately, are no longer available here, but in the 50s, 60s and 70s, they refreshed a generation of young folks in any season.

********

AVENUE. AVENUE beverages were manufactured in the 1950s by Avenue Aerated Water Co.,in Grace Park, Caloocan. This 1956 print ad lists 6 tasty Avenue flavors: Red Berry, Orange, Sarsaparilla, Cream Soda and Pineapple. Avenue sold for 10 centavos per bottle and remained available all through the 60s.

 

APPLE SIDRA. First introduced in the Philippines in 1969, APPLE SIDRA was first bottled by Oceanic Beverages in 1965. Philippine bottles bear markings that show that the product was bottled by Apple Sidra Corp, based in Parañaque, Rizal under the authority of Cosco International Corp. of Chicago, Illinois. The unique carbonated apple-flavored drink became popular in the 1970s, such that Yes Cola, was soon launched after, from the same company. Apple Sidra today is Taiwanese-owned  and is still available in parts of Asia as a canned drink

 

BIRELEY’S. BIRELEY’S  was another mid 50s drink that was hugely popular among Filipinos, led by its nutritious, sterilized Chocolate milk made from 100% non-fat milk solids.  It was made available through the Bireley’s California Orange Ltd., with offices in Manila and Cebu.  Aside from chocolate, Bireley’s had Orange, Grape and Pineade flavors, all non-carbonated. Bireley’s was originally made in 1930, beginning with the orange soda drink, a pasteurized fruit drink made from blended fruit juices. The products ar no longer available in the Philippines,  but are still manufactured in Thailand and Japan.

 

CLICQUOT CLUB. CLICQUOT CLUB was first produced in 1881 in Massachusetts, as a sparkling cider by LaCroix Fruit Farm. It was named “Clicquot”,after the French champagne “Veuve Clicquot”. After The Clicquot company was formed, the apple cider was dropped, in favor of a new drink—the Clicquot Club Ginger Ale. Other flavors followed: Cream Soda, Strawberry, Orange, Rootbeer, Lemon & Lime, and Grape. Its “Eskimo Boy” mascot, became one of the most recognizable brand characters in the U.S. It was distributed internationally in the 1950s, that led to its Philippine launch. Rafael Yabut‘s “Tayo’y Mag-aliw” radio program, aired over DZRH, promoted the product in a segment called “Clicquot’s Tayo’y Uminom Program”. Clicquot Club was gone by the early 1960s;  the company was eventually bought by the Cott Beverage Corporation of Connecticut in 1969.

 

GOODY ROOT BEER. GOODY Root Beer was produced by the U.S.-based Goody Company Minneapolis. F.F. Halili Enterprises in Balintawak acquired the license to bottle it, and it was distributed by Mission Beverages in the Philippines.  This Goody 1960 ad promises togive drinkers drinkers “the full feel of refreshment…tingling all the way down!”

 

GREEN SPOT. GREEN SPOT was founded in 1934 with the mission to produce a quality fruit juice drink concentrate using only the freshest ingredients. The first product was the unique tasty Orangeade, which caught on very quickly. Following the success of Orangeade, additional flavors like Grape, Fruit Punch and Lemonade were soon introduced.

 

HI-SPOT. Canada Dry Beverages, which was founded in 1923 by P.D. Saylor and Associates, reached the country in the 1950s when the Canada Dry Bottling Co.  of the Philippines was put up in Parañaque, Rizal, by authority of the Canada International Corp. New York, U.S.A. One of its short-lived products that was launched here was HI-SPOT Lemon Soda, a bubbly, sparkling lemon-y soft drink introduced in 1965. Hi-Spot was overshadowed by more popular Canada Dry products like Uva, Tru-Fruit Orange, Kola Champagne, so production was discontinued.

 

IDEAL. IDEAL Softdrinks was a local brand that was manufactured by Ideal Aerated Water Company, with a plant located in Paco, Manila. Ideal was available  in a variety of flavors like Sarsaparilla, Strawberry, Cream Soda.

 

KIST. Orange KIST was first produced in 1929 by the Citrus Products Co. of Chicago (founded in 1919), which also made Stone Mountain Ginger Ale and Blue Bird Grape. But it was Kist that became its lead product, and was soon distributed internationally.  Kist Softdrinks were made locally available when Olivenza Softdrinks Factory of Mira Mira Hermanos Inc.,  based in Makati, Rizal was given the authorized license from Citrus Products Co., Chicago, Illinois.

 

QUINABEER. Another beverage bottled by Olivenza Softdrinks Factory was QUINABEER, which is like root beer, but with a taste that comes from “exquisite fruit and quinine”. Quinine is used as to flavor beverages like bitter lemon and tonic water.

 

O-SO. The independent softdrink company from Chicago gave the world a drink in 1946 with an interesting name—O-SO. It actually started with its O-SO Grape Flavor, and many fruity favors were added later. Sales sailed through the roof that O-SO was soon wanted by the international market. In 50s Philippines, it was bottled by M. De Lara Co. Inc.. O-SO was briefly enjoyed in the islands who, true to its slogan,  found it “O-SO good” and “O-SO delicious!”

 

ROYAL LEM-O-LIME. The sparkling lemon-and-lime citrus soda was produced by the Royal line of softdrinks put up by San Miguel Brewery in 1922. Its lead product was Royal Tru-Orange. ROYAL LEM-O-LIME was launched in 1969 and tasted like 7-Up with a dash of citrus. It was part of a line of cool, lemony drinks that included Royal Lemon, Royal Soda and Tonic. Royal Lem-o-Lime had a great start in the market, and was available thru the 70s.

 

SUNTA. One of the more popular makers of soda brands in the Philippines was the Manila Aerated Water Factory, founded  in 1918 by Wong Ning, a Guangdong immigrant. After his death during WWII, his eldest child—Henry Gao-Hong Wong—rebuilt the business and renamed it  as Cosmos Bottling Corp. in 1945. Its main product was a flavored beverage called Cosmos Sarsaparilla. In 1972, it produced an orange soda called SUNTA, which enjoyed some following, until the business floundered after Henry Wong’s death. RFM acquired the company in 1989.

 

TRU-ADE. TRU-ADE Orange soft drink was developed in 1938 by Lee C. Ward in Los Angeles, Califronia, and the brand name was trademarked the year after. It was originally created from orange juice concentrate, which required pasteurization. The brand was most popular on the U.S. East Coast. A local company acquired the license to bottle the product-- Tru-Ade Philippine Island Inc.,--which produced the 7 oz.  orange soda.

 

UVA. The Canada Dry bottles all featured the map of Canada on a shield, topped by a crown, in reference to the drink’s appointment to the Viceregal Household of the Governor General of Canada in 1907. When it ventured into soft drink production, only one bottle was used for its beverages. UVA, a grape-flavored soft drink, was launched in 1960, and proved to be the most successful fruit soda brand for the company.