Vacation 2008 - Day Five - 12 July (Part 1)

We are on our way to pick up Phyllis’s brother Richard and head to Lisbon Maine for the Annual Moxie Festival. WHOOO WHOOO! you never heard of a Moxie Festival? Or have you never heard of Moxie.

Moxie, a carbonated beverage, is considered by some to be the USA's first mass produced soft drink, although both Vernors ginger ale and Hires Root Beer predate it by a decade.

Moxie was created in 1876 by Dr. Augustin Thompson formerly of Union, Maine, while working for the Ayer Drug Company in Lowell, Massachusetts. Accordingly, Moxie stands today as Maine's state beverage. Moxie was first marketed as a patent medicine in Lowell, Massachusetts, under the product name “Moxie Nerve Food." From 1928 through 1953 Moxie was bottled at 74 Heath St. in the Jamaica Plain section of Boston, Massachusetts. The building, known as Moxieland, featured an advertisement on the roof along with an arrow pointing in the direction of Logan Airport. Moxie was said to cure ailments ranging from softening of the brain to “loss of manhood.” In 1884, it was sold in carbonated form and merchandised as an invigorating drink, which claimed to endow the drinker with “spunk”. In the early phase of its life as a recreational soft drink, Moxie is said to have been kept handy by bartenders to give to customers who were too drunk to be given any more alcohol. This story may be apocryphal, however, inspired by Moxie's noted aftertaste, which many people find unpleasantly strong. Many people, even those who do not like the soda on its own, find it refreshing when mixed with whiskey.

The origin of the name Moxie is unclear, but two possible theories lend insight to the question. The name is most likely a Native American word meaning either "wintergreen" (one of the drink's ingredients) or "black water" (thought to be the reasoning for Moxie Falls, Moxie Bog, etc.) It is also possible the word is related to moxa, a type of mugwort burned to relieve various ailments and increase energy as used in East Asian medicine, and in turn would come from the Japanese word for the herb mogusa.

Each year, the town of Lisbon Falls, Maine, is host to a Moxie Festival. The festival includes Moxie vendors and a town barbecue, as well a parade and public concerts. This festival is the topic of Part 2.