Thursday, January 13, 2000
Barq co-founder dies
Richard S. Tuttle Sr. added dye to soda to create red pop
BY REBECCA BILLMAN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Cincinnati baby-boomers grew up drinking Barq's root beer and red creme soda, thanks to Richard S. Tuttle Sr.
Mr. Tuttle, along with Hugh Carmichael and Albert Badanes, founded the Barq Bottling Co. in Cincinnati in 1937.
The Indian Hill resident died Monday at Christ Hospital from complications of pneumonia. He was 90.
According to his daughter, Elisabeth Tuttle Miller of East Walnut Hills, the innovative Mr. Tuttle added red dye to the amber-colored creme soda, creating what would become a kids' favorite — red pop.
Soon thereafter, the parent company in Biloxi, Miss., where the root beer and creme soda concentrates were purchased, also began adding the dye.
That was just the beginning for Mr. Tuttle. With his chemist he created grape, lemon-lime and orange sodas.
“We got to test the flavors here at home to see which one we liked best,” his daughter said.
Sales took off and the threesome realized success as the franchise that covered Greater Cincinnati established plants in Hamilton and Portsmouth.
Mr. Tuttle bought out his partners in the mid-1960s and was president until his retirement in 1980.
Born in Winton Place, Mr. Tuttle spent his childhood years working with his grandfather, who was superintendent of Spring Grove Cemetery.
He graduated from Hughes High School in 1928 and Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, in 1932.
During summer breaks, Mr. Tuttle signed on as an ordinary seaman. In the summer of 1928, he departed New York on the intercoastal merchant freighter the J.L. Luchenback for the Panama Canal and West Coast.
The following summer found him swabbing the deck on the President Roosevelt, a passenger vessel en route to Ireland.
He returned to Cincinnati after graduation and worked briefly for the Kroger Co. and Procter & Gamble before entering the Barq venture.
In the early 1960s, Mr. Tuttle was president of the Ohio Bottlers Association. He also served on the boards of the University Club and the Society of Colonial Wars and was a member of the Camargo Club, the Literary Club and Alpha Delta Phi.
A son, McCrea Benedict Tuttle, died in Vietnam in 1968.
In addition to his daughter, survivors include his wife of 60 years, Martha Benedict Tuttle; a son, Richard S. Tuttle Jr. of Falls Church, Va.; and a granddaughter.
A funeral service will be 2 p.m. Friday at Spring Grove Cemetery's Norman Chapel.
Memorials: American Red Cross, 720 Sycamore St., Cincinnati 45202.
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