Books by Jane Sutter Brandt - Sutter Communications

If you haven’t read Jane’s books, now is a great time to pick up copies! “Beloved Burlington: Featuring Businesses You Knew and Loved” (both the first book and the new Volume II) and “Sutter’s Sodas Satisfy: A Memoir of 90 Years of Sutter Drug Co.” are available by calling Burlington By The Book at (319) 753-9981. Cost for each book is $19.95 plus tax and shipping. Credit cards are accepted.

Did you buy your first pair of bell-bottoms in Schramm’s Stage III? Did you get your first classic suit from Riepe-Peterson? After high school football games, did you and your friends gorge on cheesy pizza at the Arion? When class got out at Oak Street Junior High, did you run across the street to Heinie’s for a hot dog and a Coke? Beloved Burlington will spark your memories of these and other favorite businesses: Apothecary 24, Brinck’s, Camera Land, Gnahn’s Book and Stationery Store, Paule Jewelry, The Typewriter Shop, Twin Oaks Drive-In, and Witte Drug Co. More than 100 historical photos!

Jane Sutter Brandt, author of Sutter’s Sodas Satisfy: A Memoir of 90 Years of Sutter Drug Co., offers this nostalgic look back in time.

Praise for Beloved Burlington: Featuring businesses you knew and loved!

“How quickly we forget. However, reading Jane Sutter Brandt’s Beloved Burlington will bring back many fond memories of your visits to Burlington businesses. The book is much more than nostalgia. It provides a rich history of several downtown stores and the people who ran (and patronized) them. Business practices have changed—so have buying habits. Beloved Burlington will give you a chance to decide if the changes are for the better. You will thoroughly enjoy this book.”

Russ Fry, Burlington historian

“Anyone interested in Burlington history will want to read this book. Jane Sutter Brandt captures a slice of Burlington’s past through the lens of some of its most memorable businesses. What makes this book extra special are the interviews with former owners and employees who share their personal experiences and behind-the-scenes tales. Even if you didn’t personally experience these businesses, you will enjoy the stories that Jane expertly weaves together with her extensive research.”

Rhonda Frevert, Burlington Public Library director

“You don’t have to be an old-timer to appreciate Jane Sutter Brandt’s research into some icons of Burlington’s retail history. Enjoy her journey back into time. Lots of descriptions from the people behind the scenes.”

Dale Alison, former managing editor of “The Hawk Eye”

Sutter's Soda Satisfy

In 1903, a young pharmacist named Joseph R. Sutter opened his first drug store in Burlington, Iowa. Patrons fondly recall slurping chocolate ice cream sodas at the fountain, buying Kodak cameras and film, and snatching bargains at Rexall One-Cent sales. But there’s much more to this tale. How did Sutter Drug Co. thrive and survive for 90 years despite two World Wars, the Depression, ravaging fires, and stiff competition? What were Sutter’s secrets to success that he passed to his sons and grandsons?

Jane Sutter Brandt, Sutter’s great-granddaughter, recounts the rich history of this family business and shares heartwarming memories from other Sutters, former soda jerks, and pharmacists. The book also features more than 90 historical photos.

Joseph R. Sutter, back left, and sister Anna circa late 1880s. In front, father Robert, half-sister Ida, stepmother Anna, and half-brother Robert.

Sutter Drug Co. offered both photo finishing services and sold photo albums. Sutter used the back left side of this film envelope to advertise a variety of goods and services in 1927.

Sutter Drug Co. in the prestigious Tama Building on the corner of Jefferson and North Third streets circa 1940s. Notice the ad for Ideal Ice Cream on the exterior wall.

The new soda fountain and grill were packed with hungry and thirsty customers in August 1949 when Sutter Drug Co. celebrated the completion of a major remodeling project.

Pictured in front of Joseph R. Sutter’s first drug store are Ralph Ingersoll, Frank Nacke, Ed Kasten, George Hencilman, Adolph G. Volmer and Joseph R. Sutter

For most of its history, Sutter Drug Co. was affiliated with Rexall. The bright orange and blue colors were a trademark of that brand.

Click here for the Beloved Burlington Blog!

Praise for Sutter’s Sodas Satisfy: A Memoir of 90 Years of Sutter Drug Co.

Sutter’s Sodas Satisfy –the title says it all! I had the distinct pleasure and privilege of making and dispensing countless sodas to hordes of happy customers behind the counter of Sutter’s, and this memoir of an iconic Burlington drugstore certainly recaptures some very fond memories! The photographs and rich history included in its pages are simply fabulous – a wonderful walk down Memory Lane!

Maggie Megrew, Former soda jerk at Sutter Drug Co.

Sutter’s Sodas Satisfy is a slice of history. Nostalgic small town living as described by people who were there − working the soda fountain and stocking the chewing gum. It takes you back to a feel-good era where the gang all met to gossip about the news of the day. Where a young man could court a young girl over a malted. A favorite book with lots of local hometown memories! Sutter’s Sodas Satisfy was the top seller in my bookstore in 2015.

Christopher Murphy, Owner of Burlington By The Book