Back in the Day

     Long before the cola wars fought for domination over the taste buds of American youth, local brands dominated the refrigerators of families in the Delaware Valley.  Coke and Pepsi took a back seat to a hometown favorite, Frank's.  But you have to be of a certain age to recall the advertising  slogan, "Is it Franks? Thanks!"  And you would only know that if you lived within a 50 mile radius of Billy Penn's hat on top of Philadelphia City Hall.

     Frank's Beverages was the official name of the company founded by Jacob Frank in 1885.  Jacob was a Russian immigrant who made lemon soda from freshly squeezed lemons on the streets of the City of Brotherly Love.  The headquarters and bottling plant of their beverage operation was in the Juniata section of the city at G and Luzerne Streets.



    
      And according to Larry Mendte who penned a 2010 article entitled The Cheesesteak of Beverages, "Franks...had a great cream soda and a pretty famous birch beer, but the Black Cherry Wishniak was the stuff of legends.  It is the only brand that has lived on to this day."





     But what exactly is Wishniak?  Jacob Frank knew that in Russia and Eastern Europe it was a cordial made with sugar, cherries and vodka.  One day when taste testing new flavors then company president Mulford Frank sipped a soda made from Bing cherries and said, "This reminds me of a Wishniak."  And the rest, as they say, is history.



     In 1990 Frank's was bought out by C & C Cola (another local brand).  The new company kept the brand and its famous bottles around for awhile.  But the new owners realized that it wasn't financially feasible to make a soda for just one city and so Frank's disappeared from store shelves.  But Frank's is back now.  Or at least the Black Cherry Wishniak is being bottled by the Honickman Group owns the brand and distributes it along with Pepsi, Canada Dry, Evian, and Snapple among others.  Frank's is now being bottled and distributed from a plant in Baltimore and is sent across our great nation to ex-patriot restaurants and sandwich shops that cater to transplanted Philadelphians with items like Tastykakes, soft pretzels, hoagies and cheesesteaks.  It's no longer available in the iconic bottle, just cans and a case of the famous Black Cherry Wishniak will set you back $70.

     That's quite a chunk of change to pay for some Philly nostalgia!