Who would have thought that a drink would have been created in 1938 during the Great Depression but it was. Herb Bishop, who was trying to market a non-carbonated drink called Citrus Club, decided to create a new carbonated drink with less fruit and sugar. He soon decided to market this new new drink because he felt it was fresher tasting. Since drinking the soft drink felt like a "squirt" in your mouth, like a fresh squeezed grapefruit, he decided to hence name it Squirt.

While marketing the Squirt in the 1940's he came up with character named "Little Squirt" to promote the drink. Little Squirt was well accepted and the brand gained tremendous consumer attraction.

During World War II the drink continued to grow as sugar rationing impacted sodas that contained higher sugar contents. Squirt surged with the rest of the economy after the war and gained additional popularity when it became a mixer in the 1950's.

In 1977, Brooks Products of Michigan purchased Squirt. It was reformulated and was given a more mainstream appeal. In 1983 Squirt became the first drink that used aspartame to creat a diet version. Squirt was eventually aquired by A&W Beverages in 1986. Squirt is now owned by Dr Pepper/Seven Up which is a subsidiary of Cadbury Schweppes.