Twig's Beverage Museum, Shawano

Twig's Beverage was started in 1951 by a man named Floyd Hartwig. During his service in the Korean War, Floyd would send his military paychecks back home to his mother. These paychecks were to be used to invest in glass bottles. Once returning from the war, Floyd and his softball buddies started up a bottling plant. Floyd, or "Twig" as he was known around town, purchased some land at 711 S. Washington Street in Shawano, Wisconsin. Here he began what would carry on as a tradition in the surrounding area of Wisconsin.

Twig's Beverage had a humble beginning. Floyd would sell a case of soda, and with the money made, go buy a loaf of bread for his wife and family. To complement this simple upbringing, Floyd would make his soft drink recipes by mixing in the ingredients with an axe handle. Earlier brands offered by Twig's Beverage included Bullseye Rootbeer and Goody Orange. It wasn't until the inventor of Sun-Drop, Charles Lazier, asked Floyd to sell and distribute his product, that Sun-Drop made it's way into the Shawano area.

In the 1950's, many bottlers competed in the local arena. There were 2 other bottlers in Shawano, and around 60 in all of Wisconsin. Many of those companies have gone out of business since then. However, Twig's has always stuck around. After Floyd's health declined in 1986, his son, Dan Hartwig decided to take over the company. Then, in 1995, the company expanded and began distributing Sun-Drop, Crush, Sunkist, and other drinks to all of Wisconsin north and northeast of Milwaukee and the Upper Michigan area. Dan is currently the president and owner of Twig's Beverage.

In more recent years, Twig's has implemented a bottled water line, labelled "Shawano Drinking Water." The product is bottled and distributed from the same location. Custom labelled water is also offered through Twig's. Furthermore, the company plans on introducing a museum and retail store in the years to come.

A visit to Twig's Beverage Museum represents just the start of the adventure when you use our Shawano trip itinerary maker site to plot your vacation.
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