North Carolina's Dope Wagons

From Encyclopedia of North Carolina.

And, not what you think.

These were snack and drink carts that circulated throughout North Carolina's textile mills to provide workers with food and beverages.

In case you're wondering, the wagons get their name from one of the things they most-often sold, a "dope," which was a bottle of Coca-Cola.

With the coming of soda pop and packaged foods, dope wagons became familiar sights at textile mills in the first two decades of the twentieth century, going into the late 192-s.  Owners of the factories liked them because it allowed the workers to get their food and drink and remain at their jobs.

The Dope Wagons were gradually replaced by the mill canteen, snack bars and vending machines.

You "Dope Fiend!"  --Cooter