Texas
Related: About this forumEx-Dr Pepper town seeks new image to boost tourism
DUBLIN, Texas (AP) Early leaders named the streets Patrick, Shannon and Erin to give a diverse Texas frontier town a sense of Irish identity.
Nonetheless, most of Dublins nearly 3,900 residents believe the connection to Irelands capital city is mythical, and that the town is named after the early settler expression doublin up circling covered wagons at night to defend against Plains attackers.
But over the last century Dublin developed a distinctly different identity tied to its biggest tourist draw: Dr Pepper. With its famous sugar cane soft drink and the worlds oldest Dr Pepper bottling plant, Dublin thrived on a merchandising bonanza that drew 90,000 people annually to the Central Texas town.
All of that is gone now.
More than two years after Dr Pepper cut ties with the local bottler over a licensing dispute, the town is trying to stabilize its economy by promoting its lesser-known claims to fame, from a festival highlighting its debatable Irish roots, to Dublins bygone rodeo glories, to its location within the county Dairy Capital of Texas. The efforts exemplify how other communities across the country stripped of the iconic industry that put them on the map cast about for ways to redefine themselves and replace lost incomes.
More at http://lubbockonline.com/filed-online/2014-07-05/ex-dr-pepper-town-seeks-new-image-boost-tourism#.U7g_NrFCz2Q .
orleans
(33,987 posts)"Kloster became an ambassador for Dr. Pepper during his more than 6 decades in the soft drink industry, finally inheriting the Dublin franchise as an independent, licensed franchisee & bottler from the founder's daughter Grace Prim Lyon who died June 7, 1991 on the exact day of the company's 100th observance of their centennial celebration. The company began June 7, 1891 after Sam Houston Prim had traveled to Waco, Texas & obtained rights to produce & market "Dr. Pepper." Historically, "Dublin Dr. Pepper" remains continuously made with the 'original' recipe concocted in Waco, Texas containing "Imperial" pure cane sugar. William P. "Bill" Kloster was hired at age 14 in 1933 by Prim to be a bottle sorter. When away from Dublin, he served in the U.S. Army as Staff Sergeant during World War II. He was lovingly known to most who knew him as "Mister Dr Pepper" & a tribute of a bronze statue in downtown Dublin was erected in his honor."
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=KLOSTER&GSbyrel=all&GSdy=1999&GSdyrel=in&GSob=n&GRid=74766133&df=all&
there is also a picture of his gravestone & a bronze statue of him at the link
Hangingon
(3,071 posts)The family moved from there following the suicide of Ben's father, the town blacksmith.