Within half a mile of the homes of Emerson, Hawthorne, and the Alcotts stands the cottage of Ephraim Wales Bull, whose achievement in his vineyard 150 years ago is celebrated in an exhibition opening Friday at the Concord Museum.

Juice from the fruit, first pasteurized in 1869 by a New Jersey dentist in his kitchen, became "Dr. Welch's Unfermented Wine," later Welch's grape juice, "the national drink."

Visitors to "The Concord Grape: An American Classic," open through Nov. 7, can watch a 1950s video clip of the "Howdy Doody" show, in which Buffalo Bob makes pitches for Welch's grape juice, a major sponsor. A 1910 graphic display has Uncle Sam touting "the national drink." From the same era is a poster extolling Welch's "grape ball," an alternative to a highball, made with grape juice and "charged water" -- "soft but not insipid, invigorating but not intoxicating."