Bottling nostalgia in Shawano

[bright music]

Angela Fitzgerald: If you grew up in Shawano County, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of Twig’s. And if you grew up in Wisconsin, there’s an even better chance your childhood included Sun Drop soda.

Dan Hartwig: Sun Drop came out in the early ’50s. It’s the first gold drink, the golden cola that was on the market.

Angela: Dan Hartwig’s family knows a thing or two about this citrus soda. Just ask Ben.

Ben Hartwig: Before Sun Drop was actually even a soda, it was considered a lemonade. And that’s why you see them call it the “golden cola.” And then in 1953, Sun Drop was introduced to us. Most people think that we invented it, but actually it was invented by guy named Charles Lazier out of St. Louis. He asked my grandpa if he wanted to bottle and distribute Sun Drop up in this area. And it’s been our most popular product since.

Angela: But in order to get the full story behind this bottled beverage…

Jake Hartwig: Twig’s has a vast history in Shawano.

Angela: …you have to go back three-quarters of a century to a man they call Twig.

Ben: My grandpa, Floyd Hartwig, started the business.

Diane Hartwig: Twig’s was founded by my father-in-law in the early ’50s. Then in 1986, my husband and I bought it from his father. I always worked with my dad, and I got to know him as good as anybody. And we came up with this idea. They always called him Twig, that was his nickname. So they decided to call the business Twig’s Beverage.

Angela: Ever since Twig started the business, the Hartwigs have had a heart for Shawano.

Dan: My father, he grew up in Shawano, just like all of us. It’s a great place to live.

Jake: I’m proud of staying in a small town, staying in Shawano, being local. Twig’s gives us that opportunity.

Angela: And there’s something else about this area that Twig’s tapped into.

Dan: Yeah, Shawano water, it’s just the greatest water. There were two big breweries in town and maybe three bottling companies. These guys came to Shawano to start their factories just because of the water. We actually started bottling the water.

Angela: In addition to water and Sun Drop, Twig’s also bottles its own brand of sodas.

Ben: We’re known for a lot of our Twig’s flavors. Root beer, black cherry, blue raspberry. Those are our more popular ones. People will come in with 10 to 40 cases that they’ll need refilled, and they come from all over with their pickup trucks and their vans, and they may bring it to their homes or to their cabins.

Angela: This family business occupies a place in Shawano history. [Dan laughing] Today, the Hartwigs’ family is preserving Twig’s history one bottle, one case, and one memory at a time.

Dan: It’s unique. I don’t think there’s anywhere like it.

Ben: Over here, you’ll see a lot of different advertisements that we’ve had. It’s kinda cool nowadays, people say, like, “Oh, yeah, we used to have this Sun Drop sign on our bar, restaurant, or grocery store.”

Angela: Twig’s is a true sign of the times that continues to attract visitors from near and far.

Ben: I think what draws a lot of people here is that they want to come and see live bottling. [bottles clanking] We’re the last returnable bottler for Sun Drop in the world. Some individuals like it ’cause of the nostalgia feel that it gives from drinking soda from a glass bottle.

Angela: For fans of those glass bottles…

Ben: Seventy-nine.

Angela: …they are all stamped with a date when they first hit the production line.

Ben: Eighty-five. So those are old ones.

Angela: Through the years, the bottom line of bottling has always been family.

Jake: I love being part of the family business, you know? It’s great to see where we’ve started and where we’ve come to now.

Dan: It’s something that I think about all the time. I’m proud that Twig’s has been able to stay local. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. They say family businesses are the salt of the earth, kind of the backbone of small communities. And especially in a town like Shawano, it’s very true. There’s nothing else like it. I’ve stayed here all my life. I’ve been working here for 54 years. I don’t plan on leaving unless my boys kick me out. I’m proud that they’re still sticking around.

[laughter]