Last year my wife gave me this wonderful book for my birthday (I know, I’ve taken forever to write about it). 100 Years of A&W as released in 2019 as a celebration of, 100 years of A&W. At first I thought it would be a history book, but it’s actually more like a museum in a book. There’s not a chronological timeline of events, and they even say they didn’t want that, but there are photos of restaurants, root beer mugs, and advertising through the years, coupled with anecdotes from old employees and fans, which is actually sort of better honestly. It’s more a coffee table book, one you can just open to a random page and see pictures of uniforms throughout the years, or read the short memories of car hops who met the loves of their lives on the job, or see pictures of old menus. It’s a fabulous addition (edition?) to any root beer collection or anyone who just loves A&W root beer and all it stands for in American history. So if you don’t have it yet, I highly recommend getting a copy.
I’ve been searching for this for a long time. I’ve known about it for years but could never actually get a hold of it. Then finally, when I went to the Museum of root beer grand opening, they had it on tap, but I wanted to drink lots of other root beer there as well, so I didn’t drink it. But they also were selling bottles which solved everything. I bought two. Potosi is made in Potosi, WI, where the National Brewery Museum is, evidently. I’ve never been there but I assume they give this to non-beer drinkers who go visit the museum. It says on the bottle that all profits go to charity. I assume that means the Brewery Museum, but maybe there are also other charities. It doesn’t say. I don’t really care. I just want good root beer.
