Retrospect, July 29, 2015: Canned Soda Was an Idea Ahead of it’s Time

Mammoth Springs had made rich returns for stockholders since its September 1920 start on the grounds of a former limestone quarry/kiln operation.

The bright star of this company was John Kraemer, a World War I soldier, back to make his and his extended family’s mark in the world. They bought the derelict quarry/kiln acreage and started the canning factory, initially with peas, but it was later everything that could be canned, producing a million-dollar output with hundreds of local men and women working there in season.

John Kraemer was always looking for something different, and promoting it.

Kraemer took time off to start the Sussex Fire Department, help incorporate the village of Sussex, and in 1939, co-founding the Sussex Lions Club. Meanwhile, he served on the Sussex Village Board for a third of a century.

As they diversified the canning company, one of Kraemer’s ideas was to dehydrate green alfalfa hay, grind up the super-dry hay and bag it in 50-pound paper bags. This was great feed for the chickens and pigs who were confined, but they still needed the grassy pulp for both its vitamins and protein.

Then in 1953, according to the late Al Zillmer, a “Mr. Glick from Waukesha” suggested to Kraemer the possibility of canning soda water. Glick was affiliated with Bon Ton (soda water and water) in Waukesha. He had the idea to can soda and Kraemer picked up on the idea.

Before 1954, soda water came in two ways, either in glass bottles or at a soda fountain. It did not come in cans or barrels.

Zillmer, a Lisbon-Sussex raised young man and World War II veteran, was put in charge of opening this soda water canning venture in Sussex at the local canning factory. However, after two years (1955 and 1956), it was abandoned as it was unacceptable to the public, according to Zillmer. His comment was, “We were a bit early for the product in cans. The cans had to be lithographed.” I remember him saying the cans came un-lacquered on the inside and the soda’s corrosive qualities tended to put holes in the can if it was stored too long (and too long was only a short time).

Zillmer added, “One had to have a ‘church key’ metallic opener to open the can. It was necessary to to put two openings in the lid, so one could drink it, with air coming in on the second hole. People did not know how to drink it out of the can and gulped too much air, this there were too many burps with this type of dispensing soda water.”

The label for it was “Kewpie Pop.”

People in the greater Sussex area saw a bargain develop as there was a situation in the fast-paced manufacturing of soda water in a can, there were “shorts” (less than 12 ounces) in a percentage of the cans. These would be shunted off to the side and repacked as “Shortie cases, $1 a case, bargain.”

My father bought many shorty cans and that meant 48 cans, as that was the size of the soda water cardboard boxes. There would be a variety of flavors that would be in these bargain, part-filled cases: cola, black cherry, root beer, a sort of white soda and orange. In my crowd, we loved the burping contests that could erupt in my family gatherings.

Zillmer ran the soda water canning rooms in 1955 and 1956 and it was closed down in September 1956. It failed to catch on and there were too many leaking cans. Mickey Clarey took over in 1957 as Zillmer left the canning company, with the Mammoth Springs Canning Company selling the rights, machinery, formulas and whatever to Canada Dry, but the understanding was that ultimately the line was going to the Krier Canning Company in Random Lake.

Random Lake became one of the largest soda water canning companies in Wisconsin, famous for custom canning under their label, including house brand Jolly Good and the whole lineup Hi-C, Seven-Up and Coca Cola at times. If you drink a house brand in Wisconsin, it probably came from the Krier Canning Company.

The Mammoth Springs Canning Company outlived its failure with alfalfa meal and canned soda water for another 40 years, closing up with a last canning crop in 1995 and the last product being shipped out in March 1996. Destruction of the plant occurred over a period of years until this decade found Al Sawall picking up the former canning company grounds to build a series of apartments that currently totals 120 units.