I only started this blog a few days ago, but I'm already learning that the quest for Pibb is an emotional rollercoaster. After my previous disappointing encounter with Wikipedia, I decided I'd have to delve deeper into cyberspace in order to find some answers to my questions about the mysterious origins of Mr Pibb. I typed "Pibb", "Mr Pibb" and "Pibb Xtra" into Google and then scoured the thousands of search results, but there was still a distinct lack of information available. All I got was some links to now-defunct forums, where people were arguing the merits of various drinks, or sharing anecdotes about their favourite beverages. Some of these forums suggested that the reason Pibb isn't available all over America is to do with a distribution deal between Coke, Pepsi, and Dr Pepper, but this was all laid out as rumours and hearsay, without any real sources quoted. It was all very disheartening. I began to lose hope. How could I continue the San Diego Pibb Project? This was useless. I needed concrete facts.
Then, something remarkable happened. I found not one, but two websites which are entirely devoted to Mr Pibb!
The first is the Unofficial Pibb Page, constructed by Chris Houser. In his list of things he has worked on, Chris states that he has co-authored a book, called The Joy Of Clojure. I had no idea what clojure was, so I decided to have a quick look at the first chapter of Chris' book, which is avilable free, online. Section 5 of the chapter is titled "Being Lazy And Set In Your Ways", which sounded like excellent advice to me, but on closer inspection turned out to be about some kind of computer programming language; it turns out clojure is the name of a particular type of code. Frankly, it was all a bit boring, and I thought the book was rubbish, but Chris is still all right by me, because he loves Pibb.
The first thing Chris says on his Pibb site is
Wow! You should really be proud of yourself! You have found a page dedicated to the most incredibly delicious beverage on the planet.
When I looked at the map, I was very upset. As I'd suspected, San Diego is classified as part of the "Fountain only" section of California; just down in the left hand corner of the West coast. What this means is that Pibb is available in some places in San Diego, but not for purchase in bottles or cans at the shops; only as a fountain drink, avilable from the drink dispensers in restaurants. Of course, this isn't as bad as living on one of the scattered purple patches of "No Mr Pibb" areas - I would be horrified if I lived there - but it's still far from perfect. Ever since I first tried Pibb, all I want to do is to be able to bring some home, keep it in my fridge, and enjoy it at my leisure. It seems ridiculous that I am unable to do so, in the ninth-largest city in the United States! The aim of this blog is to find a place that rectifies that problem; or at the very least plot out a map of all the places where I can get Pibb in some form, at short notice. Thanks to Chris's map, I now had a better idea of the regions that might have it in stock.
The second Pibb website I found was the marvellous Pibbthug.com, which was put together by two brothers, Philip and Larry Thomas. Here they are, look:
I'm not sure which one's Philip and which one's Larry, though, so you'll have to do your own guesswork there.
The Pibbthug site is a veritable goldmine of Pibb information, ranging from a complete and detailed history of the drink, to incredible stories about disastrous Coca Cola marketing campaigns! The Thomas brothers proudly state that their site is "committed to providing global fans with a PiBB cup-runneth-over wealth of information and images from PiBB's glorious 35-year history and will strive daily to deliver its promise to be 'the most comprehensive Mr. PiBB fan website ever' ". They also remind us that the "information presented on this website has been personally researched and compiled by Philip and Larry over the course of the last 13 years after countless hours spent in libraries and visiting dozens of different bottling facilities across the United States". Finally, they boast that their collection of Pibb memorabilia is "the largest of its kind, by far, in the entire world, and will go unmatched for all of eternity". Gosh!
As I looked through the pages of the Thomas brothers' site, I was overjoyed. Finally I had found someone whose passion for Pibb matched my own! And I had found some reliable information about the history of the drink! I felt rejuvenated, and was confident that the San Diego Pibb Project was not in vain; particularly as the brothers' relationship with Pibb had humble beginnings, and is very much like my own story:
for the first several years, their true refreshment was sourced only from fast-food restaurant fountain drink machines; residing in Southern California meant no access to canned or bottled PiBB. Just his poor-excuse cousin, Dr Pepper, made appearances in supermarkets, convenience stores and vending machines.
I like that term - "poor excuse cousin". I think it describes my own feelings about Dr Pepper pretty accurately, too.
I left the Pibbthug site with a sense of determination, jubilation, and unity. I'd hit the motherload, and I wasn't alone! I had found some kindred spirits! Perhaps the Thomas brothers might be able to help me on my quest! I decided to I'd better contact them.
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