#vernor's

James Vernor was a junior clerk at Higby and Sterns’ Drug Store in Detroit when he enlisted in the 4th Michigan Cavalry and was called to fight in the Civil War. At the time (according to company lore), he was experimenting with a stomach calming tonic of vanilla, spices and ginger, which he left behind in an oak cask. When Vernor returned four years later, he found that his elixir had transformed into a zesty, sweet, gingery drink complimented by the wood’s aging process. Soon after, Vernor opened his own pharmacy 235 Woodward Avenue, and its soda fountain became the first – and only! – place in the world to buy Vernor’s ginger ale in 1866.

Vernor was admired as a pharmacist. He closely scrutinized his prescriptions for quality, accuracy, and possible drug interactions. Vernor was meticulous about his work. Everything he did needed to meet his high standards. He served on the State Board of Pharmacy for eight years and was one of the driving forces to pass the state's first pharmacy law. He held Michigan's pharmacy license #1 all the years he practiced.

Like all good pharmacists, Vernor also had a soda fountain in his drug store.

As demand grew, Vernor began to sell his product to other Detroit soda fountains, but required that vendors purchase special equipment to serve the soda in order to ensure its quality. After gaining enough fame, Vernor was able to sell his soda throughout the Midwest. In 1896, he closed his pharmacy and opened a bottling plant at the foot of Woodward so that Vernors could be mass produced. 

James Vernor passed away at the age of 84 in 1927. The Vernor family was once asked when the first Mr. Vernor retired from business. The answer was, "A few hours before he died." He was a hard-working and energetic man. One that made his mark on the city of Detroit with both business and civic contributions.

The second James Vernor came into the business as early as he could, working alongside his father in the old drug store. In the beginning, the father and son team were the only employees. They often worked 16 hour days together washing bottles, making and bottling the ginger ale, delivering it to various sites in the city, and taking care of clerical duties. He was born in Detroit on March 25, 1877. It wasn't until his father died in 1927, though, that he became President of the James Vernor Company. It was in a great way due to the second James Vernor's influence and style that the company grew into an international organization. In 1896, James Vernor II entered the business and his father decided to concentrate full time on ginger ale.

The same standards that had been applied to the consistency of his prescriptions were applied to the consistency of Vernor's Ginger Ale. The water had to be specially purified. The blending needed the finest Jamaican Ginger distilled in the absolute proper proportion with other fruit juices. Even the carbonic gas used was produced by Vernor so it would meet their requirements.

In 1896, James Vernor II entered the business and his father decided to concentrate full time on ginger ale.

The drug store was closed in 1896 and a small plant established at the foot of Woodward Avenue, several blocks from his former drug store's location. The plant was devoted to the blending, aging, and bottling of Vernor's Ginger Ale.

In 1918, Vernor purchased the old Riverside Power Plant. In 1919 a six story main building was erected adjacent to the other two. In 1939, the 10-story Siegel building was purchased and renovated. In 1941, the "most modern bottling facility in the world" was completed at 239 Woodward Avenue.

The plant also had a spectacular soda fountain. Everyone who lived in Detroit in the 1940's and 1950's has a story about going to the Vernor's soda fountain, usually before or after a ride on the Bob-lo Boat. One of the favorite drinks to have was a Boston Cooler. The drink is a milkshake-like mixture of Vernor's and vanilla ice cream. Contrary to many incorrect web sites, the Boston Cooler is not named after Boston Boulevard in Detroit. At that period of time, any soda pop mixed with ice cream was called a Boston Cooler. So, you could have a Hire's Boston Cooler or a Vernor's Boston Cooler. Vernor's copyrighted the name in the late 1960’s.

James Vernor II had a son; another James Vernor. James Vernor III also had a son; James Vernor. Yet, the company did not pass on to either one of them. It is impossible to predict if the company would have remained in the family if either had been president. J. Vernor Davis, the grandson of the founder, took over the presidency of the company.

The James Vernor Company had always been a family owned company. The death of James Vernor II in 1954 forced the company to sell some stock to the public. In 1957, James Vernor III died. His majority ownership of Vernor’s went through a court battle and was ultimately sold to investors. As a result, Vernor’s was no longer in the hands of the founding family. Vernor's became Vernors in 1959. (Note the lack of the apostrophe between the 'r' and the 's'.)

Vernor Davis had been with the firm since 1931. Prior to the death of his uncle, he became president of the company, in 1952. James Vernor III was concurrently named vice president. Under Davis' leadership, company sales grew tremendously. A stockholder's annual report from 1963 indicates sales grew from just over $6,000,000 in 1961 to over $9,000,000 in 1963.

In 1966, the one hundredth birthday of the James Vernor Company, Davis became chairman of the board. That same year, Vernors was sold to another group of investors, members of the New York Stock Exchange. The company would soon go through a number of different owners.

Again in 1971, Vernors was sold to American Consumer Products. By 1979, another company, United Brands, owned Vernors. This ownership would be the one most costly to the City of Detroit. In January of 1985, Cincinnati-based United Brands abruptly ended bottling operations at the plant.

The property was purchased in 1986 by Shula Associates, who had plans to knock it down for a shopping mall. The plant was eventually demolished in 1987. A high-rise apartment building for Wayne State University is now on the Cass Avenue side of the site. On the Woodward frontage, a four story apartment complex with first floor retail space has been built. The property is directly north of the Whitney Restaurant and two properties north of Hop Cat Detroit.

Between winter weather and working two retail jobs (one of which is basically a toy store and has A Lot of children in it at all times) six days a week in December I managed to get my girlfriend sick a few times and myself sick a couple times. At some point we got to talking about how ginger ale is the go to drink for a lot of people in Michigan when they're feeling sick to their stomach. Specifically Vernor's.

We looked for it down here, we can't find it anywhere near us. She managed to find Faygo Red Pop (still holding out hope there's a few bottles of rock 'n rye somewhere around here) for me the other day, but we cannot find Vernor's. So we settled for Canada Dry, which does not taste like Vernor's to me.

I didn't like Vernor's all that much when I was growing up. I've heard some people in Europe don't like root beer because it tastes like medicine to them (I probably picked it up on tumblr at some point, I'm unsure how true it is but it's stuck in the recesses of my brain), it's kind of like that with Vernor's for me. It's a sick drink. There's no other drink I associate with being sick the way I do with Vernor's. But it was part of my childhood, and I'm so far from home now.

It's so different down here. I left a stable job, took a demotion from store manager to associate to stay with the company when I transferred, had to get a second job just to keep paying my debt off and I can't actually help out that much with bills right now because I'm only getting about $1200 a month between both jobs. My entire life changed completely in a month. I haven't seen or actually spoken to (out loud, on a phone, on a video call - we have a family discord server that we use all the time) my brothers or my parents since my mom drove home in November after driving my ass 1200 miles across the US.

And I can't find the foods I grew up with down here. I can find the big ones, of course. The Pringles, the Coke, the Dominos, the McDonald's. But Faygo, Better Made, Meijer (not a food, still miss it), pazkis, Vernor's are nowhere to be found.

I can't find Vernor's down here, but they have Canada Dry, which is an okay substitute for now I guess. I'm drinking it a lot now. So it must be fine.

View of the Vernor's Ginger Ale Company building. Printed on front: "Home of Vernor's ginger ale, Detroit, Michigan." Handwritten on front: "Atwater. Woodbridge. Mariners Church before moving." Printed on back: "An attraction to Detroiters and out of town visitors is the Vernor Ginger Ale Co. Located at the foot of Woodward Avenue on the Detroit River it serves a refreshing beverage and displays its assembly line technique for bottling its products. Pub. by Bennett Bros., Detroit, Mich."

Clarence Faber Collection

View of an advertising card for James Vernor, florist, depicting an image of a stork and a grouse. Printed on front: "Compliments of James Vernor, florist, 235 Woodward Avenue. Save this card, it may be worth $10.00 to you. [see other side]."

Invoice from the James Vernor Co., dated January 1, 1897.

View of James Vernor store; four-story brick commercial building with storefront. Signs on building: "James Vernor, Vernor's ginger ale." Illuminated Vernor's ginger ale sign over entrance. Printed on front: "The home of 'Vernor's ginger ale' Detroit, Mich." Printed on back: "The home of Vernor's ginger ale, 33 Woodward Ave., Detroit, Mich. The sign has eight hundred and sixteen lamps constantly moving, filling the glass with the finest drink ever. They sell the extract, any one can make the ale."