Cal Rodgers and the Vin Fiz

​In 1910, publishing titan William Randolph Hearst offered $50,000 to the first person to successfully complete a transcontinental flight across America in 30 days, with a stop in Chicago, Illinois. Adventurer and newly-trained aviator Calbraith “Cal” Perry Rodgers sought sponsorship from the Armour Meatpacking Company to bankroll his attempt. In return, Rodgers agreed to promote Armour’s new grape-flavored soft drink called Vin Fiz. The marketing agreement finalized, Rodgers took off for the West Coast from Sheepshead Bay, Long Island, New York, on Sept. 17, 1911, in a customized Wright Brothers EX Flyer he named, appropriately,