All Around Arkansas: Clem Bottling Works of Malvern

 

            Malvern is probably most famous for being “The Brick Capital of the World” and the hometown of actors Billy Bob Thornton and Frank Bonner, as well as longtime U.S. Sen. John McClellan. But at one time, Malvern was also famous for the tasty sodas produced by Clem Bottling Works.

             J.M. Clem and his son, Dock, founded Clem Bottling Works in March 1907. The Clem family produced and bottled soft drinks in a small building behind their home. In May 1914, the Clem Family built a bottling plant and warehouse at 937 S. Main St. in Malvern.

             The first bottles the company used were embossed with “J.M. Clem Bottling Works” and were sealed with a wire and an inner gasket. In the early 1920s, the company converted to bottles sealed with metal caps. The bottles at this time were also covered with paper labels. Starting in the 1950s, the bottles were labeled with applied painted labels.

             J.M. Clem died in September 1931. Dock Clem’s son, Harold, joined the business in 1933. After Dock Clem’s death in May 1942, his widow, Jewell, and son continued to operate the business until 1972, when the family sold the company to Dr Pepper, a purchase that included the rights to the soft drink formulas and the trademarks but not the bottling equipment. Harold Clem joined the Dr Pepper Company and worked there until he died in April 2004.

             Clem Bottling Works produced about a dozen soft drinks, including Clem’s Cola, R-Pep (a Dr Pepper knockoff), Orange, Strawberry, Root Beer, Cream Soda, Peach, Lemon-Lime, Fruit Punch, Pep-Up, Rock and Rye, and Chocolate. Clem’s sodas were distributed throughout Arkansas, eastern Texas, northern Louisiana and western Mississippi.

             For years after Clem Bottling Works closed, the bottling machinery remained in the building, but was purchased in the early 1990s by Mountain Valley Spring Water in Hot Springs. Cases of glass bottles used by Clem Bottling Works were purchased in May 2011 by the Excel Bottling Company of Breese, Illinois, which also trademarked the name “R-Pep” and is currently producing the original beverage formula as well.

             The old Clem Bottling plant stood vacant for many years, but in 2019 Teale Dental Clinic renovated and moved into the historic structure. The clinic is decorated with vintage Clem soda advertising signs and features a display case full of glass bottles and other pieces of Clem memorabilia. 

             As I wrap up this column, I can’t help but smile and think it’s ironic that a building that once produced sugary soda pops now houses a dentist.

             A proud sixth-generation Arkansan, Darrell W. Brown is a lover of all things Arkansas. He served several years with the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism, and worked in all three divisions. He lives in Saline County with his wife and two beloved Boston Terriers.