BEGUDES PUIG
When soft drinks were synonymous with parties
The global crisis of a century ago, which led to the famous crash of ‘29, affected not only investors on Wall Street; in Mallorca, thousands of miles away from New York, the Puig Puigserver brothers were forced to close their footwear factory due to the new economic situation. They went their separate ways, and in 1927 Julià Puig decided to try his luck as a manufacturer and distributor of soft drinks, soda waters and pop in Llucmajor. A hundred years later, the famous pinya and other beverages of the Puig brand still form part of family gatherings on the island.
text C.M.M.
photography Archive Begudes Puig, Íñigo Vega
“To make his sodas, my great-grandfather used to have to cover his face with a mask and wear gloves, because there was so much pressure in them that the glass bottles could explode at any time”, tells Julià Puig Miquel, the great-grandson of the founder and a member of the fourth generation of the family to head up the firm. Back then, and indeed today, it was traditional to drink palo con sifón – a typical Mallorcan aperitif, before lunch.
This may sound strange in today’s affluent society, but back then drinking a soft drink was a source of joy, a special occasion to be celebrated. “Many families only had soft drinks on Sunday, the day when they would break the monotony of drinking water. And [...]
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