LETTERS

The Caruth Family

I read with great interest “The Caruth Saga” (September Issue). It is without doubt one of the best I have read and beautifully written.

For thirty-four years I have advised and acted with Mr. Caruth in regard to his philanthropic giving. I note one error in the statement that one of his few joint ventures with his sister, Mattie, was the Caruth Memorial Rehabilitation Center. Mr. and Mrs. W.W. Caruth, Jr., alone gave a cash (not land) gift of almost $100,000 toward this venture through the Dallas Community Chest Trust Fund. None of the other members of the family were involved.

Also, I think Mr. Caruth was being quite modest in not saying that he gave the Caruth School of Dental Hygiene at Baylor College of Dentistry, the Caruth Institute of Owner-Managed Business at Southern Methodist University, and the laboratory for scientific research at Baylor University Medical Center, just to name a few. These ventures amounted to close to $400,000 and were handled through us. All of these facilities were named in honor of his father, W.W. Caruth, Sr.

Frederick M. Lange, President Dallas Community Chest Trust Fund



Hard Lines on Soft Drinks



It was with considerable surprise and mounting indignation that I read and ingested your cover story of September (“Dr Pepper Takes on Coke”).

I have followed the progress at the Dr Pepper Company with great interest since 1956, when my deceased father-in-law, Wesby R. Parker, came to Dallas to manage and direct the company. He started as Vice President at that time and subsequently became President, then Board Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the company. Throughout the ten-plus years of his association with Dr Pepper, its rise from a small southwestern company was the talk of not only the soft drink industry but of national management associations and financial institutions the country over (to all of whom Mr. Parker’s expertise was well known).

His grasp of training and management was a legacy that all of his friends and associates at Dr Pepper can always point to with great pride; the charisma he generated, both at Dr Pepper and in his many contributions to the Dallas community, is a matter of record easily grasped by any reporter worth the name.

A succinct bottom line of his management skills was documented in an October, 1969, issue of the San Francisco Chronicle, whose business section listed the ten national corporations with the greatest growth percentiles through the years of 1956-1966. Dr Pepper was one of these – and incidentally, the only soft drink company in that select group. Mr. Parker was also the “inventor” of Hot Dr Pepper, and was responsible for the inclusion of a Dr Pepper float in the Tournament of Roses Parade, thus adding materially to the company’s national profile.

This letter is written with considerable misgivings – not because I don’t want to set the record straight, but because I do not wish to cause any undue embarrassment to a very great lady, Mr. Parker’s widow, nor to denigrate the accomplishments of the officers and employees of the Dr Pepper Company, who have continued to exemplify Mr. Parker’s marvelous example.

The complete eradication of Mr. Parker’s rich contribution to Dr Pepper’s tradition is a personal insult to his family and many friends, and to his memory.

The national headquarters of Dr Pepper are right here in Dallas, and the company’s history is a matter of public record. A complete research job would have served you better.

James R. West



It was with great interest I read the article, “Dr Pepper Takes On Coke.” The Dr Pepper Company is indeed a success story in the soft drink industry.

Your pop quiz would stump even an expert; however, apparently many of your readers do want the extra credit on question 11, as our telephone has been ringing for about ten days.

Since it will be difficult for you to supply a case of Creme Puncho, we would like to give a certificate good for a six/pack of A&W Root Beer to those who correctly answered that A&W stands for Mr. Roy Allen, and Mr. Frank Wright who founded A&W Root Beer way back in 1919 in Lodi, California.

C. David Dickey

Central Regional Manager

A&W Distributing Company