Monday, September 11, 2017

Fawn: An Excellent Sparkling Beverage

by Erin Doane, Curator

Many who grew up in this area remember Fawn sodas. Fawn Beverages operated as a company in Elmira Heights for forty years, producing a wide variety of fizzy soft drinks in bottles with the distinctive little deer on the front.

32 oz. bottle of Fawn, 1950s
Fawn Beverages advertisement, February 2, 1949,
Elmira Star-Gazette from fultonhistory.com
In 1934, John Woyak filed a business certificate to operate Fawn Beverages at 184 Sheridan Avenue in Elmira Heights. He was just 30 years old at the time but he already had experience running a bottling works. He had been working as proprietor of the Orange Crush Bottling Works on 11th Street since 1929. Woyak ran Fawn Beverages for forty years. In 1947, he expanded the plant on Sheridan Avenue and in the late 1950s, his son Donald came on as a partner in the enterprise. The last listing for the company in the city directories appeared in the 1973-74 edition. Woyak moved to Florida in 1981 and lived out the rest of his years there.
Fawn bottles (left to right): 12 oz., 1 qt., 6 oz.
Prices for Fawn soda:
1940 – 25 cents for 6 12 oz. bottles
1944 – 29 cents for 3 1 qt. bottles
1956 – 89 cents for case of 24 6 oz. bottles
 While running his beverage company, Woyak was also an active member of the community. He was a member of the Elmira Heights Rotary Club and served for several years on the soft drinks committee for the club’s annual children’s Halloween party. In 1944, when El-Hi-Inn, a new organization for young people ages 13-19 in the Heights, was throwing a party, he donated a beverage cooler and 20 cases of soda for the event. He was also a generous supporter of the Chemung County Community Chest and in 1943, he served on the Elmira Heights village board. 

Wooden crate that held 1 dozen 32 oz. bottles, 1950s
Fawn Beverages advertisement, February 11, 1953,
Elmira Star-Gazette from fultonhistory.com
Fawn produced a wide selection of sodas. In the late 1930s, eight flavors were available – ginger ale, lime and lithia, club soda, birch beer, root beer, strawberry, cherry, and orange. By the 1950s, Fawn was available in 12 different flavors. Orange was particularly popular and was advertised as a “special flavor thrill.” It was made from real California oranges and oil imported from Messina in sunny Italy. All the varieties were made in Elmira’s largest bottling plant with scientifically treated and purified water that brought out the delicious fruit flavors, locked in carbonation, and added zest to the beverages, according to ad copy from the 1950s.

Fawn Beverages advertisement, July 2, 1950,
Elmira Star-Gazette from fultonhistory.com
 In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Fawn Beverages seems to have made a major newspaper adverting push. Half a dozen new print advertisements appeared in 1949 alone. The carry home carton that held six 12-ounce bottles was a major selling point. Fawn advertised on the radio as well. In 1950, the company sponsored the radio show Boston Blackie starring Richard Kollmar on WENY. The radio series, produced between 1945 and 1950, followed the adventures of Boston Blackie, a jewel thief and safecracker turned detective. From the 1930s through the 1960s, the company also sponsored a bowling team.

Fawn Beverages advertisement, September 23, 1949,
Elmira Star-Gazette from fultonhistory.com
Fawn Beverages advertisement, August 1, 1950,
Elmira Star-Gazette from fultonhistory.com


16 comments:

  1. Every other week my Dad stopped at Fawn and brought home that wooden carton of 12 quarts of soda....just seeing the bottles bring back the memories of how tasty the soda was....my favorite was cream soda and 2nd the orange with the tiny pieces of orange flakes in the soda...

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    1. I also think the cream soda was the best flavor. And I enjoyed the shorter bottle, for what reason I haven't a clue.

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  2. I remember when I was younger when growing up in Odessa New York, we used to have soda from Fawn Beverage, I believe my Dad used to buy it for the gas station he ran as well, and/or when we stopped places would buy it.. sorry that places like them are not in operation, Agree with Linda as if I remember I liked Orange, Rootbeer and Ginger Ale flavors..

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  3. We have MANY Fawn Beverage Signs, thermometers, Bottle Racks, Carriers, Wooden Crates, Cardboard Carrier, and of course Bottles, including Two Very RARE Paper Label Fawn Bottles. We are located at the Elmira Heights General Store Museum on Horseheads Blvd, just 3 blocks south of the old Fawn Beverage Bottling Plant.

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  4. To me, there was, and never will be, any better soda than FAWN. Little pieces of Orange in the bottle, great stuff! But I have a question for the history people around, Does any one know how I can find the recipe for the ORIGINAL FAWN BEVERAGES???? If you have some info on this, please send it to Fattdadd1948@aol.com Thank you

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  5. Fawn Beverages was my great grandpa's company. I cherish the stories and keepsakes (bottles, crates, etc.) that have been passed down through the family. I only wish that I could have stepped foot in the factory or tasted the various soft drink flavors that I have heard so much about. Unfortunately, he took the idea of "secret recipe" quite literally. It is so neat to see his legacy recorded and remembered!

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  6. Loved the Orange and cream soda

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  7. I used to distribute Fawn beverages in the Greene area in the early 70's as a young teen-ager. This was a great product.

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  8. Drank Fawn beverages as a kid on the farm in New Berlin,N.Y.
    Now home of Chobani Yogurt!
    I have one bottle 12oz at home in Stuart,Fl.

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  9. Loved the Orange soda the best. Enjoyed in Towanda Pa as a kid.

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  10. Loved the orange and lime flavors. Lived in Elmira 1964-65. We also got it in Penn Yan, NY where I am from. My father remembered it from back in the 30's. We got a case of it from the Welcome Wagon when we moved to Elmira.

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  11. Iove the Birch and root beers ! Used to get in Savona at little store on RT 226

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  12. I loved the experience of Fawn beverages! They were always extra special. The unique flavors, the rainbow of bottles on store shelves, and especially the beautiful painted white artwork on the clear bottles never failed to catch the eye!
    The soda pop actually tasted really good, too. Many times, Coke and Pepsi lost out in the local cola war to Fawn.
    For me, their Birch Beer was the standout flavor! Made from local black birch roots, the drink was a delicious part of what it meant to grow up in Western New York!

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    1. Grew up in Owego and remember drinking the root beer. It was great. Now you can’t even find Hires anymore.

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  13. worked there awhileasayoungman

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  14. was my first job,loading bottles to be washed!

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