Anyone Remember Kellets in Enid? (Updated)


Does anyone remember drinking an ice cold Kellets
refreshing beverage? Let us know.
Bob Kellet emailed us with little history on Kellets bottling...
John Kellet operated the Orange Crush Bottling Company at 401 E. Elm St. in Enid from around 1935 until appx. 1955. The main brands bottled at the plant were Orange Crush, Squirt & Grapette, all of which had their own specific bottles. John wanted to expand into other flavors and to do this he had to use a generic bottle so he had the "Kellets" bottles made. Notice there was no flavor printed on the bottle so it could be used for root beer, strawberry, cream soda, etc. and the flavor was identified by the cap (called the crown in pop language).
At one time there were five bottling companies in Enid, but the economies of scale set in and it was less expensive to bottle soft drinks in one location and truck them to various distribution areas in the state which led to the demise of the local plants.
As for the naming of Kellet Ball Park, John was a member of the City Commission for eight years and was instrumental in getting other commissioners to see the need for a ball facility for the youth of the area. He had served as the State Semi-Pro Baseball Commissioner for many years and after Buffalo Ball Park (I think that was the name) out on Lahoma Rd. closed, he saw a definite need for a first class ball facility and kept proposing it at commission meetings year after year until it finally passed. A fellow commissioner, Bryson Berry, proposed naming it Kellet Park saying it would not have been built except for the persistence of John Kellet. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Bob Kellet
refreshing beverage? Let us know.
Bob Kellet emailed us with little history on Kellets bottling...
John Kellet operated the Orange Crush Bottling Company at 401 E. Elm St. in Enid from around 1935 until appx. 1955. The main brands bottled at the plant were Orange Crush, Squirt & Grapette, all of which had their own specific bottles. John wanted to expand into other flavors and to do this he had to use a generic bottle so he had the "Kellets" bottles made. Notice there was no flavor printed on the bottle so it could be used for root beer, strawberry, cream soda, etc. and the flavor was identified by the cap (called the crown in pop language).
At one time there were five bottling companies in Enid, but the economies of scale set in and it was less expensive to bottle soft drinks in one location and truck them to various distribution areas in the state which led to the demise of the local plants.
As for the naming of Kellet Ball Park, John was a member of the City Commission for eight years and was instrumental in getting other commissioners to see the need for a ball facility for the youth of the area. He had served as the State Semi-Pro Baseball Commissioner for many years and after Buffalo Ball Park (I think that was the name) out on Lahoma Rd. closed, he saw a definite need for a first class ball facility and kept proposing it at commission meetings year after year until it finally passed. A fellow commissioner, Bryson Berry, proposed naming it Kellet Park saying it would not have been built except for the persistence of John Kellet. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Bob Kellet


















4 Comments:
Yes I remember Kellet's soft drinks. In fact, I graduated from EHS in 1955, with Sharon Kellet, whose folks owned the company.
Thanks! Are the Kellet softball fields named after the same family?
Yes, I work for Mrs. Betty Kellet. Her husband was the late John J. Kellet for which the ball park was named. He used to have an insurance company then real estate. He died in 98, now it's just Mrs. Kellet and I running the rental business. Kim A. Wilson
Thank you Kim!
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