Thee Quaker

Did you know a Quaker teetotaler helped turn root beer into an American icon? 🥤 Philadelphia pharmacist Charles Hires (1851–1937) first tasted a root-based drink on his honeymoon in 1875. He loved the flavor, but the original concoction was also a powerful laxative.

The “healthy” drink got its distinctive flavor from sassafras oil, which the FDA banned in 1960 after it was found to cause liver damage and cancer in laboratory animals. Root beer manufacturers quickly reformulated their recipes. Hires Root Beer stayed in the family until 1960.

Did you know a Quaker teetotaler helped turn root beer into an American icon? 🥤 Philadelphia pharmacist Charles Hires (1851–1937) first tasted a root-based drink on his honeymoon in 1875. He loved the flavor, but the original concoction was also a powerful laxative.

Despite Hires' Quaker commitment to temperance, the name of his product got him into an ironic fight. The Women’s Christian Temperance Union launched a nationwide campaign against Hires Root Beer, believing it contained alcohol. The boycott lasted three years, devastating sales.

Did you know a Quaker teetotaler helped turn root beer into an American icon? 🥤 Philadelphia pharmacist Charles Hires (1851–1937) first tasted a root-based drink on his honeymoon in 1875. He loved the flavor, but the original concoction was also a powerful laxative.

His big break came at Philadelphia’s 1876 Centennial Exposition, celebrating America’s 100th birthday and attracting 10 million visitors over six months. It was a showcase of new products, including Remington’s typewriter, Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone, and H.J. Heinz’s ketchup.

Did you know a Quaker teetotaler helped turn root beer into an American icon? 🥤 Philadelphia pharmacist Charles Hires (1851–1937) first tasted a root-based drink on his honeymoon in 1875. He loved the flavor, but the original concoction was also a powerful laxative.

Back home, Hires set out to recreate it without that particular side effect. Many Quakers at the time, Hires among them, abstained from alcohol, seeing it as one of the causes of domestic violence and other societal problems.

🕊🕊🕊 For Quakers, commitment to peace is one of the Testimonies of our faith. Quaker pacifism is active, not passive, resisting war, oppression, and injustice through peaceful means.

One way to participate in today's International Day of Peace is to join in a minute of silence at noon. Seeing this post too late? Take a minute of silence at the start of any hour, and your prayers or thoughts for those affected by war and violence will join those of others in another time zone.

🕊🕊🕊 For Quakers, commitment to peace is one of the Testimonies of our faith. Quaker pacifism is active, not passive, resisting war, oppression, and injustice through peaceful means.

Friends have long held that the peaceable kingdom of heaven is possible on earth, but that it can only be brought about through love, not violence.

When they built the meetinghouse for Friends Meeting of San Antonio, architects kept the concepts of silence, humility, and sustainability in mind. To counteract the noise from bordering busy roads and an apartment complex, the meetinghouse is tucked into a slope.

The building uses inexpensive, recycled materials for its outside cladding and inside sound barriers, and a secluded garden is landscaped with drought-tolerant, native plants.

This Labor Day, let's take a look at the history of Quakers and the labor movement. The Quaker testimonies of Equality and Integrity led early Quakers, many of whom were farmers and artisans, to treat their employees well.

Quaker employers responded by exploring industrial democracy: committees with elected representatives and equal representation for employers and employees. They supported cooperation and negotiation rather than simply expecting workers to accept the decisions of a “benevolent” employer.

This Labor Day, let's take a look at the history of Quakers and the labor movement. The Quaker testimonies of Equality and Integrity led early Quakers, many of whom were farmers and artisans, to treat their employees well.

The Cadburys encouraged staff to join trade unions and worked with them to establish fair wages and resolve disputes. During WWI, the Quakers of London Yearly Meeting were becoming uncomfortable with the inequality inherent in capitalism.

This Labor Day, let's take a look at the history of Quakers and the labor movement. The Quaker testimonies of Equality and Integrity led early Quakers, many of whom were farmers and artisans, to treat their employees well.

During the Industrial Revolution, many Quakers found success in business and manufacturing, and with some exceptions, developed reputations as generous employers.

This Labor Day, let's take a look at the history of Quakers and the labor movement. The Quaker testimonies of Equality and Integrity led early Quakers, many of whom were farmers and artisans, to treat their employees well.

Quakers in the 17th century had the idea to create local labor offices to help unemployed people find work, and imagined self-sufficient communities that would provide employment, education, health care, and a reasonable standard of living, which earned praise from Karl Marx centuries later.

Did you know Quakers played a role in Gandhi's spiritual journey, and that Gandhi's ideas later influenced Quakers in return?

The influence flowed both ways. Quaker author Richard Gregg helped introduce Gandhi's ideas to the West, in turn inspiring Civil Rights organizer Bayard Rustin, a key advisor to Martin Luther King Jr.

Did you know Quakers played a role in Gandhi's spiritual journey, and that Gandhi's ideas later influenced Quakers in return?

That connection deepened through Gandhi's decades-long friendship with British Quaker Horace Alexander. Gandhi stayed with Alexander at Woodbrooke Quaker study center in Birmingham during his negotiations with England in 1931, where he attended meeting for worship.

Did you know Quakers played a role in Gandhi's spiritual journey, and that Gandhi's ideas later influenced Quakers in return?

Gandhi’s interest in religion, which began in his childhood with his devoutly Hindu mother, deepened quickly when he moved to South Africa as a young lawyer in 1893. As part of his religious exploration, Gandhi became friends with a small group of Quakers in Pretoria.