On "M*A*S*H," Radar loved Grape Nehi.

This matchbook cover bears an advertisement for the once-popular Nehi sodas, because nothing goes better with lung cancer than orange soda. There’s no exact date linked to this advertisement, but it had to be 1955 or thereafter.

Nehi (pronounced “Knee High”), the brainchild of Georgia grocer and philanthropist Claud Adkins Hatcher, was first sold in 1924. Although the Nehi brand is no longer a supermarket staple (the 16-ounce orange was once incredibly popular), it was the foundation product of what eventually became the Royal Crown Cola corporation.

The Hatcher family website reveals how Nehi came to be. An excerpt:

“There is an interesting story about the origin of the Nehi trademark that took place in the 1920s. Supposedly, Claud Hatcher overheard a route salesman enter the plant one day and describe a competitor’s tall bottle as being ‘knee-high.’ This phrase falling on the receptive mind of Claud Hatcher became Nehi, which was destined to become America’s best known soft drink flavor line. The Nehi line of fruit flavours (orange, grape, root beer, etc.) was introduced in 1924.”