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The Story of the R. S. Fisher Bottling Works

Robert S. Fisher was born in Halifax in 1876, the son of a local businessman. His family lived on Agricola Street, at that time on the outskirts of the city. Halifax was a different place then. Canada was only nine years old. Halifax was a rough port city where they say the business of half the town was selling liquor and the other half drinking it.

Not a lot is known about his early life. His Father was reputed to be wealthy but when he died in 1897 there wasn’t much money to be found. For years afterwards, many believed that Robert himself was wealthy but it just wasn’t so. During World War I he was with the Home Guard, assigned to George’s Island guarding German POWs. Later, he is thought to have driven a truck for a living.

His close friend James Roue owned a bottling company. (Roue’s son later built the Bluenose). In the 1930s he was working for Roue as plant foreman. When Roue died he operated the plant for the estate and then bought it. The R.S. Fisher Bottling Works was born on May Street in Halifax.

For twenty years Robert (or “Pup” as his grandkids called him) operated his soda pop company. He bottled all kinds of pop: ginger ale, wynola, ginger beer even a chocolate pop that was popular in the summer. Long before diets became popular he sold his own diet ginger ale. They were described as “sparkling”, “delicious”, “refreshinģ” and “inviģorating”. Each cap had a crown on it, the motto being “The Crown Tells The Flavour”. His Grandson, Bob Fisher, remembers delivering soda pop to friends and family in the back of a toboggan. Others remember the large, heavy fountain bottles that much of the pop came in. Around 1952 Robert shut the R.S. Fisher bottling works down. Times were changing, there was lots of competition, and he was, after all, over 75 years old. He died peacefully in 1963.

Today however, more than fifty years after its closure, the R.S. Fisher Bottling Works has been reborn. This time it has been started by two of his great-grandsons, themselves fifth generation Halifax businessmen. Once again you can buy great flavours from a great local company. And once again “the Crown tells the flavour”.

Bruce Fisher