Mason's Old Fashioned Root Beer is an American brand of root beer

Root beer

Root beer is a carbonated, sweetened beverage, originally made using the root of a sassafras plant as the primary flavor. Root beer, popularized in North America, comes in two forms: alcoholic and soft drink. The historical root beer was analogous to small beer in that the process provided a drink...

. It is owned by the Monarch Beverage Company

Monarch Beverage Company

The Monarch Beverage Company Inc is a diversified, international beverage company based in Atlanta, Georgia. The company's CEO is Jacques Bombal. The company was founded in 1965 by Frank Armstrong. Monarch Beverage Company aimed to establish itself by offering lesser-known soft drink brands that...

 of Atlanta, Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

, but is not widely distributed.

Mason's Root Beer was first manufactured in 1947 by Mason & Mason, Inc. of Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

. During its early years, Mason's Root Beer and flavors line were widely distributed in the Midwest as well as some Southern states.

In 1970, the Rheingold Corporation entered the soda pop business with the purchase of Grapette

Grapette

Grapette's first-year sales were quite promising. This was due to Grapette's flavor, as well as Grapette's unique packaging. Most soft drinks at the time were sold in twelve-ounce bottles. Grapette was sold in a six-ounce clear glass bottle, which served to show off the beverage's purple color...

, changing the company's name to Flavette. The Flavette division subsequently purchased the Dr. Wells

Dr. Wells

Dr. Wells is a "pepper-style" carbonated soft drink manufactured by The Dad's Root Beer Company, LLC. of Jasper, Indiana, and owned by Hedinger Brands, LLC. The brand is currently available in 12 ounce cans, 20 ounce plastic bottles, 1-liter plastic bottles, and on fountain service in select...

 soda pop brand and Mason & Mason, Inc. In 1975, Rheingold and its Flavette division were purchased by PepsiCo, Inc. in a hostile takeover. The Federal Trade Commission

Federal Trade Commission

The Federal Trade Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act...

 felt that PepsiCo owned too many brands and forced it to divest several of its brands. By 1978, Mason's Root Beer had been acquired by Monarch Beverage Company but was mostly shelved in favor of the higher-volume Dad's

Dad's Root Beer

Dad's Root Beer is an American root beer created in Chicago in 1937 by Ely Klapman and Barney Berns. It is currently sold and marketed by The Dad's Root Beer Company LLC, and owned by Hedinger Brands, LLC.- History :...

brand of root beer, which Monarch acquired in 1986.