Before Mountain Dew was Mountain Dew – the sugary, sensational soda we know and love today – it was actually just mountain dew, lowercase, a homemade beverage distilled using agricultural products.
The term “mountain dew” traces as far back as the 1700s, to a Gaelic term that refers to “water of life,” according to Adam Alfrey, assistant director for historical services at the East Tennessee History Center in downtown Knoxville.
“So, you can make the quick jump when it comes over to North America, and you have these individuals who are taking agricultural products and distilling them,” Alfrey said. “These little drops become mountain dew, or this ‘elixir of life.’”
The etymology behind Mountain Dew is just the first of many history lessons learned in “’It’ll Tickle Yore Innards! A (Hillbilly) History of Mountain Dew,” an exhibit currently on display at Pellissippi State’s Strawberry Plains Campus Library.
The exhibit was made possible by the Strawberry Plains Campus, the Pellissippi State Foundation and the Pellissippi State Libraries Appalachian Heritage Project, which is supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and offers quarterly programming and scheduled exhibits to support humanities education at Pellissippi State and in the community.
“As far as students go, they’re loving it,” Pellissippi State Strawberry Plains Campus Librarian Allison McKittrick said of the feedback she’s gotten about the Mountain Dew exhibit. “They’re really excited about it.”
A line of informational panels in Mountain Dew-green take visitors to the exhibit through the newly renovated library at Strawberry Plains to learn the origin of the beverage, the history behind the hillbilly image that served as a marketing strategy for it, the unique flavor of the drink itself and how it came to be the modern soda with which we’re now so familiar.
In addition to cardboard cutouts for taking pictures, and an array of unique bottles, cans and other Mountain Dew memorabilia to browse, guests also can read on bottle-shaped panels how today’s Mountain Dew got its start right here in Knoxville, alongside Johnson City and Marion, Va.
The exhibit, and particularly its focus on the stereotypical hillbilly mascot that the Hartman brothers – who created the idea for modern-day Mountain Dew – used to market the brand, is very relevant to Appalachian history and how the region is portrayed to the world.
“That dialogue is still continuing, and it’s very much at the heart of this story,” Alfrey said. “When you look at the business development of the story that’s in here, it’s really unique to look at the challenges and how the beverage itself and the brand developed and came along.”
Sharing the exhibit at the Strawberry Plains Campus Library has been “a great partnership,” Alfrey said.
“We have a really robust traveling-exhibition program at the history center, and it focuses on topics related to Appalachia and the region,” he said. “And so, anytime we have a programmatic partner that has the same mission and same interpretive goals, it really aligns and allows for those things to occur.”
The “’It’ll Tickle Yore Innards! A (Hillbilly) History of Mountain Dew” exhibit will be at Pellissippi State’s Strawberry Plains Campus Library through December. Find more information here, or contact McKittrick at almckittrick@pstcc.edu.