THE BOOST! COMPANY

Tell Us Your BOOST! Stories
We would love to hear from you.
Send photos that go with the stories, if available

You can send them to our address:
The BOOST! Company
P.O. Box 204
Riverside, New Jersey 08075

Or email them to us at: stories@takaboost.com 

My family has been drinking Boost! since the early sixties in Burlington Twp. We could even purchase it at the shore when we went on vacation to Barnegat Light. It has always been part of our childhood and being part of life in Central NJ. Now that I've grown up and moved away to Central FL, I have cravings for a tall, cold glass of Boost!, especially after mowing the lawn on a hot day. Boost! boosts your spirits and and takes thirst away! Thanks for boosting my life!

Eric Caulfield in Melbourne Florida. 10/07

I'm from Delaware with cousins in Florence NJ and have been enjoying Takeaboost since I was a child (and I am 54).  My cousin Cookie would come to visit with her Uncle Spader and they always brought a bottle of Boost!.  I love it and always get bottles of it to take back home when I visit Florence

Thank you for your great product.
Jody Schulte 2/08

My Dad's birthday is coming up and he will be 93 . Very active and no health problems. He spends winter in Florida and Summer in Pennsauken, NJ . He has been drinking Tak-Aboost for as long as we can remember.  We are going to Florida for a big 93rd  Birthday party for him. He has requested we bring him his favorite drink.... Tak-Aboost.  Mom is 91 and also enjoys a BOOST!

Thank you for a great drink .  Glen and Cory 03/08 

I grew up in South Jersey and I've been drinking BOOST! since I learned how to hold a cup. Now I go to college in Dover, DE and drive up to Jersey just to buy BOOST! Absolutely amazing!

-Heather 03/08

What foods do you long for from home, stuff in your suitcase or beg visiting relatives to bring? 

The honor of craving a food we had never heard of belongs to Sue Cunningham of Raleigh.

Cunningham, who grew up in southern New Jersey, outside of Philadelphia, misses Takaboost, a brown drink syrup that is mixed with water to create a sweet drink that tastes like flat soda.  Cunningham says the drink was ubiquitous in her community; everyone served Takaboost at card parties and picnics.  She replenishes her supply with the help of friends who often return to New Jersey but that doesn’t mean she is generous with the supply she has.

My childhood memories from Burlington, NJ  just wouldn't be complete without remembering opening up Nana's fridge and grabbing the staple glass jar of Drink a Toast. Especially on hot days when there was no air conditioning in the house, I'd sit out on the back screen porch and drink it with my Grandfather.   For years I thought it was called "Tega Boost" (how the grown ups said it).  I've been looking for the stuff for years and know exactly what I'll be sending everyone in their Christmas packages!  My family has now spread to SC, GA, and upstate NY and we've tried to describe it:  "tastes  like flat cola-it's the best ice cold!". I remember the bottle was more rectangular in shape- with indents for your fingers in it and a wider mouth than a lite bottle has nowdays, with a metal lid perfect for making a bank out of (I think maybe someone must have). Cheers!

Mrs. Michael Ferentino
Allentown, NJ 06/08

I've been drinking Tak-A-Boost! since my mother put it in my baby bottle (I'm 44 by the way..LOL). I don't have any real colorful stories but I do have a picture of my first piggy bank I wanted to send to you, a half gallon boost jug my mother made into a bank for me when I was very young, I'm still using it today! The labels gone but you can't mistake the design and it still has the screw cap with the slit for change! One time I do remember we dropped a gallon jug when we were unloading the groceries at home on the sidewalk after food shopping, immediately we drove back to the store and bought another, couldn't go a day without our glass of Boost!

Enjoy the photo!!!

Robert Harris, Jr. MCSE 10/08

I grew up in Burlington.  BOOST! was ALL that we ever drank!!!!  I don't remember ever drinking koolaid and hawaiin punch was a once in a while treat while BOOST! was THE drink.  We would make BOOST! snow cones, and BOOST! popsicles, BOOST! ice cubes,  drink "milk and BOOST!", BOOST! milkshakes, and even made BOOST! Ice cream!!!!  I remember going camping and bringing cases of BOOST! but nothing to mix it in.  But that was the easy part. . .a shot of BOOST! in a glass of water and we were very happy!!!

I NEVER knew it was a regional thing.  So, when my family moved to Los Angeles when I was about 15, I would go into EVERY store I could looking for BOOST!.  Everyone would look at me as if I were crazy!!!!  Never heard of it!!!!   I was trying to describe it to my office pals and decided to google it and lo and behold your website popped up!!!  I am SO HAPPY!!!!!  I will be ordering some really soon!!!!! 

Rhonda Coty-Cabral
Office Admin/Realtor
Del Sol Realty 11/08

A Northern Michigander's memory

I grew up first in Florence NJ (1950s) and then in Burlington (1960s).  Burlington had a BOOST! shop (Riggs) on High Street. Once, that closed, I think I remember that they sold BOOST! in the Burlington News Agency.  It was also sold at basketball and football games when I was in high school.  When I first moved to Arizona in the late 1990’s, I used to have it shipped to me. I remember that the stores and the school had a dispenser for BOOST!.  It had a black plastic base, and a clear or translucent plastic tank on top, square, with the Take-A-Boost logo on it.  There was a tap on the front to dispense it.  Haven’t seen one of those in many, many years. They sold it in a cup with ice, a long straw in the cup, and hung two pretzels on the straw. 

Richard S. White, Jr. , Director
International Wildlife Museum    07/09

Boost! to me is like taking my suitcase on Vacation. No matter where we went Boost! was part of our travel gear. Lets see. I have had it all the way from my original home in Palmyra to Atlantic City. Later as I went to Vietnam it found its way there, then back to Oklahoma and finally to my present home in South Florida for the last 20 years.

Bruce Blackman
Fort Myers, Florida 11/09

Remembrance of The Tak-a Boost Shop in Palmyra; early 40's

Hi Gang, My memories of the Tak-A-Boost in Palmyra was just brought back to life. I was born at 729 Highland Ave. in Palmyra in 1/11/26. Although having enjoyed boost! over many years my main remembrance is having worked there after schoool while a student at PHS in my junior and senior years. That would be 1942 and 43. I worked after school as a short order cook under the tuteledge of Elmer who was the main kitchen guy. He was portly, always wore his white apron, and smoked a cigar. He taught me how to break eggs onto the grill , 4 at a time, 2 in each hand. He also taught me to cook hamburgers, etc. He was a great teacher and a great guy. Having entered the Navy in June, 1943 out of PHS, as did many of my classmates, I didn't return to Palmyra until early 1946 and the first place I visited was the Tak-A-Boost. It was still there right next to Rodgers News Store. Mrs. Gluyes, a wonderful lady, was tending the counter at Rodgers and gave me a warm welcome home. While in school I had classmates from the Faunce family of Riverside who originated and owned the Tak-A-Boost Shop. Another remembrance of the shop is that during Hi-School a dance floor was opened on the 2nd floor above the shop and at night after basketball games, etc. the kids would climb up the stairs to the 2nd deck and dance to the music of a juke-box. It was a real fire trap and I often wondered how the fire inspectors ever allowed it. There was no exit except down the rickety stairs and there were over a hundred kids up there, and I was one of them. In addition to the kids hanging out there after school drinking their Tak-a-boost with the pretzel hanging over the straw there was another aspect not known by many. They served a really good dinner menu...not fancy, but really good. That's enough nostalgia. Thank the good lord for the Tak-A-Boost Shop back in those years as it served to keep a lot of kids out of trouble and a place to meet friends.

Warren Milroy
PHS Class of 43 11/09 

BOOST!

I grew up in a small Salem County town called Elmer. My grandfather was form Pitman in Gloucester County and he and my grandmother lived there for a few years in the early sixties. I remember having Drink Atoast at their house most every time we went. Gram would use her hand crank ice crusher to chip the ice and then mix the Boost! and water. She would add a straw and we would enjoy it. They always got their supply at a little neighborhood market called J&K on Woodbury Pitman Road. I had been looking for this product for many years and finally a friend discovered that the Acme in Glassboro sometimes had it. Hooray! I went and bought a galllon. My daughter and husband aren't quite sure why I like it so much. Not only is it good, but it brings back so many wonderful memories of Gram and Pop.

Eileen Miller
Woodstown, NJ 11/09 

Boost! story

I grew up in S.Jersey in 70's / 80's. One of my fondest life memories is fishing with my grandparents, generally in the Tuckerton area, always with plenty of Takaboost. I moved west to CA in mid 80's while still in high school. There were many culture shocks, but not finding Takaboost and other food items were the worst. I served six years active Navy and always sought it out wherever I was. I learned then it was a very geographic thing from talking with my peers from all over the country and resigned myself to go without for life. Sometime during my college years in WA state, it was discovered (or became available) we could order it direct. Because of shipping costs, we limited ourselves, but it was always a pleasure to receive for special occasions. Now, at 41 and living in OR, we order it more regularly. Life's too short to go without for too long! Thanks for keeping a great product going.
 

Mike Wheeler    11/09 

Boost!

Whenever I get down to Riverside, NJ to visit a friend or a relative I always pick up a couple of bottles. I was born in Riverside and grew up on it. It brings back many fond memories. Thanks for keeping the company going.
 

Helen Kuttler
Tech Support Technician II 
Overland Park, KS 66251          01/10

Boost! is still my favorite drink on the planet + is unique + has a great flavor unlike any other drink. i'd always rather have a boost!.

Bill O'hanlan 5/10

Finally!

I'm 84 years old and it has taken me all these years to prove to my husband that there was a drink called Take-a-Boost (at least that's the way I remember it).  I can remember drinking it after school  in downtown Burlington NJ. in the early 40's.  I moved to Philadelphia after graduation to work - these were the war years.  My friends and I would go across the river to get a supply of Boost! every so often.  After moving around in my years in the Navy, I married and settled down in Iowa.  No-one in Iowa had ever heard of Boost!.  After retirement, we moved to Florida and my husband would laugh at me when I would mention remembering Boost!.  Now after all this time i am vindicated.  I was just fooling around on the Internet and found you.  I haven't lost my mind after all  My next step will be to order some. 

Jeanne Twining, Wauchula, FL   8/10

When I moved to Wildwood, NJ no one ever head of Drink A Toast (Take A Booast) well I was not sure if it could be ordered online but I found it. I was brought up on this when I was a child growing up in Florence Twp, NJ. So, now I ordering it by email and passing it around the Wildwoods....

Patricia Pagliocca-Sullivan
Wildwood, NJ    9/10

My Story

Anthony Here. My whole family have been drinking Boost! for many years, as a kid I loved it, much better then soda and better for you. I worked for a pipe foundry in NJ, talking very very hot, 12 hours per day, I drank Boost! with water when it was very hot outside as inside this place was over 100 degrees easy. I was doing very well the days it was so hot and others asked me what I was drinking, I told them and they started to do it as well. I left NJ for a short time and Oh how I missed the Boost!. Thanks for Boost! a great drink and I'm sure for many years to come, very good taste and very smooth. Just add Ice and make it the way you like it. Just Yummy LOL    2/11

I fell in love with this drink the 1st time I tried it and I still drink it today! I'm from the Riverside, NJ area and grew up knowing this drink!! I don't know of anyone who could say they don't love BOOST!

Stephanie 10/10

The 50's

The 50's Faunce's Store-We went "Down Town".  It was "Drink Atoast" & "Take A Boost".  It was ALL served in real glasses, with ice & 2 pretzels hanging on a straw. They even served "Milk Toast". This was served in a very large glass with 2 pretzels. Faunce's was a place for the Riverside High School girls from the 50's to hang out together, talk, have fun. That was what the 50's was all about. There will never be a time as wonderful as the 50's. Look what our children & grandchildren missed. Here's to us-the "teens of the fifties"!!

Lynn (Marilyn) Fichter (Moyer) 02/11

Boost!
 

My family lived in Riverside from 1954-64. My father was the minister at the Riverside Moravian Church. Before we even moved there and were making our first visit we were introduced to Boost!. That probably helped seal the deal for my dad! My brother and I grew up on it. Nothing like that crushed ice and those thin pretzels on the straw. When we left Riverside and moved to Allentown PA, Boost! continued to be part of our lives; either friends would bring it to us or we would be sure to keep our supply when we would return to Riverside for visits.

When I entered Moravian College after high school I started dating a "boy" from Palmyra...of course love at first sight was sealed with our common understanding of the importance of Boost in our lives. My husband Hank Naisby always had a gallon of Boost! on his college dorm window sill. Hank and I have been married for 38 years and Boost! is still a part of our life. Hank's family always vacationed on LBI so we were always able to find it there, but sadly within the last few years it has seemed to disappear. So we often stop at Flying Feather on our way to the shore.

As life goes in circles, after my mother died at an early age of 52, in 1979, my dad remarried a wonderful family friend and member of the Riverside church, Colleen Workman Taylor. Dad and Colleen are current members of that church, but an additional twist is that my brother Richard Bruckart has accepted a call to be the minister of the Riverside Moravian Church and will be starting his ministry on April 3. He found your site as we were comparing our childhood memories of Boost! and how happy he is that he is moving back to Riverside and to the home of Boost!!!

It really does bring out the memories in all of us.

Too bad Hank and I don't have any in our house right now because we are both thirsty for it! I think a trip to Riverside will be in the future soon...and probably before the day of my brother's installation.

Your sales will definitely be increasing with Rick moving to town....
If you want to welcome him the address is on Bridgeboro Street!

Karen Naisby
Coopersburg Pennsylvania 2/11

First Taste in 25 Years

To Those At Boost!

I grew up in Riverside NJ and Burlington NJ until I was 15 and my parents decided to move to NE PA. I haven't had a taste of Boost! in 25 years since we moved and I now reside in Montgomery AL. My mom and dad are coming to my home tonight after a trip up north to see family and I made sure that they picked me up a gallon of Boost! for me. I'm excited like a kid at Christmas time waiting for today to end here at work. I cannot wait to enjoy a tall glass of Boost! tonight and let my wife experience some of my childhood. Makes me want to take her up to see the family which we haven't done yet and experience the places I used to go with my parents all around Burlington County and the shore. Thanks again for making such a great product and I can't wait till tonight!

My whole family always enjoyed your family's product and it was served at every household. One of my fondest memories was one my grandmother gave me. She lived two blocks away on Cleveland Ave. and every day we would see each other and when we would walk downtown we would go into this soda fountain place and have a takaboost together. They always served it with a straw and two pretzels looped over it. I always used to bite off the "ears" of the pretzel first before eating the rest of it. Thanks to your family for that very fond memory I have of my Grandmother.

Take a Boost 

Back in June of 1973 I took a Rafting trip down the Colorado River. It was six days on the River in the Canyon from Lees Ferry to Lake Mead. I Brought a Quart Bottle of Drink-A-Toast (Boost!) syrup with me and mixed with the Colorado river ; It was excellent.

Drink-a-Toast

To All, 

In 1957 my family moved to New Jersey. We moved to the newly formed Cinnaminson Township.The township has a “Welcome Wagon” which gave each new resident local information, a phone book and a bottle of Boost or Drink-a-Toast, I knew as both. 

Well that was the beginning of a lifetime love. As anyone who has lived within a 25 mile radius of Riverside, Boost was the soft drink of choice. 

I still have a “Glass” Half Gallon mixing bottle. I called the company and I was told they do not make the glass mixing bottle. 

My bottle is probably 40 years old and still make a perfect “Boost!”….. Ahhhhhh! Sweet! I buy the Gallon Jug, which last about a month or so. I am the one who drinks Boost in my family. 

Keep it coming….. 

Henry 11/12

Memories of Boost!

My name is Donna and I was born and raised in Florence, NJ. I was brought up on Takaboost and later Drink Atoast.  I married in 1964 and my husband was in the Army stationed in Hawaii. Our apartment was located on Waikiki Beach and we received our mail at a main location in the lobby of the building. I missed my favorite drink and asked my Mother to see if the company in Riverside, NJ would send some to me. They said yes and for the next 8 months I received a plastic gallon every month.  
 
The people at the front desk would ask me every month "what's in the box"? I would say just stuff from home.  After becoming pregnant with our first child I decided to return to the mainland to have the baby.  My husband would be moving back on base so we no longer would be receiving mail at our apartment.   Three days before I planned to fly out I took two glasses of Boost! with lots of ice down to the lobby and told them this is what was in the box.   After they drank it, this was their comment:   "it's probably a good thing we didn't know what was in the box - some deliveries may not have made it to your apartment".
 
In Florence one of the places to go for ice cold Boost! with a pretzel was the Crumpet Hut on Broad Street.  To this day my two sons stop everyday at Bob's Deli in Florence Station to get a Boost! on their way to work.   One prefers  regular Boost! while the other likes the slushy version.    Boost! will always be a part of our family.
 
Donna S    6/16/13

Boost! Stories

My dad was born in Riverside New Jersey.  And he went back to visit on a regular basis and every time he went he came back with Boost! and me and my three brothers got hooked. We also shared with three of our friends that we knew our whole lives. They owned a campground that my dad was the first camper at. We looked forward to having Boost!. The last time I had Boost! was when my dad paid for my whole family to go to Ocean City, New Jersey and we stopped in Riverside, New Jersey to see his family and stop at the Boost! store. My dad passed away two years later from cancer and now that I found this. I am extremely happy it brings back great memories and reminds me of my daddy. Some day when when I have a family of my own I will take them there. 

12/14

Boost story

My name is Eric, when I was a young boy my older brother Phil said to me " what stinks is when the ice cubes melt my Boost! gets watered down" so I told him we should make Boost! cubes. He said that was a great idea! So that's what we from then on. I'm 48 now and sad to say I haven't had Boost! since then. I love that drink!!! Oh yeah we enjoyed Boost! on Norman Ave around the corner from the White Eagle Tavern. Those were the good ole days!!! 

Eric   8/15

Stories about Boost!  

I have a million from when I was little going to Vacation Bible School in Burlington and having Boost! for a snack with pretzels to middle school when I would take it in my thermos to school to high school when I would have it at all of my parties to college when I would take 5 gallon jugs with me.  I remember shipping jugs to family all over the Country, putting them in the car and taking them to Florida or down the shore.  The best memories I have are the ones that I have shared with my own children.  We live across the bridge now and Boost! Does not exist over here.  We’ve imported it and I didn’t realize how much my children loved it until my oldest got her license and she would take the two other siblings across the river to get their Boost!  You have become part of the family! We love you!

 Wendy Aleman  12/18