Dr Root Beer

You might say that “Dr Rootbeer’s^® Hall of Foam” started over

40 years ago.  Well, maybe not so much the business itself,

but Jerome Gundrum’s passion for root beer sure did!

On the Ohio farm where he grew up, Jerome’s grandmother knew where the very best sassafras trees grew and she would send Jerome to dig up the roots which she used to make sassafras tea.  His grandfather and uncle would mix root beer extract with yeast, sugar, and warm water, pour it into bottles and…wait.  Jerome learned the secret formulas and developed the patience required to allow the concoction to ripen into a magical elixir – root beer - and a love affair was born!

As he grew, Jerome’s passion for root beer grew also.  How wonderful it was to savor an ice cold NEHI from Stone’s service station, FIZZIES from Poole’s Market, or a Popsicle from Julia’s store!  From the DAD’S root beer at the Amsterdam Grade School dances to FROSTIE in colorful aluminum tumblers, Jerome loved them all.

In 1974, Jerome bought his first root beer sign – a vintage DAD’S metal sign in remarkably good shape for its age.  Jerome had discovered a new outlet for his passion – collecting!  And his collecting friends gave him a new name, Dr Rootbeer^®.   From antique flea markets throughout New England, New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, to faraway places like Minnesota and Colorado, he traveled, often planning his vacations around root beer. He sampled hundreds of root beers – some very good and some very bad.  Finally, after sampling them all – and gaining a few extra pounds in the process – he perfected his own root beer recipe in the 1980’s.  Bursting with all the great flavor and body he remembered from his childhood, Jerome’s creation was christened “Dr Rootbeer’s^® Premium Brew Root Beer”, and a new classic was born.  Just one sip beckons earlier times and memories.

Through the years, Jerome (aka Dr Rootbeer^®) has become a noted authority on root beers and their history.  He created the website www.rootbeer.net  “ask Dr Rootbeer^®” in 1997 to share his collection and root beer knowledge.   In 1997, Jerome contributed over 750 photographs of items from his collection to Tom  Morrison’s book “More Root Beer Advertising & Collectibles”.  In 1999, Jerome was asked by the Connecticut Historical Society to give a presentation about root beer history relating to Connecticut and New England.  This 1 ½ hour slide show and talk was followed, of course, by root beer tasting and float making.

Fast forward to the year 1999; Jerome, surrounded by thousands of pieces of root beer memorabilia in his ever shrinking home, met Linda, the nomad daughter of a military man.  They hit it off right away, romance blossomed, and soon the two of them were busy stuffing their new, larger home, to its rafters and four car garage (could only get one car inside) with – you guessed it, more root beer memorabilia.

After years of making his own root beer to share with friends and families, Linda and Jerome decided to share this “nectar of the roots” with root beer lovers everywhere.  So they bottled their root beer and decided to find a home away from home for some of Jerome’s collection (plus this would free up room to put another car in the garage).