Bludwine, later Budwine, was a brand of cherry-flavored

soft drink A soft drink (see #Terminology, § Terminology for other names) is a class of non-alcoholic drink, usually (but not necessarily) Carbonated water, carbonated, and typically including added Sweetness, sweetener. Flavors used to be Natural flav ...

and

flavored syrup Flavored syrups typically consist of a simple syrup, that is sugar (fully mixed with water while heated), with naturally occurring or artificial (synthesized) flavorings also dissolved in them. A sugar substitute may also be used. Flavored sy ...

s that was originally produced in the United States by the Bludwine Company and Bludwine Bottling Company.Report - Georgia. Dept. of Commerce and Labor
Georgia. Dept. of Commerce and Labor. 1919. p. 61. Treasury Decisions Under Customs and Other Laws - United States. Dept. of the Treasury
pp. 514-515.Southern Pharmaceutical Journal
February, 1915. p. 31. The Bludwine Company was founded by Henry C. Anderson in spring, 1906. Bludwine Company produced the master

elixir An elixir is a sweet liquid used for medical purposes, to be taken orally and intended to cure one's illness. When used as a dosage form, pharmaceutical preparation, an elixir contains at least one active ingredient designed to be taken orall ...

Athens, Georgia Athens is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Downtown Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta. The University of Georgia, the state's flagship public university and an Research I university, ...

, and various Bludwine Bottling Company locations processed the elixir into syrup and bottled soft drinks prepared from the syrup. The syrups were also shipped to and used at

soda fountain A soda fountain is a device that dispenses carbonated soft drinks, called fountain drinks. They can be found in restaurants, concession stands and other locations such as convenience stores. The machine combines flavored syrup or syrup concentrat ...

s as an ingredient to add flavor to various beverages. In 1911 Bludwine was marketed as having health benefits, such as aiding in digestion, and some physicians in Athens, Georgia and other areas of the state prescribed it to their patients. The brand's name was changed from Bludwine to Budwine in 1921. Production of Budwine stopped in the mid 1990s.

Bludwine Company

Henry C. Anderson founded the Bludwine Company in Athens, Georgia in Spring, 1906 with $60 capital, and in 1910 the company was incorporated. Bludwine's master elixir was manufactured solely in Athens (as of 1917), and then shipped to various Bludwine Company factory locations where it was used in the preparation of syrups. The syrup was also produced from the elixir at the company's location in Athens. By 1917, the Bludwine Company operated in 26 U.S. states and had over 100 syrup bottling plants, and the Athens location was producing quantities of elixir that allowed for the production of 16,000 gallons of syrup daily. The company used a distillery to purify water used in producing the elixir. In the 1920s, Joseph Costa, an owner of an ice cream parlor in Athens, ran the company, and the Costa family owned the franchising rights for Budwine. Production of Budwine stopped in the mid 1990s.

Bludwine Bottling Company

Bludwine Bottling Company locations processed the master elixir produced and received from Athens, Georgia into syrup and bottled soft drinks prepared from the syrup. Bottling plant locations included New York City (New York Bludwine Co.), Dallas, Texas (Dallas Bludwine Company) and Jacksonville, Florida, among others, and the product was distributed throughout the United States. In 1919, the Bludwine Bottling Company had Georgia-state locations in Athens, Augusta, Elberton, Gainesville, Macon and Rome. A 1914 Bludwine advertisement stated that the bottles containing the product were in a hobble skirt shape and were sealed with a crown seal.

Composition

Bludwine has been described as "cherry-flavored" as well as "a real invigorating, life-giving drink with a

pungency Pungency ( ) is the taste of food commonly referred to as spiciness, hotness or heat, found in foods such as chili peppers. Highly pungent tastes may be experienced as unpleasant. The term piquancy ( ) is sometimes applied to foods with a lower ...

and flavor that are unsurpassed". The soft drink's primary ingredients included wheat and oats, lemon, orange, grape, ginger and peppermint. Refined sugar, created from imported raw sugar, was another notable ingredient. In 1912, the U.S. Bureau of Chemistry analyzed a sample of Bludwine syrup as part of ''U.S. v. Bludwine Co.'', and published results stating the syrup contained 0.142% citric acid, 0.066% phosphoric acid, 62.5% total solids, 0.11% alcohol, 0.11% ash, 1.2% sucrose, 63.7% total sugar as invert, 0.37% total acid as citric, flavor:

capsicum ''Capsicum'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the Solanum, nightshade family Solanaceae, native to the Americas, cultivated worldwide for their edible fruit, which are generally known as "peppers" or "capsicum". Chili peppers grow on five s ...

and color:

amaranth ''Amaranthus'' is a cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan group of more than 50 species which make up the genus of annual plant, annual or short-lived perennial plants collectively known as amaranths. Some names include "prostrate pigweed" an ...

Name change

In 1921, the company changed the name of the soft drink product from Bludwine to Budwine. At this time, the company announced that while the quality of the drink could not be further improved, the name was able to be improved.

Alleged health benefits

In its earlier years, Bludwine was sometimes marketed as a product that had health benefits, such as for digestion. In 1911 article that some

area physicians and other Georgia state physicians endorsed Bludwine as promoting digestion, and some prescribed it to their patients.

Legal matters

''U.S. v. Bludwine Co.'' was an

information Information is an Abstraction, abstract concept that refers to something which has the power Communication, to inform. At the most fundamental level, it pertains to the Interpretation (philosophy), interpretation (perhaps Interpretation (log ...

against Bludwine Co. that was filed on November 4, 1912 by the

United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia The United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia (in case citations, N.D. Ga.) is a United States district court which serves the residents of forty-six counties. These are divided up into four divisions. Appeals from cases ...

in the District Court of the United States. The information was based upon Bludwine shipping its syrup over state lines from Georgia to Tennessee in violation of the Foods and Drug Act, per the accusation that Bludwine was misbranding its product in a false and misleading manner due to the "Bludwine Syrup" label on the syrup products. The information asserted that consumers would be misled to believe that the product contained wine when no wine actually existed in it, per the package labeling. A court trial with a jury occurred, and Bludwine was found not guilty in the proceedings on May 28, 1913.

Notes

References

External links

*{{Commonscatinline
Bludwine and Budwine
– includes information about Bludwine and Budwine bottling companies Soft drinks Syrup Products introduced in 1906 Companies based in Athens, Georgia