Seven Up


Company Names, addresses, dates1:
  Seven-up Washington Inc, 1129 M Street SE, Washington DC (1938-1940)
  Seven-up Washington Inc, 1325 Kenilworth Ave NE, Washington DC (1943-1970)
  Seven-up Alexandria Bottlers, 704 S. Patrick St, Alexandria VA (1947) 2

Notes:
Seven-up was invented by Charles Leiper Grigg in 19293. The company appears in Washington DC directories starting in 1938.
The 1966-1970 directory entries for Seven-up in Washington DC say that they were "bottlers of Tru-Ade". In 1971 the Seven-up bottling plant moved from Washington DC to Forestville MD. Seven-up merged with Dr Pepper in 19863.


Bottles:

sevenup_06 (front/rear) This is an 8" green machine-made crown top bottle with red & white markings:
shoulders: 7up
front: 7up / YOU LIKE IT     IT LIKES YOU
back: SEVEN-UP / YOU LIKE IT     IT LIKES YOU / CONTAINS / CARBONATED WATER, SUGAR, / CITRIC ACID, SODIUM CITRATE, / FLAVOR DERIVED FROM LEMON / AND LIME OILS. / "Fresh Up" WITH 7up / CONTENTS 7 FL. OZS. / WASHINTON SEVEN-UP BOTTLING CO. / WASHINGTON, D.C.
sevenup_07 (front/rear) This bottle is the same as the one above, except the shoulder has some red coloring and it says "7 FLUID OUNCES" in 2 extra places. It is an 8" green machine-made crown top bottle with red & white markings:
shoulders: 7up / 7 FLUID OUNCES
front: 7up / YOU LIKE IT     IT LIKES YOU
back: SEVEN-UP / YOU LIKE IT     IT LIKES YOU / CONTAINS / CARBONATED WATER, SUGAR, / CITRIC ACID, SODIUM CITRATE, / FLAVOR DERIVED FROM LEMON / AND LIME OILS. / "Fresh Up" WITH 7up / WASHINTON SEVEN-UP BOTTLING CO. / WASHINGTON, D.C.
sevenup_08 (front/rear) This bottle differs from the 2 above in that it has a picture of a woman raising her arms and surrounded by bubles to the left. It is an 8" green machine-made crown top bottle with red & white markings:
shoulders: 7up
front: (picture of woman with bubbles) / 7up / REG. U.S. PAT. OFF.
back: SEVEN-UP / THE "Fresh Up" DRINK / CONTAINS / CARBONATED WATER, SUGAR, / CITRIC ACID, SODIUM CITRATE, / FLAVOR DERIVED FROM LEMON / AND LIME OILS. / YOU LIKE IT / IT LIKES YOU / CONTENTS 7 FL. OZS. / SEVEN-UP WASHINGTON, INC. / WASHINGTON, D.C.
sevenup_10 (front/rear) The main difference between this bottle and the one above is that this one does not have the square red background around the large "7up". Apparently the red pigment was conserved during World War II4. It is an 8" green machine-made crown top bottle with white markings:
shoulders: 7up
front: (picture of woman with bubbles) / 7up / REG. U.S. PAT. OFF.
back: THE "Fresh Up" DRINK / CONTAINS CARBONATED WATER, / SUGAR, CITRIC ACID, LITHIA AND / SODA CITRATES, FLAVOR DERIVED / FROM LEMON AND LIME OILS. / YOU LIKE IT / IT LIKES YOU / CONTENTS 7 FL. OZS. / THIS TRADEMARKED BOTTLE MUST NOT / BE USED FOR ANY OTHER DRINK / WASHINGTON, D.C.
sevenup_09 (front/rear) This is similar to the above bottle but it's from Alexandria VA (and the square is red). It is an 8" green machine-made crown top bottle with red & white markings:
shoulders: 7up
front: (picture of woman with bubbles) / 7up / REG. U.S. PAT. OFF.
back: THE "Fresh Up" DRINK / CONTAINS CARBONATED WATER, / SUGAR, CITRIC ACID, LITHIA AND / SODA CITRATES, FLAVOR DERIVED / FROM LEMON AND LIME OILS. / YOU LIKE IT / IT LIKES YOU / CONTENTS 7 FL. OZS. / THIS TRADEMARKED BOTTLE MUST NOT / BE USED FOR ANY OTHER DRINK / SEVEN-UP ALEXANDRIA BOTTLERS / ALEXANDRIA, VA.
sevenup_05 (front/rear) This is a 10.75" green machine-made crown top bottle with red & white markings:
shoulders: 7up 16 / OZS.
front: 7up / YOU LIKE IT     IT LIKES YOU
back: SEVEN-UP / YOU LIKE IT     IT LIKES YOU / CONTAINS / CARBONATED WATER, SUGAR, / CITRIC ACID, SODIUM CITRATE, / FLAVOR DERIVED FROM LEMON / AND LIME OILS. / "Fresh Up" WITH 7up / CONTENTS ONE PINT / WASHINTON SEVEN-UP BOTTLING CO. / WASHINGTON, D.C.
like_01 (enlarge) This is a 9.5" green machine-made crown top bottle with red & white markings:
shoulders: DIETS LIKE / LIKE
front: DIETS LIKE / LIKE / ARTIFICIALLY SWEETENED / SPECIAL DIETARY / CARBONATED BEVERAGE / The Diet Drink of Seven-Up Quality
back: 1 CALORIE / PER 6 FLUID OUNCES / CONTAINS / CARBONATED WATER, CITRIC ACID, CALCIUM / CYCLAMATE*, SODIUM CITRATE / SACCHARIN*, FLAVOR / DERIVED FROM LEMON AND LIME OILS. / * CONTAINS 1/10 of 1% CALCIUM CYCLAMTE... / SEVEN UP BOTTLING CO., / WASHINGTON, D.C. / CONTENTS 10 FL. OZS. / A Product of The Seven-Up Company
According to Wikipedia, this was 7-up's diet drink from 1963 until 1969, when it was discontinued due to the government's ban on cyclamates.



Bubble Variations:
sevenup_bubbles Most 7-up bottles have exactly 7 bubbles in the square on the shoulder, 7 bubbles in the large square on the front, and 7 bubbles above the arms of the woman. Some bottles will have an extra bubble though.
The bottle on the right has the normal 7 bubbles. The bottle in the middle has an 8th bubble to the left of the woman's right arm. The bottle on the left has an 8th bubble above the womans head. All 3 of these bottles are marked with 'WASHINGTON DC'.



Other items:
crate_01 (enlarge) This is a wooden crate that held 7up bottles. It's marked:
sides: "Fresh Up" WITH 7up
ends: WASHINGTON, D.C. / 7up     7up



1 Boyd's Directory for the District of Columbia (various years)
2 The only Alexandria directory I've seen between 1941-1954 is 1947
3 History of 7-up Info from this web site
4 Info about 7-up bottle markings from this web site



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This page last updated on December 12, 2011.