Dr. Brown’s Cel-Ray Soda

Dr. Brown’s Cel-Ray Soda is a trademark name for a celery-flavored carbonated beverage. It was first manufactured in 1869 and now bottled by Canada Dry Bottling Co. of New York in Queens since 1982. It is a survivor of celery-mad era.

It is unique flavor from celery seeds. This drink was brainchild of Dr. Brown, a physician from the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, who created a tonic infused with celery seeds, seltzer and sugar to nurture sick children. Whether there really was a Dr. Brown who founded the brand is obscured by time.

By 1910 its label advertised ‘Dr. Browns Celery Tonic,’ made with crushed celery seeds, as ‘pure beverage for the nerves’ that ‘strengthens the appetite and aids digestion’.

Its label proudly also claimed that it ‘contains vitamin G B D.’ In 1950s federal government forced the makers to change the name to ‘soda’ because the original  name implied the drink had medical or health benefits.

The trademark was long owned by the American Beverage Co. since 1928. The sodas enjoyed a wide Jewish following in New York delis in the early twentieth century.

But is the early 1980s, as Jewish delis in New York vanished, the company expanded distribution it include delis, gourmet shops, and restaurants in major markets around the country bringing a formerly ‘ethnic’ drink into the mainstream.
Dr. Brown’s Cel-Ray Soda