Fizzies are a tablet that, when added to water, will create a soft drink.
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History
Origin
In the 1950s, chemists at Emerson Drug Company, creators of Bromo-Seltzer antacid medicine, worked to create a drink tablet that when added to water, would create instant soda pop. Lem Billings, close friend of President John F. Kennedy, invented the idea for Emerson by adding a fruit flavor that children liked. Once perfected, they named their invention Fizzies. The small tablet was dropped into a glass of water, then fizzed and dissolved creating a sweet, effervescent drink. In the 50s and 60s Fizzies came in six or seven flavors: grape, orange, cherry, LemonLime, strawberry, root beer, and sometimes cola.
The successful beverage became a cultural icon of its time period. In the motion picture National Lampoon's Animal House, set in 1962, Dean Wormer reads a list of pranks committed by members of the Delta House fraternity, which included dumping an entire truckload of Fizzies into a swimming pool during a varsity meet.
The formula for the product changed with the times and as various artificial sweeteners were banned by the FDA - it was successsively sweeteened with cyclamates and saccharin. While the brand was owned by Warner-Lambert Pharmaceutical Company, it was sold unsweetened with the instructions calling for the addition of "one tablespoon of sugar and ice."
Later history
After the introduction of NutraSweet, the brand was resurrected by Premiere Innovations, Inc. in the mid-90s but its availability was short-lived and the company disappeared.
The Fizzies brand reappeared in the 2000s. As of 2006, Fizzies were available in eight flavors — sour apple, lemon-lime, root beer, cherry, orange, blue razz, lemonade and fruit punch. Fizzies are expected to be once again available in grape, strawberry, and cola around Christmas time as a vintage item, in the original boxes, sold only at select Target stores. Fizzies will be released as a major candy in 2010, sold in all 11 flavors and new flavors as well. New flavors are Tropical Blast, Citrus Fruit Combonation, a new and improved Fruit Punch, and Watermelon as a limited addition. Fizzies are manufactured by Amerilab Technologies in Plymouth, Minnesota, and are marketed as a nostalgic drink to the baby boomer market. In this present incarnation, the product is sweetened with a mixture of sorbitol, acesulfame potassium and sucralose, and contains Vitamin C (in the form of Ascorbic Acid).[1]
See also
- Bromo-Seltzer
- Carbonation
- Soft Drink
- Tablet
- Little Mikey
- Creamola Foam, a similar drink produced in the UK
References
External links
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