Wild West Sarsaparilla Article – April 2, 1972

Wild West Sarsaparilla has ‘popped’ up on this blog many times over the years. The unique soft drink with the Western theme was marketed by a Lorain company and is well-remembered by older residents.

There was just something cool about a soft drink marketed nationally that was Lorain-based. And the Wild West cowboy theme made it fun. (I wonder if they served it at Heilman’s Ranch House?)

Anyway, here's a good article from the April 2, 1972 edition of the Journal that tells us a little bit about the history of the drink, a hint as to what was in it, and how the business was going at that time.

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“Do You Shoot the Man Who Doesn’t Like It?

‘Wild West’ Sarsaparilla: A Big Hit from Lorain

By GLENN WAGGONER, Staff Writer

WILD WEST Sarsaparilla, tough to find in Lorain and illegal in Oberlin, is finally making its way back to the land of its namesake.

The soft drink, first produced in 1969, is marketed by a Lorain firm. It is now being sold west of the Mississippi after it caught on fast in the east.

Wild West is patented by World Trade, Inc., at 1127 Reid Ave., Lorain.

That first year, about 30,000 cases were sold in Ohio and Michigan. Company officials estimate sales will push toward a million cases this year, and Wild West will be available in all but a handful of states.

Even though one of the canneries which produce it is located at Aurora, near Cleveland, the drink is hard to find in Lorain County because the area is currently without a distributorship, according to Al Gantose, general manager of World Trade’s beverage division.

“We’re looking for a good distributor,” he added. “After all these years I don’t feel like becoming a beverage truck driver again.”

And because Wild West is available only in red, white, and black cans, an Oberlin sarsaparilla drinker who brought some home would find himself in violation of a city ordinance banning non-returnable containers.

But elsewhere, Wild West seems to be a hot item. About a dozen canneries in the nation produce it, from the flavor concentrate sold to them by World Trade. The concentrate is combined with sugar to form a syrup, which is then combined with carbonated water and canned.

The president of World Trade, Inc., is Gerald Strohacker, who claims he has met only one man who didn’t like Wild West.

“Did you shoot him?” asked Gantose.

“No, he just didn’t like the real sugar in it,” Strohacker replied. 

He has a letter on file from an elderly man who wrote that he hadn’t tasted anything like Wild West since he was a youngster. “A woman told me she likes it because it tastes like bubble gum,” Strohacker added. And others say the flavor resembles root beer.

What is this brew with the “quick-draw top?”

The formula is a secret. The drink traditionally derives its flavor from birch oil and sassafras. Wild West looks like a cola drink. And a Journal reporter who uncapped a frosty one agreed that the flavor is distinctive, if undefinable.

Strohacker says the flavor seems to appeal to both young and old. He expects a higher per-capita consumption in western states because of the drink’s association with prairie history.

“The good guys drank sarsaparilla, instead of redeye,” Strohacker explained. Gantose added that sarsaparilla was mentioned more than 15 times in a recently televised western film.

THE PEOPLE at World Trade are proud of their product, and feel justified since several imitators have been marketed since Wild West was introduced.

Gantose opened a can of another brand.

“It doesn’t foam. I bet you’re going to burp,” commented a secretary.

Gantose squinted like Marshall Dillon. “It doesn’t have body,” he judged. No one said if that meant “yes” or “no.”

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Lorain County has been soda pop central over the years, with all of the various local companies producing and bottling the stuff, including Whistle, Canada Dry and Pepsi. And don’t forget the other Western-themed soft drink from World Trade called Wild West Firewater.