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Frostie Root Beer
My Frostie root beer story:
In the 1960s we never had Frostie in Kansas. Every year my parents and I
would drive on the (newly built) interstate highways to Southern
Indiana to visit the grandparents. Frostie was not available in
Southern Indiana, either. On perhaps our first drive there I managed to
buy a bottle at a gas station and discovered it was (back then) the
best tasting root beer I'd ever had, every bit as good as A&W, which
in those days was not available in bottles or cans. You could only get
it at A&W drive-ins in frosted mugs. Frostie had a thick sweet
taste and a foamy head which would just sit there on the top of my
glass. I could eat it with a spoon. Hence, every time we traveled back
to Indiana, I would plead with Dad to fill the car up at a station next
to a grocery store so I could spend my allowance money on a couple of
six packs (which I would space-out for about six months, usually
drinking the final bottle on New Year's Eve). Anywhere in Illinois East
of St. Louis grocery stores were likely to carry Frostie. Even the
bottles were unique, slightly wider and thicker than other brands of
soda with a a textured surface to mimic frost (just like those shown
above). And what about the bearded character on the bottles, cartons,
and promotional materials? No name that I am aware of. Santa Claus?
Jack Frost? Old Man Winter? Or just Frostie?
Another thing, if you
remember seeing Frostie in stores back then or look it up on eBay now,
it becomes apparent that the Frostie company thought highly of back-lit
clocks bearing the names and logo. Over the years Frostie made lots of
different designs for clocks and thermometers for display at retailers.
Like so many brands, Frostie has spent the last several decades caught
in the corporate conglomerate vortex. It's availability remain elusive.
In its current configuration, the Frostie name is put on several
different flavors of soda. In spite of claims on the cartons that the
original 1930s recipe is still used, I think Frostie root beer now
tastes thin and watery. There is no foamy head anymore, just some
momentary bubbles.
These days, I recommend Dang! as the best root beer,
found at micro-brand soda boutiques that have proliferated in many parts
of the country.
My Frostie root beer story:
In the 1960s we never had Frostie in Kansas. Every year my parents and I
would drive on the (newly built) interstate highways to Southern
Indiana to visit the grandparents. Frostie was not available in
Southern Indiana, either. On perhaps our first drive there I managed to
buy a bottle at a gas station and discovered it was (back then) the
best tasting root beer I'd ever had, every bit as good as A&W, which
in those days was not available in bottles or cans. You could only get
it at A&W drive-ins in frosted mugs. Frostie had a thick sweet
taste and a foamy head which would just sit there on the top of my
glass. I could eat it with a spoon. Hence, every time we traveled back
to Indiana, I would plead with Dad to fill the car up at a station next
to a grocery store so I could spend my allowance money on a couple of
six packs (which I would space-out for about six months, usually
drinking the final bottle on New Year's Eve). Anywhere in Illinois East
of St. Louis grocery stores were likely to carry Frostie. Even the
bottles were unique, slightly wider and thicker than other brands of
soda with a a textured surface to mimic frost (just like those shown
above). And what about the bearded character on the bottles, cartons,
and promotional materials? No name that I am aware of. Santa Claus?
Jack Frost? Old Man Winter? Or just Frostie? 
