The Orange County Historical Society recently received a donation of an Aqua Viva Brand Water bottle (empty) from antique dealer James Parker. The printing on the bottle brags that it contained "a natural mineralized water from a deep well at Silverado Canyon... In the Shadows of Old Saddle Back Mountain" – a reference Terry E. Stephenson’s classic 1931 local history volume: The Shadows of Old Saddleback.
A 1976 report from the California Division of Mines & Geology says that Aqua Viva Mineral Spring is located at the "south edge of Section 7, Township 5 South, Range 7 West, SBM, El Toro quadrangle, on the south side of Silverado Canyon Road, about 1 1/2 miles from Santiago Canyon Rd. directly across from Santa Clara Coal mine. Spring (well) is marked by a white tank in front of the house.”
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| From the back of the bottle. |
William Timothy "Bill" Rafferty (1913-1967) operated the business that sprang from said spring, bottling the water and selling it under the name “Aqua Viva” from 1955 to 1961. It was available via free delivery only (not in stores) in cases of six half-gallon bottles.
Raffety and his wife, Anna Alice Rafferty, lived in Ladd Canyon from at least the mid-1930s until around the mid-1940s, and then moved next to the spring at 7472 Silverado Canyon Road at a spot which is now called Tiptoe Ranch.
Bill was president of the Holy Name Society at Holy Family Catholic Church in Orange and was involved in Knights of Columbus. Over the years, local directories listed his occupation as laborer, mason, and employee at General Motors’ Southgate auto assembly plant. The Raffertys were, by most accounts, well known and well-liked in the canyon community.
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| Bill Rafferty and the shrine he built at Atwood's Catholic church. (Santa Ana Register, 10-17-1947) |
It took the Raffertys a while after moving onto the property to figure out how (and whether) to turn the spring into a business.
The 1976 State report described the composition of the Aqua Viva spring/well: “Well water of the calcium sodium sulfate type with a total dissolved solids content of 2,380 ppm and a pH of 7.3. Important trace element contents include 0.5 ppm boron, .01 ppm arsenic, both of which are within the recommended limit for drinking water standards as designated by the U.S. Public Health Service (1962).” They gleaned this information from 1963 testing, as reported by C.F. Berkstresser, Jr. of the U.S. Department of the Interior.
The big marketing blitz for Aqua Viva – as brief and localized as it was – came during the summer of 1955, when Rafferty put ads in the Orange city newspapers, manned a booth with free samples at the Orange County Fair, and got his friend and fellow canyonite, Florence Lobdell, to repeatedly talk up Aqua Viva in her “Kanyon Kapers” column in the Orange Daily News.
In late July, Lobdell gushed, "Aqua Viva Mineral Water is here! It's been here for centuries (no doubt) but its wonderful mineral content and health-giving properties have just become available to the public. . . Its heavy natural fluoride content should hasten the dentists to recommending it, its alkalizing effect should be a boon to over-indulgence..."
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| Florence Lobdell at the 49ers Day Celebration in Lorge's Cafe, Silverado, 1940s (Courtesy Silverado Branch Library) |
Likewise, Rafferty’s advertising touted “the value of fluorine in the protection of the teeth of children [which] is recognized by leading dental authorities,” and that the “alkalinity of Aqua Viva is sufficient . . . to counteract an upset 'acid' stomach and maintain a sweet breath."
In August, Lobdell followed up: “At the Orange County Fair, spotted Bill Rafferty making millions of friends for the Canyon with his fine display of Aqua Viva Water . . . Surprised to see two salesmen from other water companies standing in front of Bill's booth, drinking his water and exclaiming what a wonderful flavor it had."
And for her September 13th column Lobdell had a legitimate news hook on which to hang her continued promotion. Bill Rafferty had "sent his good Aqua Viva Mineral Water up to quench the flames" when a nearby house fire in Silverado Canyon turned into a fifty-acre brush fire. Lobdell declared that the burned ground would undoubtedly grow back with lush new vegetation at a prodigious rate thanks to having been soaked with the near-miraculous Aqua Viva.
But most of Rafferty’s advertising continued to focus on the water’s many benefits to the heath of humans, not scrub brush. “Four glasses of Aqua Viva contain approximately as much calcium as one glass of whole milk," claimed a newspaper ad.
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| Ad from the Orange Daily News, 7-27-1955. (Courtesy Orange Public Library) |
In 1960, Silverado resident and airline pilot Keith M. Niles accused Bill Rafferty of numerous crimes, including attempting to sell him a half-interest in Aqua Viva, Inc. for $9,000 in 1948 without a permit from the Commissioner of Corporations. Superior Court Judge Karl Lynn Davis ruled that there was "reasonable doubt" and dismissed all charges. Still, it was the most attention Aqua Viva had received since its 1955 marketing push.
By 1973, the property was owned by William F. Collar, who owned the gas station at the mouth of Ladd Canyon and was part of the Silverado Volunteer Fire Department. But Rafferty still had charge of the well.
Mike Boeck, who knows the canyons better than anyone and is a longtime local history buff, says, "Some of the fencing that once surrounded their pool is still there, along with some concrete channels, but it is used as fencing for a horse compound today.
"The actual Aqua Vida Mineral Spring definitely was a spring (I have been to it and these days it is mostly dry due to prolonged drought), not a well, that was dug out to access the water. These days it is just a hole in the side of the slope, just off the property [once] owned… by Bill and Ann Collar. Ann was our postmaster for many years and is fondly remembered.”
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| Ad from the Orange Daily News, 8-10-1955. (Courtesy Orange Public Library) |
Based on newspaper coverage, it appears Ann was also the unofficial social events coordinator for Silverado Canyon.
Today, members of the "Silverado The Good Ole Days" group on Facebook also say they’ve found the water’s source on the Collar property, and that it still has water in it.
The spring, Boeck says, “is on the boundary of the St. Michael's Abbey/Collar property, which today is a horse compound... The Bond Fire burned off most of the heavy brush that previously covered and obscured the Aqua Vida spring, so today it is pretty easy to find, although it's in rough terrain. As for the water itself, it was not a successful enterprise because it gave drinkers the runs!"
Rafferty referred to this last feature as “a mild laxative effect” and one of the key benefits of drinking Aqua Viva. He attributed this to the water’s "high content of the sulfates of calcium magnesium and sodium,” and said it was, “truly, ‘Nature’s Way.’”
Considering all the health claims he attributed to Aqua Viva’s heavy mineral content, it’s surprising that Rafferty also consistently advertised that "the purity of this water has been established by a leading laboratory." It was pure, but most of its selling points were derived from its impurities.
So, there, in a nutshell – or really in a bottle – is the history of another Orange County hole in the ground.
[Thanks to Rob Brown, Mike Boeck, and Susan Deering for their assistance with this article.]
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| Purportedly a view down the Aqua Viva well, circa 2020s. Posted on Facebook from unknown source. |
PARTIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY
Berkstresser, C. F., Jr. Data For Springs in the Southern Coast, Transverse, and Peninsular Ranges of California, United States Department of the Interior Geological Survey Water Resources Division, 1968, pp B-6 & B-7
"Canyon Man Not Guilty," Orange Daily News, July 27, 1960
"Grand Theft Case Set for June 22," Anaheim Bulletin, 5-24-1960, pg 16.
“Grand Theft Suspect to Enter Plea Soon,” Orange Daily News, 5-9-1960.
Lobdell, Florence. "Kanyon Kapers: News of Silverado and Modjeska," Orange Daily News, 7-29-1955
Lobdell, Florence. "Kanyon Kapers: News of Silverado and Modjeska," Orange Daily News, 8-16-1955
Lobdell, Florence. "Kanyon Kapers: News of Silverado and Modjeska," Orange Daily News, 9-13-1955, pg 3
Morton, Paul K., Environmental Geology of Orange County, California, California Division of Mines & Geology, 1976, pg 246 (Report also cites Aqua Viva Mineral Spring on accompanying "Map No. 64,” which I could not find.)
“Silverado News,” The Register, 12-12-1963, pg 42.
“Silverado Prepares for Prayerful Easter,” The Register, 4-4-1969, pg B1.
"Theft Suspect Awaits Hearing," Anaheim Bulletin, 4-18-1960, pg 4.
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