Late breaking Moxie news: Maine legislature declares Moxie the official beverage of the State of Maine. Details follow...

High altitude Moxie research: Mt. Tabeguache, Colorado.

Interesting facts About Moxie

Moxie was created in 1884, a time when the general public was addicted to patent medicines containing psychotropic barbituates. Back then, Moxie was a nerve food that cured paralysis and loss of manhood. When the feds, feeling lonely, decided to prevent the prevention of the loss of manhood with the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1904, Moxie became a carbonated soft drink. Although no longer able to cure paralysis, it was still advertised as a "healthful" beverage. Moxie was the nation's leading soft drink until World War Two, when sugar price increases relegated Moxie back to its status as a local New England beverage.

Calvin Coolidge, the greatest president of that particular time period, drank Moxie frequently, and is Moxie's most famous advocate.

Lots of people think that Moxie tastes like patent medicine. Most people don't care about its healthful benefits, and refuse to drink it. I once thought that Moxie tasted foul, like a bitter mouthful of loam. But I persisted! And the next time I drank it, it tasted foul, like a sugar coated gentian root. But I persisted nonetheless! And the next time I drank it, my mouth rejoiced, and my brain was tonic-ed, with the sweet, sweet bitterness that is Moxie.

Follow this link for Danny Schlozman's essay, which provides better historical information and also explains why John Locke would have liked Moxie.

Water (carbonated), sugar, flavors, both natural and artificial, caramel coloring, sodium benzoate, a preservative, gentian root extractives, various kinds of acids, including phosphoric and citric, and caffeine.

There is no protein in Moxie. For a well balanced diet, one ought to consume Spam with their Moxie.

Baseball hall-of-famer Ted Williams achieved greatness with Moxie. Time-series data shows that in the past century, as Moxie became less and less available to the general public, rates of obesity and cancer in children have increased.

Primary source information Regarding Moxie
"Moxie looks like tar and is only a bit less viscous." -Danny Schlozman

Moxie thrives in northern New England. In fact, a good way to tell whether you're really in New England, or just a suburban, yuppie extension of Manhattan, is to see whether or not the local convenience store sells Moxie. If they don't, you'll have to settle for a Coke before you venture back outside into the anonymous pavement maze of highways and franchise fast food restaurants. However, if there is Moxie to be had, you'd probably be able to purchase a carton of night crawlers at the same establishment, if you wanted to.

In March 2005, Maine state legislators took the bold and courageous initiative to establish Moxie as the official beverage of the state of Maine. The 122nd state legislature passed the following resolution, which is now established as state law in the Maine Revised Statutes, section 1.1, paragraph 224:

Moxie, a registered trademarked beverage invented by Maine- born Dr. Augustin Thompson of Union that symbolizes spirit and courage, is the official state beverage.

In the summer of 2001, my friend Jon and I accomplished the first ever documented consumption of Moxie above 14,000 feet (see photo, above). Like me, Jon attained Moxie enlightenment during the summer of 1999, when we worked as camp counselors at Camp Kabeyun, in Alton Bay, New Hampshire. Says Jon, paraphrased, "at first I drank it because I thought it was cool, even though I thought that it tasted bad. Now I drink it because I actually like it." That's Moxie enlightenment, paraphrased.

The Moxie consumed was eight months old, having been brought to Oregon in January 2001, then brought from Oregon to Colorado in August 2001. The beverages were quaffed on top of Mt. Tabeguache, in the southern portion of the Sawach range. There were two witnesses, as well as the photographic evidence above. Jon and I both noted a significant increase in carbonation sensations, due possibly to the low atmospheric pressure. Probably as a result of the former phenomenon, we also noted a marked increase in volume and frequency of the subsequent gastric response. We are currently accepting grants for our next project: write to donate funding or Moxie.

Links for the curious Researcher of Moxie

These links lead to the finest Moxie information available on the internet. Learn more about Calvin Coolidge's habit, as well as where you can purchase Moxie for yourself.

The New England Moxie Congress
Every summer, in Lisbon Falls, Maine (that's one town east of Lewiston, less than an hour's drive north of Portland) there's the brilliant Moxie Days Festival. I had the chance to attend in the summer of 2003, when I was living in Lewiston. The town shuts down Main Street and celebrates all things Moxie with parades, concerts, contests, and lots of fried food. The scene centers around Kennebec's Fruit Company, the general store that sells all manner of Moxie merchandise, including Moxie ice cream. God damn, that was good ice cream. More information available from the New England Moxie Congress.

Yahoo Chat: Moxie Lovers

The New Orleans Pharmacy Museum: The coolest place I've found in New Orleans. And even though I've only spent about 20 hours in New Orleans in my entire life, and even though I spent 8 or 9 of those hours asleep, I am nevertheless confident that I would be hard-pressed to find a more exciting place in Louisiana (and I am aware that this is a state where there are voodoo priestesses). The museum includes, among many other fascinating exhibits on 19th-century medicine, a small display about Moxie.

Christian McNeil's Electric Presence: Home Page

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