Drink Smile, Cheer Up - St. Louis, MO
Posted by: 
Wampa-One
N 38° 36.444 W 090° 12.306
15S E 743368 N 4276916
Located at 9th and Allen in the historic Soulard neighborhood.
Waymark Code: WM5R3Q
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 02/05/2009
Views: 8
Orange Smile Syrup Company opened in Soulard right before the 1929 peak in the U.S. soda industry. The Company produced "Buster Cola," "Cheer-Up Soft Drink" and "Smile Orange Drink." The factory survived for nearly 35 years as a small soda manufacturer and also bottled the same drinks as at 2001 S. Ninth. Shortly after opening the factory, William F. Cox added color tile advertisements of "Drink Cheer Up, Made Good for You" and "Drink Smile, Refresh with a Smile" on the lower exterior of the northern and eastern facades of the building. These advertisements kept the once popular ethnic social center as a vibrant landmark of Soulard even until today. In the early 1960s, the building entered a short-lived social reincarnation as a roller rink.
The site of the former Orange Smile Syrup Company has recently found new life as a condo building, with a conscious effort by the builders to preserve the history of the soda company that was once an important landmark there. For more information about Smile Lofts, visit their website at: www.smilelofts.com. Appreciation is expressed to the Timmermann Group and Jonathan Kardon for use of this story.
~ from the Soda Spectrum Series website (
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Smile Lofts website (
visit link)