‘We’re keepers of their history’: Dr Pepper Museum draws fans of the soft drink’s lore

If you happen to be driving on I-35 with the signs for Waco up ahead, you can make a pop stop an extra special one and pull into the very place where a certain well-known soft drink first came into being.

And it’s not just fun for the kids, but for grown-ups, too.

Chris Dyer, president and CEO of the Dr Pepper Museum, joined the Standard to talk about the Waco attraction. Listen to the interview above or read the transcript below.

This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity:

Texas Standard: Now, Dr Pepper… Born in Waco, is that right?

Chris Dyer: Indeed. Right downtown.

What’s the backstory there?

Well, there was a little place called the Old Corner Drug Store on 4th and Austin Avenue. And it was created in a drug store, allegedly, to mimic what the smell of the store smelled like in their soda fountain.

So they wanted to copy that flavor through what they smelled in the air.

How would you describe that smell?

Uh, “Dr Pepper.”

What’s the connection of the museum with that story?

Well, we’re the original owned bottling plant downtown. The other one was right across the street. The business grew so quickly that they had to build a new mass production facility at the corner of Mary and Fifth Street.

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So when you go inside, in addition to the exhibits… Which are lots of fun. You could really spend all day going through those exhibits. I mean there’s so much detail, but you look up on the ceilings and you see all sorts of contraptions that look original. I mean is that right?

Right, it’s the original plant. I mean, we even have the original well, you know, the groundwater well – the artesian well, right?

That they would draw the water from?

Right. Correct. And distill it. So yeah, it is truly the birthplace of Dr Pepper.

You know, I was thinking about how soft drinks are facing a lot more competition in the beverage aisle these days, but you still seem to be bringing big crowds in at the museum. How long has the museum been in place as it is?

I mean, it looks somewhat new, and, to be honest, I knew that Dr Pepper was created in Waco, but I didn’t realize that there was this campus.

Right, it’s the oldest large national brand – 1885. So it predated Coke by a year. And so our facility is the original facility – 1906.

You say it’s clean, because when you’re in Texas, Buc-ee’s… You got to have clean restrooms. So it’s important, but we have about 260,000 visitors that come through a year.

But when did the museum itself open?

The vision was in the ’80s, and it actually opened its doors to the public in ’91, on the anniversary of the the great Waco tornado.

Oh wow. In fact, there’s a little section in the museum about the Waco tornado.

Correct, and you can still see the “smile” or the “scars,” we call it, on the Mary Avenue side of the building from where the tornado ripped the top off.

One of the things that we found a lot of fun was there’s a little fountain area where you can sort of create your own… It’s like an apothecary where you create your own soda. Tell us about that.

Well, we want you to be creative. We want you to make a soda and we want you to explore with flavors and try different things out.

And I know your crew tried it out yesterday. Thousands and thousands of people do that a year. And it’s really something that we did during COVID. We made a big shift about making things more experiential and more family-oriented.

Very interesting. So the team wanted to make sure that I asked you about the “Extreme Pepper Experience.” What in the world is that?

Well, Dr Pepper people are crazy, right? They’re crazy about the soft drink.

And so if you really want to see behind the scenes, get all the cool stuff, see all the spooky spots, learn all the stuff, that’s what you do. You’d register for that online.

So there’s people coming from all over with their Dr Pepper shirts. So they’re really nuts about it. So book those online. You got to book them quick, though.

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Chris, what were you doing before you joined the Dr Pepper Museum?

I was the CEO of an arts nonprofit. We were a foundation, and I was born and raised here, came back as soon as I could.

Just a great community. Love Waco Surf, love the Mammoth site, all that good stuff. Used to surf when I was younger, so there’s no oceans here, but now there are.

I’m assuming that they’ve got a few extra boards, he can come down…

I always sell boards during their competitions. It’s a great deal.

What’s the relationship between Dr Pepper and Big Red?

Well, Big Red was also invented in Waco. Don’t get me to quote in dates here, but it’s in their portfolio of brands.

So growing up here, if you’re from Waco, you didn’t have Coke, you had Dr Pepper, Big Red, or 7up.

Even though you have a relationship with the big Dr Pepper company, based in Frisco, this is not a museum that’s funded by Dr Pepper, by and large. This relies on community support, right?

Correct, yes. We are a separate nonprofit. Corporate’s very generous to us in letting us use the brand.

Obviously, we’re the Dr Pepper Museum, but we’re keepers of their history.

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