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==History== [[File:7-Up Bottling Company, central vertical view, NE 14 & Sandy Boulevard, Portland, Oregon (LOC).jpg|left|thumb|upright|7 Up Bottling Company building in [[Portland, Oregon]] (1976)]] 7 Up was created by [[Charles Leiper Grigg]], who launched his [[St. Louis]]βbased company The Howdy Corporation in 1920.<ref name="dpsuhist">{{cite web|title=7 Up β The Making of a Legend |url=http://www.brandspeoplelove.com/csab/?TabId=148 |website= brandspeoplelove.com| publisher= Cadbury-Schweppes|access-date=February 6, 2016|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080430022917/http://www.brandspeoplelove.com/csab/?TabId=148 |archive-date=April 30, 2008 |date=2006}}</ref> Grigg came up with the formula for a lemon-lime soft drink in 1929, and the product was launched two weeks before the [[Wall Street Crash of 1929]]. An oft-repeated story is that the drink was originally called "Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda,"<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mikkelson |first=Barbara |date=2004-08-06 |title=Origins of the 7Up Soft Drink Name |url=https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/7up/ |access-date=2025-02-07 |website=Snopes |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=McCluskey |first=Megan |date=2016-02-20 |title=Here's the Gross Thing That Happens When You Mix 7-Up With Lithium |url=https://time.com/4231522/7up-lithium-chemical-reaction/ |access-date=2025-02-07 |magazine=TIME |language=en}}</ref> but some have argued that there is little to no evidence that a drink with this name actually existed.<ref name=lockhard/>{{rp|§1}} The drink did, however, claim to contain [[lithium citrate]], a mood-stabilizing drug, initially.<ref name=lockhard/>{{rp|§2}} It was one of a number of [[patent medicine]] products popular in the late-19th and early-20th centuries.<ref name=snopes>{{cite web|url=https://snopes.com/fact-check/7up|title=Origins of the 7Up Soft Drink Name|last=Mikkelson|first=Barbara|date=April 27, 2014|work=Snopes|access-date=September 5, 2021|archive-date=March 27, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220327082207/https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/7up/|url-status=live}}</ref> In fact, "Bib-Label" is not part of the name of the soda, but refers to the practice of hanging a piece of paper around the neck of a soda bottle like a [[Bib (garment)|bib]].<ref name=lockhard/>{{rp|§1}} The trademark "SEVEN-UP" was granted in 1928, and a 1929 taste test advertisement featured a flying "7up" logo. The name became "7up Lithiated Lemon Soda" in 1930–1931, as indicated by the use of a logo with tilted "up" and historical paper labels. In 1936 the federal government forced the manufacturer to remove a number of health claims, and because "lithium was not an actual ingredient", the name was changed to just "7 Up" in 1937.<ref name=lockhard>{{Cite journal |last1=Lockhart |first1=Bill |last2=Brown |first2=Bob |date=2024 |title=The Seven-Up Company and 7-Up Bottles The Real Story: A Look at the Myths, the Mystery, and the Magic |url=https://sha.org/bottle/pdffiles/7-UpStudy1.pdf |journal=Society for Historical Archaeology}} [https://sha.org/bottle/pdffiles/7-UpStudy2.pdf Chapter 1] [https://sha.org/bottle/pdffiles/7-UpStudy2.pdf Chapter 2]</ref>{{rp|§2}} The origin of the name is unclear.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.snopes.com/business/names/7up.asp |title=7Up |publisher= |website=snopes.com |date=January 13, 2010 |last=Mikkelson |first=Barbara |access-date=January 16, 2014 |archive-date=May 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230506142602/https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/7up/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Britvic]] claims that the name comes from the seven main ingredients in the drink,{{Efn|[[Carbonated water]], [[sugar]], [[essence]] of [[lemon]], [[citrus oils|lime oils]], [[citric acid]], [[sodium citrate]] and [[lithium citrate]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/7up-history_n_5836322|title=The Original 7-Up Was A Mind-Altering Substance|date=September 17, 2014|website=HuffPost|access-date=March 16, 2023|archive-date=August 17, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230817094620/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/7up-history_n_5836322|url-status=live}}</ref>}}<ref name= Our>[http://www.britvic.com/our-brands/brands-a-z/7up britvic.co.uk] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180405052359/http://www.britvic.com/our-brands/brands-a-z/7up |date=April 5, 2018 }}. Accessed January 16, 2014</ref> while others have claimed that the number was a reference to the [[lithium]] contained in the original recipe, which has an [[atomic mass]] of 7.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.peoplespharmacy.com/articles/rediscovering-lithium-for-mood-disorders |title=Rediscovering Lithium for Mood Disorders |last=Graedon |first=Joe |publisher=The People's Pharmacy |website=peoplespharmacy.com |date=August 21, 2017 |access-date=August 30, 2017 |archive-date=March 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326024133/https://www.peoplespharmacy.com/articles/rediscovering-lithium-for-mood-disorders |url-status=live }}</ref> Britvic also claims that the name alluded to 7 Up being packaged in seven-ounce bottles when Coca-Cola and most other soft drinks were bottled in six-ounce bottles. The 7 Up company was privately owned by its founding families until it was sold in 1978 to [[Philip Morris USA|Philip Morris]], which sold it in 1986 in two parts: the international division to [[PepsiCo]]<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/07/15/business/pepsico-buys-seven-up-s-international-division.html |title=PepsiCo Buys Seven-Up's International Division |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=July 15, 1986 |access-date=September 21, 2018 |archive-date=March 27, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220327082143/https://www.nytimes.com/1986/07/15/business/pepsico-buys-seven-up-s-international-division.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and the US business to a group led by the investment firm [[Hicks & Haas]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/10/04/business/seven-up-sale-set-at-240-million.html |title=Seven-Up Sale Set at $240 Million |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=October 4, 1986 |access-date=February 4, 2017 |archive-date=March 27, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220327082144/https://www.nytimes.com/1986/10/04/business/seven-up-sale-set-at-240-million.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In the US, 7 Up merged with [[Dr Pepper]] in 1988 to form [[Dr Pepper/Seven Up]]; [[Cadbury|Cadbury Schweppes]] bought the combined company in 1995. The [[Dr Pepper Snapple Group]] was [[Cadbury#Schweppes merger (1969)|spun off from Cadbury Schweppes]] in 2008; it merged with Keurig Green Mountain in 2018 to form [[Keurig Dr Pepper]].
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