Clicquot Club Company
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Native name
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Clicquot Club Beverages |
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| Industry | Soft drinks |
| Fate | Purchased by Cott in 1965, dissolved in 1980 |
| Predecessor | LaCroix Fruit Farm |
| Founded | 1885 in Millis, Massachusetts, United States |
| Founder | Charles LaCroix |
| Defunct | 1980 |
| Headquarters | Millis-Clicquot, Millis, United States |
| Products |
Sparkling cider Ginger ale Eskimo-Up Vineyard Punch Strawberry cream soda Root beer Raspberry soda Cream soda |
The Clicquot Club Company (pronounced "Klee-Ko"), also known as Clicquot Club Beverages, was one of the largest national beverage companies. It sold Ginger ale and several varieties of soda. After 80 years of operation, the company was bought by Cott Beverage Corporation in 1965 and eventually dissolved.
Founded in 1881 in what is now known as Millis, Massachusetts, Henry Millis (son of Lansing Millis, after whom the town was named in 1885) made a suggestion to Charles LaCroix, of the LaCroix Fruit Farm, that he call his sparkling cider "Clicquot" - after the famous French champagne, Veuve Clicquot - and start selling it. Shortly after, Clicquot Club was built by Henry Millis from money he had received from his father, Lansing.
The company produced mainly sparkling cider for the first few years but later on Millis would experiment in other flavors as well. The sparkling cider was soon dropped and the company began focusing mainly on ginger ale. During this time the soda company hired a significant amount of the town's residents and would continue to do so for years to come. Millis continued to improve upon his beverages through his philosophy of making the drinks as though he were making them for his own friends. He imported high-quality exotic ingredients including Jamaican ginger, and Cuban pure refined sugar. These two were the key ingredients to his ginger ale making the company standout in this field.
Even though word of his soda spread over southeastern New England in the next few years, the cost of such fine ingredients eventually forced Henry Millis to sell his company in 1901. The new proprietors, Horace A. Kimball and his son, H. Earle Kimball, took advantage of every form of advertising, including the Clicquot Club "Eskimo Boy" (which became one of America’s best-known advertising symbols); an animated sign in Manhattan's Times Square (the largest animated sign in the world from 1924 to 1926); and even a musical variety radio program, The Clicquot Club Eskimos, led by banjo player Harry F. Reser. There were 25 sessions of records under the supervision of Harry Reser and issued under the name "Clicquot Club Eskimos" recorded from December, 1925 through February, 1931.
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