“Comic books and rubber bands…climb into the tree top…falling down and holding hands…tricycles and Redpop…”
Any metro Detroiter of a certain age remembers those lyrics from a 1970s television commercial for Detroit beverage maker Faygo. The legendary advertisement was shot on one of the city’s iconic Bob-Lo boats.
Or was it?
The answer – much to the dismay of many local nostalgia buffs – is no. It was filmed in the Mexican Pacific on a similar-looking vessel. This and other fascinating facts about the 112-year-old company were shared recently at Henry Ford Village in Dearborn by Joe Grimm.
The former Detroit Free Press reporter-turned-author delighted his audience with facts, fiction, and figures from his 2018 publication, “The Faygo Book.” Grimm, now a journalism professor at Michigan State University, gave a nod to his favorite Faygo flavor at the start of his presentation by humorously asking the audience, “who’s ready to Rock & Rye?!”
Henry Ford Village added to the stroll down memory lane with other Detroit iconic products, including Better Made Potato Chips, Sanders Bumpy Cake, and a drawing for a basket of Made-in-Detroit goodies.
Faygo started during the economic crisis of 1907, Grimm said, by Ben and Perry Feigenson, two Russian immigrants. Feigenson Brothers Bottling Works originally operated out of a home in Detroit’s famous Black Bottom neighborhood, making carbonated beverages out of their family’s cake frosting recipes.
“There were three original flavors: Grape, Fruit Punch and Strawberry, which was later renamed Redpop,” he said. “They sold pop in seven-ounce bottles for three cents each. Bottle caps weren’t terribly tight back then, so pop was shipped with the cap side down to make it last longer.”
Faygo coined the name “pop” as a descriptive word for carbonated beverages because of the sound the cap made when removed from the bottle, Grimm added.
The company shortened its name in 1921 and moved to its current-day home on Gratiot Avenue in 1935. Faygo was one of 40 pop makers in that section of the east side known then as “Pop Alley,” and briefly dabbled in beer production.
Faygo managed to survive WWII, national economic struggles, the civil unrest of 1967, and changes in America’s collective palette, to remain a familiar name over the last century. Much of that success was due to its aggressive marketing, which featured TV commercials with “The Faygo Kid,” comedians Soupy Sales and Joan Rivers, and sports legends Thomas Hearns and Alex Karras.
Puppeteer Jim Henson, of Muppets fame, learned part of his craft working on television commercials for Faygo and other companies, Grimm said.
HFV resident Joanne Lakosil worked in Faygo’s marketing department in the mid-1980s. She remembered seeing bottles moving quickly along the assembly line, and her first taste of Grimm’s favorite flavor.
“I remember the first time I had Rock & Rye, I was at a girlfriend’s house,” she said. “I had never heard of it, but I tasted it and liked it for its unique flavor. Working for Faygo later in life was cool because it was a local company.”
Now owned by National Beverage Company, Faygo makes more than 50 refreshing flavors, including Faygo Root Beer, which was named America’s best root beer in 2009 by prestigious Bon Appetit magazine.
“Remember when you were a kid? Well, part of you still is! And that’s why we make Faygo!”
