Funny coincidence today. My builders dug up an old bottle from the back garden. It’s a MacPherson & Co Ltd bottle, which dates back from 1938, and was a forerunner of the Britvic brand. The bottle was found along with various pieces of builders junk – iron buckets etc. I know from old maps that the bungalow was built in the 1930s, but never had a definitive date. This bottle might date it from 1938, and bearing in mind war broke out the following year, it is unlikely it was any later than this.

Today, one of the builders also left behind a bottle of Lucozade, which means that these two drinks have been helping builders build in Chelmsford for 80 years! So, all you builders who think that energy drinks are a new thing that the youngsters waste their money on (tea with 2 sugars is a real builders drink!), think again. Builders have been sipping energy and mineral drinks since the 1930s!

I did some Googling, and found an advert for MacPherson too – see below. This advert is apparently from 1909, which throws my 1938 argument into doubt…..

A little history of MacPherson

Mid 19th Century Chelmsford a chemist begins creating homemade soft drinks – I believe that they were sold in a chemist on Tindal Street in Chelmsford.
1938 The company is acquired by James MacPherson & Co Ltd, and develops the business to introduce soft drinks as an affordable source of vitamins for the people of the UK
1949 A range of juices were launched under the name of British Vitamin Products
1954 Chapman sells the British Vitamin Products Company to Vine Products Limited and Chelmsford factory is built
1968 The British Vitamin Products Company becomes part of Allied Breweries Limited and Minister Minerals Limited
1971 The British Vitamin Product Company formally changes its name to Britvic

Source: http://www.britvic.com/about-us/history/company-history