Dispersing themselves, either willingly or otherwise, from the family farm in the remote and pasoral hinterland of Crete, Illinois, our ever enterprising Duensing Brothers seemingly scattered themselves randomly, hither and yon, to the remote scattered communities of what would become suburban Chicago. Untangling their exploits long since largely lost to history can be both a challenge and a journey into a lost American landscape.
Some of their later footings were little more than informal enclaves identified by a single storefront or perhaps a few houses to mark their location on a map, if you had one.
One of these young entrepreneurs either had a compulsive sweet tooth or a vision of carbonating the farming communities with the family name. In the annual Report of the Illinois Food and Safety Commission dated 1912, one particular Duensing was listed as having a factory in his home or did he live in the factory? Probably it depended on how busy he was. Chicago family owned soda companies are a local tradition, whose product and monikers runs from the ridiculous to the sublime. and our family rode the first wave. Have a taste for the paranormal? Quench that desire in several flavors.
Which brings us to Old Number 44, a tasty libation combining Lime and Cola direct from Chicago Heights, courtesy of The Hy.Duensing Co, attractively packaged in a embossed,cork sealed "Hutch Bottle" long before multi-national corporations rediscovered the advantages of a niche market.
Everything old is new again. Think Coca-Cola invented the distinctive bottle. Think again,. The ever inventive Henry C. Duensing Company presents you with a all new package that somehow resembled a work of art lodged somewhere between a Slinky or a caterpillar, depending on the limits of your imagination. Yes, and folks, great grip action too on those hot August days!
Look closely, if your brain has swelled under the blazing sun, you don't have to remember the name of your favorite flavor of Duensing Soda..just ask for a # 44..chilled to perfection. My aunt has the original well thumbed recipe book for these marvelous carbonated concoctions whose only proof of existence is in the auspicious hands of rare glass bottle collectors. Henry's bubbling business went flat for some unknown reason, (maybe he lost the recipe book) and being the unstoppable force of nature he was, he eventually moved Northward in search of greener pastures, still enamored of foodstuffs, where we will catch up to him in a later post.
Stay tuned for the Duensing contribution to what the Chicago Tribune called "one of the great lost wonders of Chicago",courtesy of my grandfather, Oscar, no less and then we will visit the interior of a long vanished dry goods store in Algonquin and catch up to our ever enterprising Henry.
Further reading on Chicago family sodas :http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/110816
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