Orange Crush Here's How

Illustration of a character with arms making a C shape and squeezing an orange with orange text on a white background

Created by California chemist Neil C. Ward and known as “Ward’s Orange Crush,” Orange Crush was a beverage made with real orange pulp until 1930. Ward merged “Ward’s Orange Crush” business with Clayton J. Howell’s “Howell’s Orange Julius” business in 1911, and the beverage became known as Orange Crush. Crushy, the advertising logo, was a symbol of Orange Crush and appeared on Orange Crush bottle labels, signs in auto garages and stores, and pinback buttons. Crushy squeezing the flavor out of an orange became the symbol of the soda. Crushy’s appearance changed slightly over the years.

Bottle labels also featured Crushy, the rectangular label dates from 1929 bottles, while the diamond shape label is from circa 1920.