Hires was the original root beer purveyer. It was sold from a kiosk shaped like a huge beer keg. When I was a child, I wouldn't let my parents pass one. This was in the 1930s. At the time , sassafras root was used in the mix, but that is one of the ingredients that was taken out because of cancer scares. Sassafras is still available in so-called nature remedies A type is also used in Louisiana gumbo (filé).
A & W only has the rights to root beer if it is preceded by A & W.