Cheerwine collections foster connections

Story by Kate Carroll

Video Story by Julia Roth

Photos by Kaitlyn Dang

Graphic by Rylee Parsons

For their 20th wedding anniversary, Paul Earnhardt bought his wife, Summer, the perfect gift: an old, empty glass bottle.

It wasn’t any old, empty glass bottle, though. It once held Mint Cola, the predecessor brand to Cheerwine. The bottle is worth about $50, but the value to Summer Earnhardt isn’t monetary. 

“If I could get Cheerwine in an I.V. drip, I would,” she said. “Cheerwine is my favorite.”

The Earnhardts aren’t alone. Cheerwine fanatics across North Carolina and beyond are on the hunt for rare old bottles, signage and merchandise. With more than 105 years of company history, many Cheerwine collectibles are high-value items, with certain bottles selling for upward of $3,000 depending on their age, rarity and branding.

Community of collectors

This community of collectors shares their stories, special finds and love for the iconic cherry-flavored soda brand in a Facebook group created in 2017 by Mark Ridenhour.

“My dad used to joke that his mom would put Cheerwine in his baby bottle,” Mark’s son Jason Ridenhour said.

Mark Ridenhour died last December, but the community he created has developed into a network of more than 400 members.

The Cheerwine Collectors Facebook group brings together everyone from expert-level collectors such as Mark, to super-fans like the Earnhardts, to more novice and curious Cheerwine collectors.

“We’ll see a bottle and we’ll get on that Cheerwine community Facebook page and we’ll say ‘hey, how’s this bottle and how rare or what’s the value?’ And you’ll get a lot of feedback,” Paul Earnhardt said.

Collectors often rely on each other for pointers to help discern a piece’s value, and use their online community to learn from each other. Matthew Porter, one of the Facebook group’s moderators, didn’t get into Cheerwine collecting until 2019. When he joined the Facebook group, he reached out to Mark Ridenhour for guidance on specific items and what to look for. 

“He really was just a huge mentor to me and taught me a lot and informed me on a lot — me and my dad,” Porter said. 

Beyond the internet, members of the group meet at auctions and antique shows. But, the main event of the year is the springtime Cheerwine Festival in Salisbury. The festival includes Cheerwine-themed food and activities and a special exhibit of historic Cheerwine items at the Rowan Museum. 

“Collectors are invited to display their items too,” Angela Smith, marketing consultant for Cheerwine, said. “That’s a great time for us to meet collectors and learn more about them.”

Bonding over bottles

Originally from Salisbury, N.C., the birthplace of Cheerwine, Mark Ridenhour grew up around Cheerwine lovers. Jason said his dad had always been a passive collector, but it wasn’t until the early 2000s that his dad dug into collecting Cheerwine products more seriously.

“This whole internet thing came around, and he gained access to be able to connect with other people, see other stuff and buy some of these Cheerwine collectible items that you would only hope that you came across at the lawn of a yard sale,” he said.

As time went on, Mark became a name in the Cheerwine collecting community. He set up algorithms that would help him track eBay auctions for coveted items and in the meantime, he sent his kids out to help him search for special bottles and merchandise.

“I can’t tell you how many antique booths and little stores I’ve been to throughout my entire life,” Ridenhour said.

By the time Jason was in high school, his dad refurbished an old Cheerwine vending machine and would charge him and his friends a quarter per soda, “so that way we’d at least break even on all the soft drinks we were cleaning them out of.” 

Understanding the history and rarity of each Cheerwine collectible item is a crucial part of collectors’ processes in assessing the value — but beyond the price, Cheerwine collecting means something different for everyone.

For Porter, Cheerwine collecting was something he picked up with his dad from their home in Winston-Salem, N.C..Their shared interest in Cheerwine turned into a shared collection. 

“I think ‘bonded’ is a great word for me and him,” he said. “We go to antique stores all the time. We’re talking about it in the car, we’re looking at stuff, on eBay, and stuff like that. It’s really been something that me and him have evolved to from collecting.” 

Summer Earnhardt’s interest in Cheerwine memorabilia started when she was 8 years old.

“My great grandfather owned a country store, and he had the old slide-top vending machine,” she said. “And when my uncles and aunts went to clean the store out, there were bottles left over from when he owned the store, and I bought them with my allowance.”

Over 20 years and many glass bottles later, the Earnhardts have become a well-oiled, Cheerwine-collecting unit. They even served Cheerwine punch at their wedding. 

“We’ll watch auctions and bid on (bottles) or go to the antique mall, or plan vacations around it,” Summer said. “I guess it sort of falls under ‘history nuts,’ but it’s a shared hobby we can do as a couple and it’s linked to our home county.”

Ridenhour said his dad didn’t build such a large collection of Cheerwine products for the money, or even for the simple love of the drink; in fact, he said his dad didn’t drink Cheerwine on a daily basis.  

“His life certainly was not 100 percent about Cheerwine,” he said. “I think he enjoyed just the collecting aspect of it. And obviously, we all enjoy good Cheerwine from time to time.”