Bottles on the Border: The History and Bottles of the Soft Drink ...

Houck & Dieter actually registered two brands of whiskey in 1905: Glen-Rock (note
slightly different spelling from the letterhead) and Elm Grove (Snyder [2002]). Although I have
found no evidence of which distillery (or probably distilleries) in Kentucky actually made the
brands, it is clear that they were exclusive to Houck & Dieter.
At some point Houck & Dieter published an undated booklet called 200 Spicy Toasts – at
a price of ten cents. The booklet listed various toasts for all occasions, contained a series of
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exotic drink recipes, and advertised Hed-Eez. Captions like “Hed-Eez cures Hed-Akes,” “Hed-
Eez is made of Celery,” “Hed-Eez moves the Bowels,” or “Hed-Eez is a Nerve Tonic” formed
headers on all pages of the booklet. Although the product never appeared in any of Houck &
Dieter’s city directory ads, the firm must have sold the concoction at some point. The booklet
suggested that Hed-Eez was available at “the Soda Fountain” (Richard Chavez collection, El
Paso).
By 1905, the Houck & Dieter Company had spread to encompass all of block 120. The
former wagon shed was now the bottle shed, and the wagons were once again relegated to the
smaller structure used in 1885. Barrel storage, along with an office, had migrated to a building at
the corner of Fourth and S. Santa Fe. New additions had also quadrupled the size of the old
barrel storage building which now housed the bottle beer storage. Although no mention was
made of what type of beer was stored, this marks a major shift from barrels as the main delivery
mode to bottles. A “Beer Vault” was at the
north end of the lot on Third St. The old
“Beer Vault [and] Ice House” at the corner
of Fourth and Chihuahua was now mark
“Refrigr.” (Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
1905).
Figure 5-17 – Houck & Dieter office, 125-127 San
Francisco St. (M.G. McKinney collection)
When John Phillip Dieter died in late
1907, it required a restructuring of the
corporation. Abe M. Heineman assumed the
presidency with Hugo Eichwald as vicepresident,
although Fred G Lemley remained
in the position of secretary and treasurer.
The power structure remained the same until
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Hed-Eez was made from at least 1902 to at least 1907.
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