CHEER-UP DOUGH BOY BOTTLERS INC.
BEVERAGES, INCORPORATED

It wasn't long after the bankruptcy of the Holston Bottling Company that another bottling company would occupy the 206-208 West New Street plant. Cheer Up-Dough Boy Bottlers, Inc. incorporated on April 16, 1942 with Ella J. Hewette, Lanthe E. Chappell, and James W. Chappell, of the now bankrupt Holston Bottling Company, signing.(3) The 1943 Kingsport city directory lists the officers of the new company as Dudley M. Hewette President, Thelma E. Hewette Vice President, and Ella J. Hewette as Secretary Treasurer.(1)

Dudley "Doughboy" Hewette, the nickname we are assured by the Kingsport Times is due his cola brand rather than his rotund stature, was a Free Mason who was quite active in Kingsport's civic club scene including taking part in the Kiwanis Kapers show for several years.(2) He appeared as a clown named Faux-Pas in the 1945 Kiwanis Kapers (1), a role that he was obviously proud of, because he used a photo of himself in full make up in some of the Beverages Incorporated advertising.

As their name says the company bottled Cheer-Up, a lithiated Lemon soda franchised by the Cheer Up Sales Company of St. Louis, Mo, and Dough Boy which was a cola produced by the Doughboy Beverage Corporation of Pittsburgh, PA. They also bottled Smile which was an orange soda belonging to the Smile Company of St. Louis, MO, and offered a seasonal punch for the Christmas holidays in 1944.(2)

The Cheer-Up Dough Boy Bottlers, Inc. changes its name on February 23, 1945 to Beverages Incorporated, Inc. with Dudley M. Hewette, and R. R. Morley, listed as Secretary, signing.(3) The name change was announced to the public on March 28, 1945 in the Kingsport Times.(2) In this announcement is the information that other stockholders in the corporation include Elijah Preston Gillenwater, Ernest C. Gillenwater, the former owners of the Julep Bottling Company, and Ella J. Hewette.(2)

Hewette also mentions that he is planning on a future expansion of the building on West New Street, which seems to have started in July 1945.(2) The building was enlarged, new floors laid, new plumbing installed, rewired and a new laboratory or formula room constructed on a mezzanine floor, making the bottling room dust, vermin, and pest free.(2) After the expansion Hewette purchases all new equipment, and places an ad in November 3, 1946 announcing that his plant is "Kingsport's First All Automatic Bottling Plant" and that the "product (was) not touched by human hands during bottling process".(2)

By 1946 they have discontinued bottling Smile in favor of Dream Orange from California. Dudley Hewette also bottled his own flavor line named after him called Uncle Dud’s Beverages, they had been bottling a flavor line since 1942, but this is the first time they had one with a brand name. Yankee Doodle Root Beer, franchised from the Yankee Doodle Root Beer Company of Los Angeles California, was picked up in early 1948. The plant changes hands again as William M. Fleenor returns to Kingsport to try his hand once again at a Nesbitts Orange franchise by incorporating the Nesbitt Bottling Company on June 11, 1948.(3) It appears that Dudley M. Hewette spent the rest of his life in Kingsport as he is buried along with his wife Ella in Oak Hill Cemetery after passing away in 1969.

This is the location of this bottling company at 206 West New Street. The building appears to be standing; however, it has been remodeled.

Green and Clear Cheer-UP / Dough Boy embossed soda water bottles, the Clear one is dated 1942 and the Green one is dated 1944.

A April 27, 1943 ad from the Dough Boy Bottling Company

10oz Dough Boy bottle dated 1943

7oz Cheer-up bottle dated 1944

The December 7, 1944 ad for their punch

10oz Smile bottle dated 1945

10oz Dough Boy bottle dated 1945

An ad from a 1947 city directory advertising Dream Orange

10oz Dream (of California) bottle dated 1946

7oz Cheer-up bottle dated 1947

A 1946 ad for Doughboy cola featuring Dudley Hewett as Faux-Pas the clown from the 1945 Kiwanis Kapers.

7oz Dough Boy bottle dated 1947

Doughboy Cola bottle cap. No town name but was sold by an ebay dealer in a town not very far from Kingsport.

10oz Uncle Dud's Beverages bottle dated 1948

Early Beverages Incorporated ad

10oz Yankee Doodle Root Beer bottle dated 1948

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