Ames Bottling Works- Early Ames Bottler
In 1908, Frank Danforth expanded his ice cream manufacturing business to bottling pop. He ran the Ames Bottling Works out of the basement of the Cole Skating Rink at 213 5th Street. Today the parking lot across from the Ames Tribune Building. In the late 1910s George Passmore purchased the business and ran it out of his house at 1304 Douglas Avenue. He continued to make ice cream and hand carbonate and cap each pop bottle. In 1924, Passmore took a position with the Postal Service. The business was sold to Stoll Bottling Works in Boone.
Ames Bottling Company
Carl Hoff and his family moved to Ames in the summer of 1928. He purchased Lloyds Service Station at the Northwest corner of Kellogg Avenue and Lincoln Way. That summer was especially hot and Carl noticed bottling trucks coming from Ft. Dodge, Boone, and Marshalltown. Carl saw the opportunity and purchased the lot to the north of the service station. Reinhart Frederick built the original bottling building.
Hoff’s bottling business started off with a thousand cases of A.B.C. (Ames Bottling Company) brand bottles. The first company vehicle was a Chevrolet truck from Allen Motor Company. Carl drove it to Pekin, Illinois and loaded it up with bottling equipment. The total cost to set up his operation was $500.
Pop was mainly a summer drink so candy, ice cream cones and razor blades were sold to help with the winter slump.
Click the bottle above to see Ames Bottling Company objects in our collection
Dr. Pepper Years
In 1935, they acquired the Dr. Pepper bottling franchise. The business changed its name to Ames Dr. Pepper Bottling Company. In 1940, they also acquired the Squirt soda franchise and Dad’s Root Beer.
Carl Hoff retired in 1964 and his son Ted Hoff, Irwin Swanson, and Frank Huebner, ran the business. The bottling company sold to larger business interest in 1972. Many small town bottlers went out of business in the 1970s because of changes in franchise laws and the popularity of aluminum cans.
