New, Full 12 Ounce Can of Dr. Pepper’s “Vernors” Ginger Ale ZERO, “Detroit’s Drink”, America’s Oldest Surviving Ginger-Flavored Soda (USA-2021).
NOTE: This offering is for ONE collectible can. It is NOT for a six-pack. NOT for a 12 pack. NOT for a truckload. It is for ONE collectible can, as stated.
Traveling internationally as part of my occupation, I continually have friends and customers ask me to bring back to the USA Pepsi and Coca-Cola cans and bottles from elsewhere in the world. Surprisingly, I have had many friends and customers outside of the USA ask me to secure for them collectible cans of Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Here’s one such offering, a full can of America’s oldest surviving “ginger ale” (labeled “the original ginger soda”), Dr. Pepper’s “Vernors ZERO”. Vernors is indeed the oldest surviving ginger soda sold in the United States. However it’s claim to being “the original ginger soda” is a bit of a stretch, as there were a number of brands of ginger ale, ginger soda, and ginger beer sold in commerce prior to 1866 (however none survive, i.e., are still produced).
According to company legend, prior to the start of the American Civil War, while a clerk at the Higby & Sterns drugstore in Detroit, James Vernor experimented with flavors in an attempt to duplicate a popular ginger ale imported from Dublin, Ireland. When Vernor was called off to serve in the war, he stored the syrup base of 19 ingredients, including ginger, vanilla and other natural flavorings, in an oak cask. Vernor joined the 4th Michigan Cavalry in August, of 1962, as a hospital steward and was promoted to second lieutenant in September of 1864. Upon his return home after his discharge in July of 1865, he opened the (now four year old) keg and found the drink inside had been changed by the aging process in the wood. It was like nothing else he had ever tasted, and he purportedly declared it "deliciously different," which remains the drink's motto to this day.
Vernor opened a drugstore of his own in Detroit and sold his ginger soda at its soda fountain. According to the 1911 trademark application on "Vernors" as a name for ginger soda and extract, Vernors entered commerce in 1880. City by city, Vernor sold bottling franchises, with operators of those franchises required to strictly adhere to the recipe. In 1896, Vernor closed his drugstore and opened a soda fountain closer to the center of Detroit, near the ferry docks on the Detroit River so as to concentrate on the ginger soda business alone. Initially, Vernors was only sold via soda fountain franchises. The early Vernors soda fountains featured ornate plaster, lighting and ironwork featuring a "V" design, examples of which still exist, such as at the Halo Burger restaurant in Flint, Michigan. It was not until later that Vernors was bottled for home consumption.
James Vernor died October 29, 1927, and was succeeded by his son, James Vernor Jr. In 1966, the Vernor family sold out to the first of a succession of owners, culminating in its purchased by A&W Beverages in 1987. A&W was later purchased by Cadbury Schweppes, and then Dr. Pepper/7-Up. A number of slogans have been associated with Vernors over the years. Advertising in the early 1900's used the slogan "Detroit's Drink". According to its trademark application, it began using the slogan "Deliciously Different" in 1921. The labels formerly read "aged 4 years in wood", which was changed some years ago to "flavor aged in oak barrels", and now reads "barrel aged - bold taste". The gnome mascot (shown on the current packaging), named "Woody", was used from the turn of the century until 1987, when it was dropped by A&W Brands in favor of new packaging, but was returned to the packaging early in this century.
The Vernors style was common before Prohibition, when “dry” pale ginger ale (beer) became popular as a drink mixer. This type of "prohibition style" dry ginger became popular after Prohibition, and is now commonly known in the U.S. as "ginger ale". Vernors is highly carbonated. Some people drink it hot as a remedy for stomachache. Los Angeles Metropolitan-News Editor Roger Grace, in 2005, described the original flavor as "mellow yet perky with the mellowness attributed to the aging in oak barrels, and the perkiness to the use of more ginger and sugar than "dry" ginger ales. Even though Vernors is distributed nation-wide, Michigan accounts for 80% of Vernors sales. Michigan, Ohio and Illinois are the highest-selling states, and primary cities are Detroit, Grand Rapids, Flint, Toledo and Cincinnati.
Vernors is also very popular in Florida, which has large numbers of retired or relocated former Michigan residents. Across the border from Michigan, Vernors is also popular in Canada, having been sold at Ontario soda fountains from the 1920s onward, and with bottling facilities, soda fountains and outlets located in Southwestern Ontario. If you’re in the USA, this might not at first blush seem a “collectible”. But then in Eastern Europe or Central Asia for instance, a can of Coca-Cola printed in their alphabet might not seem very unusual or collectible. But to an American, that same can is quite collectible. Likewise in Europe or Asia, American cans, especial those of limited production, are likewise quite collectible. So for all of my friends in Europe and Asia, here’s a genuine, full can of America’s oldest ginger ale, “Vernors ZERO”.
SHIPPING & RETURNS/REFUNDS: Domestic shipping is $12.99 for Priority Mail. Domestic rates include USPS Delivery Confirmation. Canadian shipments are $28.99 for Air Mail or $36.99 for Global Priority Mail. All other International shipments are $44.99 for Air Mail, $53.99 for Global Priority Mail. Your purchase will ordinarily be shipped within 48 hours of payment. We package as well as anyone in the business, with lots of protective padding and containers. All of our shipments are fully insured against loss, and our shipping rates include the cost of this coverage (through stamps.com, Shipsaver.com, the USPS, UPS, or Fed-Ex).
International tracking is provided free by the USPS for certain countries, other countries are at additional cost. Please note for international purchasers we will do everything we can to minimize your liability for VAT and/or duties. But we cannot assume any responsibility or liability for whatever taxes or duties may be levied on your purchase by the country of your residence. If you don’t like the tax and duty schemes your government imposes, please complain to them. We have no ability to influence or moderate your country’s tax/duty schemes.
ADDITIONAL PURCHASES do receive a VERY LARGE discount so as to reward you for the economies of combined shipping/insurance costs (postal costs for additional cans from the third onward typically only cost $1 each for domestic shipping – in some cases, even for international shipping). So as to maximize your discount, please ask for a rate quotation and instructions BEFORE checking out. We do offer U.S. Postal Service Priority Mail, Registered Mail, and Express Mail for both international and domestic shipments, as well United Parcel Service (UPS) and Federal Express (Fed-Ex).
If upon receipt of the item you are disappointed for any reason whatever, I offer a no questions asked 30-day return policy. Send it back, I will give you a complete refund of the purchase price; 1) less our original shipping/insurance costs, 2) less any non-refundable fees imposed by eBay. Please note that though they generally do, eBay may not always refund payment processing fees on returns beyond a 30-day purchase window. So except for shipping costs and any payment processing fees not refunded by eBay, we will refund all proceeds from the sale of a return item. Obviously we have no ability to influence, modify or waive eBay policies.
PLEASE NOTE: Despite extremely heavy and competent packaging on our end, soda cans are VERY susceptible to being damaged by the USPS – principally if they explode because they were transported in unheated, unpressurized aircraft cargo holds; or left in a mail box in very cold weather. If this happens, don’t “weird out”…just contact us. We insure every parcel…we simply need photos of the damage to submit a claim.
ABOUT US: Prior to our retirement we used to travel to Eastern Europe and Central Asia several times a year seeking antique gemstones and jewelry from the globe’s most prolific gemstone producing and cutting centers. Most of the items we offer came from acquisitions we made in Eastern Europe, India, and from the Levant (Eastern Mediterranean/Near East) during these years from various institutions and dealers. Much of what we generate on Etsy, Amazon and Ebay goes to support worthy institutions in Europe and Asia connected with Anthropology and Archaeology. Though we have a collection of ancient coins numbering in the tens of thousands, our primary interests are ancient/antique jewelry and gemstones, a reflection of our academic backgrounds.
Though perhaps difficult to find in the USA, in Eastern Europe and Central Asia antique gemstones are commonly dismounted from old, broken settings – the gold reused – the gemstones recut and reset. Before these gorgeous antique gemstones are recut, we try to acquire the best of them in their original, antique, hand-finished state – most of them originally crafted a century or more ago. We believe that the work created by these long-gone master artisans is worth protecting and preserving rather than destroying this heritage of antique gemstones by recutting the original work out of existence. That by preserving their work, in a sense, we are preserving their lives and the legacy they left for modern times. Far better to appreciate their craft than to destroy it with modern cutting.
Not everyone agrees – fully 95% or more of the antique gemstones which come into these marketplaces are recut, and the heritage of the past lost. But if you agree with us that the past is worth protecting, and that past lives and the produce of those lives still matters today, consider buying an antique, hand cut, natural gemstone rather than one of the mass-produced machine cut (often synthetic or “lab produced”) gemstones which dominate the market today. We can set most any antique gemstone you purchase from us in your choice of styles and metals ranging from rings to pendants to earrings and bracelets; in sterling silver, 14kt solid gold, and 14kt gold fill. When you purchase from us, you can count on quick shipping and careful, secure packaging. We would be happy to provide you with a certificate/guarantee of authenticity for any item you purchase from us. There is a $3 fee for mailing under separate cover. I will always respond to every inquiry whether via email or eBay message, so please feel free to write.
How did we get "into" soda pop cans? Pepsi and Coca-Cola are probably the most instantly recognizable cultural icons anywhere on the globe. And for that reason, somehow, Cultural Anthropologists, Sociologists, Archaeologists, etc., and other enthusiasts of these social sciences are irresistibly drawn to them. Our studies and travels have taken us from the frozen tundra of Siberia to the deserts of India and the Middle East, to communist countries, democracies, and dictatorships. And bizarrely, you can always find machines or shops vending Coca-Cola and Pepsi (and Marlboro, Pall Mall, Viceroy, Lucky Strike, and Camel cigarettes).
When we used to travel every year to Eastern Europe and Central Asia, friends and colleagues would ask us to bring back Coca-Cola or Pepsi cans. Christmas issues from various countries were always frequent requests (like Europe's Grandfather Frost and his Elves). We would put extras on our eBay store. Before long colleagues in Europe asked for cans from the USA. Not just iconic Pepsi and Coke cans. But especially limited edition Mountain Dew and Dr. Pepper cans. We accommodated them too. And the extras went onto our eBay store. And suddenly, over 20 years, it grew to 500 offerings. They’re a complete money loser. It’s probably an obsession only a cultural anthropologist (or psychiatrist!) would understand. But we have thousands of followers around the globe, and we can’t let them down.