Treasure Hunter finds Dr. Pepper’s Formula
I love these stories. We all kind of hope, even if we won’t admit it, that we will one day find a treasure that someone else overlooked. Whether we look by dumpster diving, shopping garage sales, flea markets, auctions, thrift stores or antique stores.
Bill Waters of Tulsa, OK, spotted an old beat-up ledger book filled with formulas while treasure hunting at Shamrock Antiques Store in Texas. He hoped to turn his $200 investment into $1,000 (not a bad return for a quick flip) After a little investigation, he noticed letterhead pasted into the book that hinted at its past, like a page from a prescription pad from a Waco store titled “W.B. Morrison & Co. Old Corner Drug Store.” An Internet search revealed Dr Pepper, first served in 1885, was invented at the Old Corner Drug Store in Waco by a pharmacist named Charles Alderton. Wade Morrison was a store owner. A little more digging revealed that the ledger included a recipe titled “D Peppers Pepsin Bitters.”
When the 8 1/2-by-15 1/2 inch book of more than 360 pages goes up for auction at Dallas-based Heritage Auction Galleries on May 13, it’s expected to sell for between $50,000 to $75,000. (Cha-Ching!)
Keep hunting, you never know what you might find!
Tags: Great Finds