I can almost hear the sounds of those old wood floors cracking as I walk up to the counter. My Dad made it a point to take me into as many old general stores as he could, because he knew they were not going to be around for long. And boy am I glad he did!! The General Store sure was a special place, but today they are long forgotten. Friends would gather around, and share their stories while enjoying some refreshing CHEERWINE. This page is dedicated to the Okey Dokey General Store in downtown Salisbury that takes pride in keeping this great history alive. ENJOY!
This neat carton is from the Gastonia bottling plant. As you can tell, they marketed both Sun Drop & CHEERWINE. This particular carton was sent to me from a fellow CHEERWINE fan, named Keith, in Salisbury. He has one of the largest bottle opener collections that I have ever seen. I was lucky to get 2 CHEERWINE openers from him to add to my collection.
This has to be one of my favorite places to visit in Salisbury. Early known as O.O. Rufty's General Store, the store has seen many CHEERWINES opened in it's day. If those walls could only talk!! Today, the store is open and called the Okey Dokey General Store. It has some great owners and they have kept the feel of the old timey store in tact. Just to walk into the store and see the old wood floors, counters, and many other neat oldies...It is just worth the trip up to visit. If you are ever in Salisbury, make sure to drop in and tell them Blake sent you. They will point you right in the direction of the nearest CHEERWINE!
Ma'am...I will take a bottle of CHEERWINE and a moon pie please!! :-)
Here is a view from the Okey Dokey General Store that, as you can tell, has a little of everything. I have bought so many neat CHEERWINE items here in the past. The staff really cares about keeping the history of the general store alive.
Here are a few of the ice cream cartons that I have collected. They are new, however I hope that they will be classics one day.
Here are the newest cartons that I got from my friends at Innes Street Drug Store in Salisbury. They are new but capture the past with their retro logo.
If anyone has any cartons that I don't have shown, please email some photos and I will be happy to post them for all of the fellow CHEERWINE fans to see. My email is:
blakescheerwineoldies@yahoo.com
This is a great capture of the memories of O.O Rufty's store. This print was done by Mr. Robert Toth and his work can be found all around Salisbury. He captures many great land marks of Salisbury including the old CHEERWINE building. Mr. Toth was kind enough to help my wife with my CHEERWINE print, and I am sure he would love to help you also. Take a minute to visit his website (www.roberttoth.com) and make sure to tell him CHEERWINE'S #1 Fan sent you!!
Here is a neat carton that I bought from Mr. Stiller in New London, NC. It is a 1964 case of syrup jugs in mint condition. This was a great find for my collection.
