Hires, Charles Elmer

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Hires, Charles Elmer

(1851-1937)
Hires Root Beer

Overview

Charles Elmer Hires, who developed a beverage he called "root beer" in 1875, was the first soft drink entrepreneur. His company paved the way for giants such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi. A Philadelphia-based pharmacist by profession, Hires was only 24 when he created his world-famous concoction, which he originally sold as dry concentrate that needed to be mixed with water and several other ingredients. He later went on to develop a second successful business as a noted manufacturer of condensed milk.

Personal Life

Charles Elmer Hires was born on August 19, 1851, on his family's farm outside of Roadstown, New Jersey. He was the sixth of 10 children of John Dare Hires and Mary (Williams) Hires, who counted among her ancestors Martha Washington, wife of President George Washington. Despite such distinguished ties, the Hires family was not a wealthy one. Young Charles had very little formal education and held his first job before he reached his teens.

Hires was married twice, first to Clara Kate Smith in 1875 and then, following her death in 1910, to Emma Waln in 1911. He had two daughters and three sons, one of whom, Harrison Streater Hires, served as vice president of Charles E. Hires Company from 1923 to 1948.

Hires was a Republican and a devout Quaker who financed the restoration of the Merion Meeting House in Merion, Pennsylvania, where William Penn had worshipped. He even wrote a book about the project entitledA Short Historical Sketch of the Merion Meeting House (1917). Hires died of a stroke on July 31, 1937, at his home in Haverford, Pennsylvania, while preparing to leave for a fishing trip. He is buried in Westminster Cemetery near Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.

Career Details

Hires was only 12 years old when he went to work at a local pharmacy. Intrigued by the profession, he moved to Philadelphia four years later to take a similar job. By 1867, Hires was working at a wholesale drug house while attending night classes at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and the Jefferson Medical College. He then headed to the town of Bridgeton, Pennsylvania, where he helped operate a local pharmacy in partnership with two other men. The venture was short-lived, however, and Hires soon moved back to Philadelphia. In December 1869, at the age of only 18, he borrowed some money and opened his own pharmacy.

Not long after launching his business, Hires happened to make a fortunate discovery. Workmen in his neighborhood were digging the foundation for a building when they came across a strange-looking, clayish type of soil. Hires knew that this material was "fuller's earth," a popular item at the time for removing grease spots from wool clothing. He arranged to have a large amount of the unusual clay brought to his house and dumped into his cellar, where he and a helper shaped it into cakes and packaged it as "Hires Special Cleaner." He then sold his product to wholesale drug houses and managed to earn $6,000, a fairly substantial sum of money in those days. The success of Hires Special Cleaner enabled the young pharmacist to pay off all of his debts.

In 1875, Hires and his bride were honeymooning at a New Jersey boarding farm when they tasted the land-lady's special pie mixture of sassafras bark, wintergreen, sarsaparilla root, hops, juniper berries, pipsissewa, and other herbs. Hires returned home with the recipe for this sweet concoction and soon began experimenting with it. Assisted by two medical college professors, he was able to develop and then market a dry concentrate of the recipe that could be mixed with water, sugar, and yeast to produce a sweet drink.

As was common practice at that time, Hires sold his soft drink not merely as a refreshing drink but as a sort of medicine. It also represented a morally upright alternative to beer and liquor, an important plus lending to the strong anti-alcohol sentiments that were then sweeping the nation. In fact, Hires originally planned to market his product as "Hires Herb Tea" but changed his mind after receiving a piece of invaluable business advice from a friend, Dr. Russell H. Conwell. A minister, author, and founder of Philadelphia's Temple University, Conwell reportedly told Hires that tough Pennsylvania coal miners would never drink herb tea, but they would drink something with "beer" in the name. On the basis of this suggestion, Hires named his concentrated mix "root beer."

Hires introduced the new concoction in 1876 at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. It was a great success, prompting him to start selling it outside the local area through pharmacy soda fountains or as a mix to be brewed at home. Before long, customers were able to purchase 25-cent packages of the concentrate, enough to make 5 gallons of root beer. By the early 1880s, Hires began selling three-ounce bottles of root beer in liquid form. He advertised heavily in local newspapers like the Philadelphia Public Ledger and quickly created a booming market for his product.

Realizing that root beer's appeal could easily extend beyond the Philadelphia area, Hires decided to promote his drink to a nationwide clientele. He thus became the first person to purchase a color advertisement on the back page of the Ladies' Home Journal. (At the time, Coca-Cola was barely known outside its hometown of Atlanta, Georgia.) Hires Root Beer soon became America's soft drink.

Chronology: Charles Elmer Hires

1851: Born.

1869: Opened own pharmacy.

1875: Produced beverage mix called "root beer."

1876: Marketed root beer at Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia.

1890: Founded Charles E. Hires Company.

1893: Marketed ready-to-drink bottled versions of root beer.

1896: Began organizing companies to manufacture condensed milk.

1918: Sold condensed milk interests to Nestlè.

1937: Died.

In 1890, Hires abandoned the pharmacy business entirely and incorporated his prosperous enterprise as the Charles E. Hires Company. Three years later, he introduced a ready-to-drink bottled version of root beer. However, it ran into some opposition from anti-alcohol groups such as the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), whose members did not like to see the word "beer" used in the product's name. Nevertheless, by 1895 Hires Root Beer was sold exclusively in its bottled version.

While he continued to serve as president of his soft drink company, Hires began focusing his attention elsewhere in 1896. Over a 10-year period, he organized several condensed milk companies. He then devoted another dozen years to pioneering a number of new processing techniques. His experiments resulted in a product that boasted a longer, more stable shelf life, thus making it safer and healthier. In 1918 Hires sold his condensed milk interests to Nestlè but held on to his role as president of the Charles E. Hires Company. Procter and Gamble later purchased Hires Root Beer, which is still on store shelves well over a century after it made its debut.

Social and Economic Impact

Although Charles Elmer Hires did not technically "invent" root beer, he displayed a certain creativity and persistence—plus a genius for marketing and advertising—that turned a concoction of roots, bark, and herbs into America's first major soft drink. His initial attempts were a far cry from the easily accessible, ready-to-drink beverages of the modern age. The finished product gave rise to an entirely new industry. Now dominated by giants such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi, that industry has proven to be very lucrative in the years since Hires Root Beer was the most popular soft drink in the country.

Less well known but no less significant are the contributions Hires made to the manufacture of condensed milk. Using his knowledge of pharmacy and medicine, he was able to reduce the risks of contamination during the canning process and deterioration once the milk was on the shelf. This resulted in a product that consumers could be sure was safe and healthy. Hires thus ranks among the pioneers in that field as well.