Dad's Root Beer

Brand of root beer

Dad's Root Beer was established in the 1930s by partners Barney Berns and Ely Klapman in the basement of Klapman's Chicago area home. The first trademark registration was filed on September 24, 1938, granted on February 14, 1939, to the Dad's Root Beer Company of Chicago, with the product name in use since February 1937. Jules Klapman, son of co founder Ely, successfully took the Dad's brand international. The name Dad's Old Fashioned Root Beer was selected in honor of Ely Klapman's father. Dad's Root Beer was the first product to use the six pack format invented by the Atlanta Paper Company in the 1940s. Dad's also introduced the half gallon bottle, becoming the first brand to market this size. Dad's was marketed as a family: the "Junior" size was the smallest, 7, 10 or 12 ounces (355 mL). "Mama" was a quart bottle (950 mL), and "Papa" was a half gallon (1.9 liters). (The image of the young boy featured on the "Junior" size bottle is Barney Berns' son, Gene.) A common promotion in the 1940s was the 1 cent sale purchase the Papa half gallon at regular price and get the Mama quart for 1 cent. The Klapman and Berns families sold rights to the Dad's name and logo to IC Industries of Chicago in 1971. The Monarch Beverage Company of Atlanta acquired Dad's from IC Industries in 1986. At that time Dad's was distributed by the Coca Cola bottler network, sold 12 million cases annually, and held the second largest share of the root beer category behind A & W. The company headquarters is now located in Jasper, Indiana.

Dad's Root Beer became an IndyCar Series associate sponsor in 2007. The company continued the relationship until 2011.