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From: Don (brooklyndodger3@aol.com)Date: 05/12/2006
Does anybody out there remmber these bottling companys? Where were they located in Brooklyn? What ever happened to them?
I remember Kirsch it was located on Flushing Ave. betwen Bushwick Ave and Forest. Latter it became NO-CAL. Hammer was in the area knowen as City Line. Also down the street from Kirsch was the Rhringold brewery
There was also Schnieders. I believe that somewhere along the way the all got bought up by Either Canada Dry, or White Rock.
Kirsch beverages started out in Hyman Kirsch's ( a Russian Jewish immigrant) basement in Brooklyn in the early 1900's. He used to peddle the soda from a pushcart during the day and make soda at night. He became partners with a man named Herfel for a short period of time operating as Kirsch & Herfel, then opened Kirsch Beverages on Flushing Ave in Brooklyn. Later Kirsch built a beautiful new facility on the water in College Point Queens. By then Morris Kirsch (Hyman's son) was Chairman and Morris's son Lee was the President. Ironically, Hammer moved in right down the street from Kirsch in College Point. Their problems started when cyclamates were banned by the FDA. The final blow came during the gas shortages in the early 70's. People started buying generic brands because they were cheaper. Kirsch finally went bankrupt and was taken over by another soda distributor (I believe Canada Dry) in the late 70's. I went to work for Kirsch Beverages in Jan 1973 and they were still Kirsch Beverages. They introduced No-Cal in 1952 and finally created a company called No-Cal, but it was a subsidiary of Kirsch. I once asked Morris Kirsch why he opened a second company and he told me he had two sons (David was the other son) so he needed two companies. The Kirsch's were a wonderful family to work for. I don't know what happened to them after they lost the company.
i lived on bushwick ave near flushing ave i remember on my way to and from school i use to stand by the window of kirschs soda plant and watch the bottles as they were filling up,every once in a while someone would come out and bring me and my friends a bottle of soda,those were the days and they were the best ,i went to ps24 and then to jhs145
Speaking of soda, does anyone remember MINCK soda ? (I think that how it was spelled) I lived in Ridgewood and saw it all the candy stores
I used to live at 898 Flushing ave and it was directly across the street.I think it was between Bushwick ave and Montegue st
My mother worked for Kirsch Beverages but left when they moved to College Point Queens. She had nothing but good things to say about the Kirsch family; she loved her job, and the soda, and the Kirsch's were top-notch people.
We were talking with my Dad (85) today. Julius Minck was his grandfather and owned Minck Beverage with his sons in Brooklyn. The sons moved to Union City, NJ, and bought/started Petermann Beverages.
I lived on gerry st, between harrison and throop in the 50's and early 60's. around the corner on bartlet st, was the mission bottling plant where they made those good orange and cream sodas. I believe they also bottled kirsch soda (grape was best) who later moved to flushing ave.
my mom and dad met while working for kirsch beverages in the 50s. my dad was a filler operater & my mom worked the switchboard answering calls.they were married in 1964 and are still happily married today. ive always looked for pictures of the old kirsch plant but never was able to find any . if anyone has some pics of kirsch shoot me an email i would love to see them . so would my parents
My 3 time greatgrandfather was T L Neff. He owned T L Neff and son soda company, Brooklyn NY. Latter it was sold and became kirsch Beverage.
Grew up in the '50s & '60s in Bogota NJ. Henry Minck delivered Petermanns soda to our home. Pineapple was our favorite!
