Passing of 1968 Dr. Pepper bottle an OSU ag economics tradition

As the oldest major soft drink in America, Dr. Pepper has not only a history of slogans but also a 40-year-old tradition of “passing the bottle” within the department of agricultural economics at Oklahoma State University.

“I really started it,” said Gerald Doeksen, OSU Regents professor of agricultural economics and a Cowboy alumnus, having earned his master’s and doctoral degrees from the university.

The tradition began in 1968, when 10 to 15 graduate students gathered nightly to study in Agricultural Hall. Nine o'clock served as break time to get a Coke or Pepsi from the pop machine.

“One night we took our break and went to get our pops,” Doeksen said. “Dale Kalbfleish put his money into the machine and, instead of a Coke or Pepsi, he got a Dr. Pepper.”

Kalbfleish did not like Dr. Pepper and did not drink it. Rather, he sat it on his desk, starting the 40-year-old tradition. When Kalbfleish graduated in 1969, he typed his name and graduating year on a black label, placed it on the Dr. Pepper bottle and put the bottle on Doeksen's desk.

Upon his own graduation, Doeksen followed Kalbfleish's lead and stuck his name and year on the bottle and passed the bottle to Harry Mapp. Like Doeksen, then graduate student Mapp also would go to be a longtime faculty member in the OSU department of agricultural economics.

Doeksen said the bottle is an antique and is older than his office in Agricultural Hall. When the tradition began, Ag Hall was two separate buildings. The north and south wings were not connected as they are today.

“I'm almost scared to touch it,” Doeksen said of the bottle. “It might blow up.”

Doeksen has worked on the OSU campus ever since his graduation. Although his titles have changed, he has not ventured far from the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, allowing him to watch the bottle travel among 27 graduate students.

Of those who have possessed the bottle, only two currently teach at OSU: Doeksen and Kim Anderson, the Charles A. Breedlove agribusiness professor who also serves as Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service small grains marketing specialist.

“I was glad to get the bottle, it was a status symbol rather than a bottle of shame,” said Anderson, who earned his doctorate in 1980.

He and many others were bestowed the honor of housing the Dr. Pepper bottle after attending OSU for more than six years.

Some years have more than one name. Anderson said this was because students left as soon as they finished their dissertations. Anderson is not the only name for 1980; also listed is Tom "TT" Harris.

“When you became the senior graduate student who had been here the longest, you received the Dr. Pepper bottle and you got your name on it,” Anderson said. “When you graduated, you found the next oldest (student) to graduate and passed the bottle on to him.”

The department of agricultural economics kept a log of seniority used to assign office space to graduate students. The list was used for the "passing of the bottle" because names were listed by seniority. It was the bottle holder's job to determine who the next student to receive the bottle was and then pass it on.

Anderson said the defense dissertation marked a graduate student's last project before handing the bottle to the next student.

“You were the senior person,” Anderson said. “It was a big deal to get the bottle.”

Whoever housed the bottle placed it on the next student’s desk. Anderson still has the same desk he sat at 25 years ago and can point out the exact home of the bottle while in his possession.

Mike Woods, agricultural economics department head, currently houses the 39-year-old bottle of pop that has close to 35 names taped to it. The bottle remains intact and has never been broken or opened.

Woods is not sure what to do with it and joked it may be a little too flat to drink now.

“It was just a way to acknowledge that graduate school takes longer than you think,” Woods said. “It’s also a way to recognize and slightly poke fun at who was here the longest.”

Although Woods earned his doctoral degree in 1981 as a graduate student in the OSU department of agricultural economics, he never received the bottle. That year was skipped.

“I think there was a scandal,” Woods said with a grin. “I’m not sure why there is not a name for 1981, but Harris skipped me.”

Since the 1968 bottle of Dr. Pepper is full of names, Woods purchased a six-pack of Dr. Pepper bottles, which await the continuation of the tradition.

Woods said one of the more recent names on the bottle is Rob Hogan, who earned his doctoral degree in 2004 and works as a professor and Extension economist for Texas A&M University.

Hogan works in District 6 of Texas and serves as the link between research economists and research centers at TAMU and producers. He also teaches farm and ranch management and marketing management to producers within his district.

Rita Carreira, a 2004 graduate, is the most current name on the bottle.

“It's a lighthearted tradition that ties (OSU agricultural economics graduate students) together,” Woods said.

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REPORTER:
Ashley Schnoor

MEDIA CONTACT:
Donald Stotts
News and Media Relations Manager
Agricultural Communications Services
143 Agriculture North
Oklahoma State University
Stillwater, OK 74078
Phone: 405-744-4079
Fax: 405-744-5739
E-Mail: donald.stotts@okstate.edu

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