BOOST!: The Delaware Valley's Summertime Drink

I might not have had the world's greatest childhood, but the large chunks of time my sister and I spent living with my Grandparents were wonderful. The memories of playing football in their huge backyard or climbing the giant Mimosa tree in the front are second to none. Yes, I have so many wonderful memories of their old house in Riverside. However, there is one very vivid, unique memory I have of living on 611 Adams Street. A rather unique soft drink that every kid in the Philadelphia area drank in the summertime; as recognizable and welcome as the Mister Softee truck coming to the neighborhood.

BOOST! (also known to locals as "Drink Atoast") is a dark, purple-ish brown soft drink. Back in the day, it was sold in a giant jug, and had to be mixed at home with water. It was cheap and the kids enjoyed it. It was a Godsend for my grandmother, who found it a convenient way to cool me and a dozen or so friends after a long, hard game of "Kill the Guy With the Ball".

I remember the tray sitting atop the low wall behind her tomato garden, loaded with tall, thin yellow Tupperware glasses full of Boost with plenty of ice. The July sun was no match for this stuff! Yeah, it may have tasted like flat, watered-down Pepsi, but there was something about the stuff that made us kids want nothing else on a hot afternoon (that is, until we heard the music from the Mister Softee truck as he turned the corner from Chester Avenue).

My grandparents have long since sold the old house on Adam's street and moved to Florida. With no close relatives left in or around Philly, I decided to go online and see if Drink Atoast was still making their one-and-only signature drink. It turns out that Drink Atoast (also D.B.A. "The Boost Company") is not only alive and kicking, but is now called BOOST!, and generates annual sales estimated at 1.2 million dollars!"(1)"

Like Coke and Pepsi, BOOST! was started by a pharmacist. Benjamin Rice Faunce, after obtaining his pharmacist license in 1905, opened a shop in Riverside where he sold his own brands of various medicines, including a recreational drink he called "Tak-Aboost". He mixed the concentrated form however the customer requested, whether in water, milk, or as an ice cream topping. Eventually, Faunce registered the trademark in 1913.

Eventually, he expanded his operation beyond the one-square-mile confines of Riverside, opening shops first in Palmyra and Burlington. Eventually, Faunce sold Tak-Aboost retail, through local supermarkets like Shop-Rite, PathMark, and Acme. Of course, the old Pharmacy at 217 Bridgeboro Street was the place to get you BOOST!. My dad spent many a lazy teenage afternoon drinking 'Boost' in the mid-fifties at "Faunce's".

For years, it had been a drink exclusive to the Delaware Valley, but soon was being distributed worldwide. In 1997, the name had officially been changed to Boost!. Likewise, they have expanded their selection from the original flavor to include cafiene and sugar-free varieties (as well as one devoid of both). They also have set up slushie machines with orange, cherry, and berry burst flavors of BOOST!

Although now a global company, BOOST! is still privately owned, and is still based in Riverside, with other outlets in Delanco, Delran, Beverly, Edgewater Park, Palmyra, Beverly, Bordentown, Florence, Roebling, Mount Holly, Burlington, Palmyra, Riverton, Mount Laurel, Willingboro, Rancocas, and Cinnaminson. Camden County outlets are in Cherry Hill, Pennsauken, and Maple Shade.

I reckon I oughta look for some here in Knoxville (maybe Kroger handles it). I'd sure like to get some, and relive the old days of playing my old flea-market Stella 6-string under the patio at 611 Adams Street. From Tak-Aboost to Drink Atoast to BOOST!, it is a Delaware Valley Icon, every bit as unique to its region as pork roll, Phillies Franks, Hire's Root Beer, and Tastykake.

Their slogan says it all: "Everyone has cola, but there is only one BOOST!"

(1) MANTA: Essential business Information On Demand

(2) http://www.takaboost.com/