Red Pop

Some of simplest things in life often make us the happiest. Growing up in the hood I had my picks. Now Laters (actually Now and Later), Sugar Babies, Troyer Farms potato chips, Hot Cheetos, Funyuns, Red Hots, Lemonhead, Kings Candy Cigarettes and the list goes on. However my weakness has always been soda. My favorite soda aside from Vanilla Coke, is Cherikee Red (note the spelling) Soda otherwise known as red pop. There is a brand of soda in Youngstown called Top Pop soda, 20 ounces for a mere 99 cents. I think it’s comparable to Faygo or Fanta. According to several sites, Cherikee Red is a brand of cherry flavored soda pop. Its name is a play on the name of the Cherokee Indian Tribe.
The Cherikee Red brand debuted in 1969 as a product of Cotton Club Bottling and Canning Company in Cleveland, Ohio. The product was initially bottled by Cotton Club, the A.J. Canfield Company in Chicago and Will G Keck Corporation's Laurel Springs Beverage division in Kecksburg, Pennsylvania. As of 2010, the brand is owned by the American Bottling Company of Plano, Texas, a subsidiary of Dr Pepper Snapple Group. (Boy do I love Snapple too!)
Most commonly found in Ohio and Pennsylvania, the soda is rarely found outside of these two states. Despite not being as commercially successful as other popular cherry sodas, it has a popular nostalgic value within the distribution region of Cotton Club Bottling.
While I was in Rite Aid today I stumbled upon a new red soda, check the pic below. I had to buy it for a taste test. No comparison, nothing beats my Cherikee Red. Of course these items are more commonly found in the hood, interesting, like Popeye’s, none of those outside the hood. If anyone knows where to locate some Cherikee Red outside of Ohio or Pennsylvanian, let me know.
Cleveland or NYC; You Decide…