8" glass bottle of Canada Dry club soda from Dallas Trade Mart luncheon

Approximately 2,400 of these custom glass bottles of club soda with the vice presidential seal were manufactured in 1963 and gifted to Vice President Lyndon Johnson by W.D. Matthews, owner of Canada Dry Bottling Company of San Antonio. While most of the bottles were intended for distribution at the LBJ Ranch following the Austin banquet scheduled for the evening of November 22, a small quantity of bottles were also sent to the Dallas Trade Mart for the head table at the scheduled presidential luncheon. Attendee Marquita Smith retrieved this bottle from the head table that day, and the unopened 8" glass bottle remained with the family until her children, Craig Smith, Cynthia Smith-Kelly and Debra Smith-Williams, donated it to The Sixth Floor Museum in 2022. At that time, two of her children (Craig Smith and Cynthia Smith-Kelly) recorded interviews for the Museum's Oral History Project. - Stephen Fagin, Curator