Sounds From The Basement

I Finally Visited The Dr Pepper Museum

Many years ago, I was fortunate to work with His Eminence, The Grand Poobah, a legendary master of the art and science of marketing.  This, of course, gave me the opportunity to have His Eminence, The Grand Poobah pass on some the immense wisdom he had acquired over the ages when he would deign to interact with me.  Many times, His Eminence would tell me that I could look forward to a field trip with him to Waco, Texas, to visit the Dr. Pepper Museum where he would teach me about the history of marketing as represented by the examples from the storied history of the Dr. Pepper brand.

 

Sadly, His Eminence, The Grand Poobah is a very busy man whose sage advice and wisdom is always in high demand.  So, like many, I always knew that I should take advantage of those few moments when he was available to allow me to bask in the reflected wisdom of his brilliance.  Sadly, he never had time to go the Dr. Pepper Museum with me.

 

Nonetheless, when I realized that my schedule would have me driving down Interstate 35 from Dallas and would pass through Waco, I decided to make time on my schedule for a solo visit for what is officially the Dr. Pepper Museum and  W. W. Clements Free Enterprise Institute.  This august institution is located in the 1906 Artesian and Manufacturing and Bottling Company building.  The museum opened to the public in 1991 and the Free Enterprise Institute opened in 1997.

 

The first floor contains exhibits tracing the development of Dr. Pepper from syrup mixed with soda and Drug Store fountains to the bottled product we know today.  There are many examples of the evolution of bottles and cans, displays of old equipment used in the manufacturing and bottling, and even the actual well that provided the water for Dr. Pepper until the company moved operations to Dallas in the early 20^th century.  I was interesting to follow the displays detailing the evolution of the sweeteners used from real sugar to today’s high fructose corn syrup.  You could imagine a lobbyist for corn growers providing the copy for that portion of the exhibit. 

The second floor of the museum has examples of the marketing of Dr. Pepper over the years.  I really liked the fabulous old posters and the a wonderful display explaining  how a franchise bottling system works.  In addition, there is a display case describing the history of Dr. Pepper knock-off Mr. Pibb.  In 1972, the Coca Cola company decided that they needed a drink to compete with Dr. Pepper and so they started to market a similar tasting drink they called “peppo.”  Dr. Pepper successfully sued them and so they were forced to change the name.  Hence, Mr. Pibb!

 

The third floor houses the W. W. Clements Free Enterprise Institute and several related exhibits.  W. W. Clements (better known as “Foots”) stated as a delivery truck driver for Dr. Pepper in 1935 while a student at the University of Alabama rising to the position of CEO in 1969.  He rose up through the marketing ranks of the company and is generally credited with making the Dr. Pepper a national brand.   In order to give us a better sense of the great man, they have reproduced his office.

My favorite part of the whose museum learning that in the early days of Dr. Pepper, the name was not as well known as the fact that it was bottled in Waco, Texas.  As a result, it was common for customers to walk up to a soda fountain counter and request Dr. Pepper by saying “Give me a shot of Waco!”  Is there a way we can revive this?  This is much better that saying “I’m a pepper.”  You can also use this phrase when you want to be told about the latest political position of America’s favorite former half-Governor of Alaska.  Give me a shot of Waco, indeed!

 

As you might expect, there is a gift shop where you can purchase all manners of  Dr. Pepper stuff.  Sadly, unlike the Coca-Cola Museum in Atlanta, there are no free samples.  As I pulled out of the parking lot and headed back to the highway, I realized that I neglected to purchase some Dr. Pepper branded goods to send to His Eminence, The Grand Poobah as tribute!  Please forgive me, Oh Great One!

 

 

The Villa Mangiacane

The Villa Mangiacane  is only 13 kilometers away from Florence but is in the heart of the wine makin g region for Chianti Classico.  This resort is set amid acres of vinyards, olive groves and forest in a 16th century villa updated as a luxury boutique hotel with just 26 suites.

The setting is magnificent.  The resort has two swimming pools and a spa.  The grounds are filled with gardens and places to relax and enjoy views of the Tuscan countryside.  This is the view from the balcony of my room    This mornng is my first cooking class and on the agenda it says that lunch will be based on my efforts.  I was sweating all night thinking about it.

Air Travel Today

There is no doubt that air travel continues to get less and less convenient and more and more uncomfortable.  The ongoing struggles of the major airlines almost guarantee as planes get more crowded and airlines not only increase prices but look to nickel and dime passengers.  While I admit it is an extravagance to be traveling first class, for a trip like this (13 hours) it really makes a difference.

Traveling used to be much simpler, but now, I make sure I am outfitted with all the necessary creature comforts, chief among them my ipod.  Loaded up with more than 50G of tunes, I set it on shuffle and the serendipity decide on the music.  Of course, there has been plenty of Brue Springsteen (a great version of the Promised Land from the Capitol theater in 1978, several tracks from the new album among others) but also Bob Dylan (luck would have it that I got two of my favorite tracks from his first record, Gospel Plow and Baby Let Me Follow You Down), as well as Art Tatum, Thelonious Monk and Merle Haggard.

One of my flight rituals is to grab a copy of the New York Times for the trip.  Today’s editorial page had a wonderful piece about how changes in the global economy were driving up the price of bananas.  The story about how bananas became a staple of the work diet and how a few companies kept the prices cheaper than competing fruit has always interested me since I read an article a long time ago (have you ever considered that apples cost more per pound, are produced closer to your local market so cost less to transport, even before you factor in that bananas need to be refrigerated to make it to market?

I also read the current issue of the New York Review of books.  I often talk about my fondness for the New Yorker magazine (few things give me more pleasure than sitting in my hot tub after the sun goes down with the lights on and the outdoor speakers blaring as I read the New Yorker) however, I generally find the New York Review of books more consistently interesting.  Among the interesting articles in the current issue was a long review of Senator Jim Webb’s book of essays as an occasion to  assess his place in the current political arena.  I also enjoyed a long review of a general history of England in the 19^th century, an interesting review of a biography of Garibaldi, and a discussion of the poetry of Melville.

One The Ground At Dulles Airport

Through the miracle of modern air travel, I have completed the first leg of my trip and safely arrived at Dulles airport.  I have always liked Dulles as an airport.  It certainly is more interesting than your typical airport, mainly because if it’s architectural heritage and the (failed) attempt of Euro Saarinen to design an airport that would operate differently than most airports.  Dulles is most known for the sweeping design of the building with it’s very high sweeping roof and large wall of glass meant to visualize the notion of flight.  The central design problem that Saarinen wanted to avoid was marring the breathtaking look of the building with the sprawling walkways that lead to each of the gates. 

The design solution was to have enplaning and deplaning passengers travel from the gates in the terminal to the planes in specially manufactured busses.  To make it even more complicated, the terminal gates are very high above the level of the runways.  This required the manufacture of special busses whose height can be increased or decreased to match both the terminal gate and the waiting planes.

I remember reading newspaper stories shortly after Dulles opened about the ongoing mechanical problems with the busses.  This really wasn’t a big deal at first since Dulles was such a sleepy airport.  In spite of a special express road being built to encourage travelers to fly in and out of Dulles, it was a very underused airport for quite some time.  In addition, through regulation the federal government forced most longer flights to the DC area go through Dulles by limiting long flights out of National Airport.  The growth of the DC Northern Virginia suburbs in that direction, the development of the Tysons Corner to Dulles corridor as a large business park and the explosion of air travel all helped to make Dulles into a much larger airport. 

The explosive growth forced the airport to adapt in ways not anticipated in the original design.  Additional gates were built out in the runway complex, with a more traditional sprawling layout.  However, in order to minimize the impact on the now legendary design, you got there by getting on a newer bus.  The onward march of progress.

This post is written in honor of the Grand Poobah who consistently claims that I know more about more things than anyone he has ever met.  This is not to be confused with really knowing a lot about things, broad knowledge with limited depth.

And So It Begins........

Here I am at the San Antonio Airport waiting for my flight.  San Antonio, Washington/Dulles/Frankfort/Florence.  Then I get pickeup and taken to Tuscany for a week at Villa Mangiacane a boutique luxury resort in a Tuscan villa where I will take classses in Italian cooking, get pampered at this resort and tour Tuscany.  Then off to Milan where once again, I will indulge myself by seeing Bruce Springsten live (and enjoy Milan) and then off to Paris where, you guessed it, I will see Bruce Springsteen live and partake in the pleasures of Paris.  Then back to Texas and the all too real world.

I am all prepared with the necessary creature comforts.  Clearly camera and lap top.  Also ipod and way too many books and, of course, I have bought today's New York Times to read on the first leg of the flight.  Top story is not real surprise that Still-President Bush is calling for an end ot the ban on off shore oil drilling.  In 2000 he was in favor of the ban becasue it helped him and his brother in Florida where the concern is the risk to Florida beaches and the tourist industry.  In 2000 McCain was agianst it also when he was trying to sell himself as a maverick.  Now that he wants to be viewed as a traditional conservative Republican, he has changed his position.  McBush has no real principles other than furthering his career and hopefully the American public will reject him.

The Alamo

The Grand Poobah and I decided that we needed some RnR and so in the interest of becoming a real San Antonio, local, I finally broke down and visited the Alamo.  When you look at carefully cropped pictures like the one in this post, it reminds you of the desperate struggle of the greatly over matched defenders.  It is one of the central "myths" of American history.  The Alamo has become a totem of sorts to the spirit of the rugged American valiantly fighting against long odds and never giving up, no matter what.  Of course, today, the Alamo is in the center of San Antonio, surrounded by the aging downtown business district. 

Of course, as a museum, the Alamo exists to help foster the image of the rugged American.   Quaint signs like this one, help to remind visitors that they are treading on sacred ground.  Of course, after the camp of asking that gentlemen remove their hats, this sign helps to make sure the visitor realizes he or she is entering allowed ground. 

As a museum, the Alamo is fine.  As a totem for the legend of the rugged individual, it is a great touch stone.  There is a cheesy museum store, but a fine exhibit giving you a reasonable history of the disagreements that led the Texans to want to revolt against the Mexicans.  Of course, in the current political climate, it is more than a little ironic that the major complaint the Mexicans had was about the huge influx of settlers coming from America looking for cheap land and that the revolt by the Texas was a reaction to the attempt by the Mexican government to control immigration.  It's always fun to watch the great cycle of history delivering it's ironies.

Vegas

While people say that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, that does not necessarily apply when you have a blog.  Nothing represents the dark spirit at the heart of Vegas more accurately than Pete Rose.  Pete, fearsome competitor on the field.  Shameless in the pursuit of his goals.  Loathsome in his personal habits.  I can remember thinking Pete Rose was the most repulsive and repugnant great baseball player when I was growing up:  and this was before we knew anything about his gambling on baseball.  My friends and I used to mimic his TV commercials (remember "a man has to smell like a man?").  He was such a spirited competitor he creamed Ray Fosse in a meaningless All Star Game.   Would you buy a Pete Rose forgiveness ball?

I stayed at the Mirage which turned out to be where the Beatles Cirque Du Soliel show is being staged.  All through the casino there were Beatles themed portions.  There was the Abbey Road bar in front of the Revolution Lounge with go go girls dressed in outfits that recalled Swinging London.   

Sadly, no Beatles music in the Revolution Lounge, just current techno.  I scored a Beatle button from the desk clerk who checked us in, but skipped out of the very expensive Beatles stuff in the Beatles Boutique, though some of the T-shirts were tempting.