Moxie Annex

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Moxie is a carbonated beverage which was among the first mass produced soft drinks in the United States, and is regionally popular to this day. It was created in 1876 by Dr. Augustin Thompson , formerly of Union, Maine, while he was employed by 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.

When Warren Harding died in 1923, his Vice President, Calvin Coolidge, was at the family farm in Vermont bailing hay. The telegraph messenger arrived at 2:00 a.m. with the news, and old John Coolidge, a justice of the peace, swore in his son as President of the United States. T hey toasted the event with Moxie. So, too, the decline of Moxie parallels America's abandonment of its Puritan institutions and its hedonistic rush to the frontier. Boston Red Sox slugger Ted Williams endorsed Moxie. Author E.B. White, an adopted Mainer and noted Moxie fan, once wrote "Moxie contains gentian root, which is the path to the good life".

Falling out of favor due to competition from Coca Cola, demand for Moxie has waned in recent years, although demand still exists in New England. It was designated on May 10, 2005, as the official state soft drink of Maine. One of the key ingredients of Moxie is "Gentian Root Extractives", which probably contributes noticeably to its unique flavor. Moxie has also grown in popularity in recent years in regions of southern Maine and Connecticut due to its mixability with certain spirits.

Every summer Mainers celebrate Moxie with the Moxie Festival in Lisbon Falls, Maine. Moxie is also available with a sugar-free alternative known as Diet Moxie.

Matthews Breaks Ground for the Museum Moxie Annex

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The Matthews Museum of Maine Heritage, located on the Union Fairgrounds, broke ground for their new annex. The new structure will house the Museum's Moxie collection with the focal point being the 32-foot tall wooden Moxie Bottle Stand. The Moxie Bottle Stand was built in 1905 and was used at fairs and festivals until 1910 when it was transferred to Pine Island Park in Manchester, NH. Serving as a soda vending stand for six years, it was dismantled and purchased for use as a summer cottage addition. It then served for nearly 80 years as a bedroom section of the Todd cottage. In 2001 it was slated for demolition.

A group of local Moxie fans collected money and purchased the bottle. It was then donated to the Matthews Museum. For anyone interested in supporting the efforts to preserve this piece of Maine lore (the inventor of Moxie Dr. Augustine Thompson was born in Union, Maine), and would like to help in this effort, donations are being accepted to finance the construction and should be mailed to:

Moxie
Matthews Museum of Maine Heritage
P. O. Box 582
Union, Maine 04862

Museum volunteers working on the Moxie bottle stand restoration

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The two pictures shown are from the maintenance of the neck and the the long portion of the curved area of the bottle. Many people came to lend a hand.

Now the bottle stand will be part of the Matthews Museum, the hometown of inventor and originator of Moxie, in the new annex being built at the west end of the Museum building.