HISTORY OF FOSKO
(As good as we can piece it together so far)
Fosko was originally manufactured in Mobile, Alabama. It was
bottled by E. Carre' bottling company located at 9 North Franklin Street
(the phone number was 280). In 1905, the company was owned by Mr. Ed
Carre', a french chemist and Mr George Hopkins. In 1908, Mr J.C. Wilkins
Sr. (known affectionately as "Your Nibs") joined as a partner. When Mr
Carre' died in 1911, Wilkins and Hopkins continued to run the company.
Later , circa 1920, "Your Nibs" became the sole owner. Mr. Wilkins also
owned a candy company at that time -- "Wilkins / Higgins" on Dauphin Street
in Mobile. The "soda water" business was in a building directly in back of
the candy company which was across the street from the Cathedral of the
Immaculate Conception. The marble marquis is still on the building.
According to J.C. Wilkins Jr (known as "Soda"), Mr. Hopkins lived
in a house across the street from the old Barton Academy. And Mamee (J.C.
Sr.'s wife) would frequently drive him home from work. (Your Nibs didn't
like to drive. In fact he told Mamee that if she would learn to drive,
he would buy her a car. She did...he did.)
According to records contained in the archives at the University of
South Alabama library, the Carre' bottling company began in approximately
1867. They advertised mineral water, Cider, Soda, and Soda Water. E.
Carre' bottling company made a variety of drinks, i.e. Brownies (similar to
a Yahoo), Cream Soda, Root Beer (Sasparilla), Orange, Grape, and most of
the fruit flavored soft drinks. Brownies were the most difficult because if
they were not kept at a proper temperature, they would sour! Fosko was by
far their most popular and different drink. It's formula seems to have been
developed by Mr. Wilkins.
In 1927, the Mobile Bears baseball team moved from Monroe Park to
Hartwell Field. This was their inaugural season at Hartwell Field and E.
Carre' sodas were the only soft drink beverages sold at the ball park.
Incidentally, Mr. Wilkins was president of the Bears that year. His sons
and nephews would hawk the drinks and peanuts at the game. His oldest son,
J. C. (Carleton) Wilkins, Jr., would arrive early to bag the peanuts and
ice down the drinks in buckets. Another son, Mr. J.V. (Pine) Wilkins
reports carrying the buckets through the crowds yelling: "Ice cold Fosko
and Carre' sodas, peanuts, cigarettes, and chew-ing gum." Fosko was sold
in an 8 oz bottle and cost 10 cents. (You could buy Fosko for 5 cents
outside the ballpark, but if you left the ballpark to get a drink, you had
to pay 40 cents to get back in!)
Pine also reports that he wasn't the regular hawkster at the ballpark.
The regular crew consisted of Frankie Schottgen, Frank Chavers, and the
Bonner triplets. He also recalls that in between double-headers,
Uncle George Leslie would cut large bricks of ice-cream into very thin
slices to place between two cookies to make ice-cream sandwiches.
A Mr. Shulte rented seat cushions at the ballpark for 10 cents a game.
Fosko was manufactured in a large cauldron where the ingredients were
mixed by hand. A man named Alex was foreman at that time and was primarily
responsible for mixing the various ingredients and fruit concentrates. It
was usually delivered in cases on a large flatbed truck to various stores
and businesses around the area. Stores in turn would ice it down in large
coolers and sell it by the bottle.
Mr. Wilkins, Sr. was diagnosed with leukemia and died January 23,
1930 (at age 46). He had been very sick for about 6 years and ran his
businesses from a bed in his home on Broad Street. At that time, at age 16,
Mr. Carleton Wilkins Jr. took over the running of the bottling company in
order to try and support his six younger brothers and sisters. The company
didn't do well and closed about a year later when Carleton went into the
seminary.
The company reappears in 1940 when Carleton and Mr Henry Kittrel
reopened the business, calling it Fosko Bottling. In approximately 1942,
Carleton left the bottling company to take a job at the new Air Force Base
in Mobile, Brookley Field. The bottling company apparently struggled on
during the 40's and early 50's. Sometime in the late 1940's or early 1950's
Mr. Kittrell tried to get his son involved to run the business, but it
didn't do well and the bottling company was closed again shortly
thereafter.
From time-to-time one or another of the 7 children of Mamee and
J. C. Wilkins Sr. still dream of manufacturing Fosko anew. With Pine as
the primary instigator, a batch of Fosko was made in 1972, and again in
1994. He would reconstitute the formula based on the availability of the
various ingredients until all agreed that he had reconstituted the original
taste. As of today, Fosko awaits it's next incarnation. Whenever that
might be, whenever Fosko is next tasted you can be certain people will exclaim
... "It's winey flavor is great".
Anne Martin Zieman has a picture of the "magnificent 7" when Ruth was
a baby sitting around a setee' drinking Fosko. Mr. Wilkins dubbed this
picture "The Fosko Kids".
