Tuesday, March 12, 2019

Today in History: Coca-Cola bottled for the first time!


In 1994, I became an accidental collector of Coca-Cola memorabilia. I bought a Coca-Cola bottle with the Argentinean flag on in during the 1994 World Cup. I have since amassed a large collection. So, when I was research events in history, I learned that March 12 marks the anniversary of Coca-Cola bottled first time in 1894. The famous drink was first sold in soda fountains for 5 cents a glass. It was created by Dr. John S. Pemberton, an Atlanta pharmacist in 1886. Pemberton created the flavored syrup which was added to carbonated water to create the soda we know today.


John Stith Pemberton was born July 8, 1831 in Knoxville, Georgia. He earned his medical degree from the Reform Medical College of George in Macon, Georgia at the age of 19. His main talent was chemistry. He married Ann Eliza Clifford in 1853 and their only child, Charles, was born in 1854. Pemberton would serve in the Civil War with the Third Cavalry Battalion of the Georgia State Guard, a component of the Confederate Army. He would earn the rank of lieutenant colonel. After becoming addicted to morphine from a battle wound, he began seeking alternative painkillers. His first recipe was called “Dr. Tuggle’s Compound Syrup of Globe Flower” which the main ingredient was derived from the buttonbush, a toxic plant common in Alaska. He began experimenting with coca and coca wines, creating Pemberton’s French Wine Coca which contained the extracts from kola nuts and damiana, an ingredient common in traditional Mexican liqueur.


In response to the Atlanta and Fulton County temperance legislation in 1886, Pemberton set out to create a non-alcoholic alternative to his French Wine Coca. What he created became Coca-Cola as it was derived from coca leaves and kola nuts. Pemberton’s business partner and bookkeeper, Frank M. Robinson, is credited with naming the beverage. Drugstore soda fountains were popular at the time as carbonated water was thought to be good for overall health. Pemberton would claim that his drink would cure several diseases including morphine addiction, indigestion, nerve disorders, headaches and impotence. Pemberton’s recipe called for 5 oz of coca leaf per gallon of syrup (approximately 37 g/l) which means that Coca-Cola once contained an estimated 9mg of cocaine per glass. A typical dose or “line” of cocaine contained 50-75 mg. A later recipe claimed to have one-tenth of Pemberton’s recipe and the coca leaf would be removed completely from the recipe in 1903. Prior to his death in 1888, Pemberton would sell the majority of his business interests to Asa G. Candler, an Atlanta businessman, who expanded the distribution of Coca-Cola beyond Atlanta.


The Biedenham Candy Company in Vicksburg, Mississippi would begin bottling it in 1894. Joseph A. Biedenham oversaw the bottling works. Hutchinson bottles were the original bottles. Coca Cola bottles would go through several redesigns before coming to the later hobble-skirt design, we know today, in 1915. Biedenham would send Candler a case, who thanked him but took no action as he wanted to focus on fountain sales. It wasn’t until two attorneys, Benjamin F. Thomas and Joseph B. Whitehead, obtained the exclusive rights to bottle Coca-Cola and Chattanooga, Tennessee became the site of the first Coca-Cola bottling company in 1899. By 1909, nearly 400 plants were in operation. Most of them were family owned and some were only in operation during hot weather months when the demand was high. By the 1920s, with over 1,000 bottling plants in the US, bottle sales were surpassing fountain sales. During the 1920s and 1930s saw international expansion. By the beginning of World War II, Coca-Cola would be bottled in over 44 countries.


In conclusion, Coca-Cola began as a “cure” for various ailments and became a cultural phenomenon. A product enjoyed around the world. From its humble beginnings with a pharmacist trying to ease his pain, to becoming a product being recognized worldwide, Coca-Cola is an American story of ingenuity and genius marketing. First, being popular at the local pharmacy counter and then bottling it for nationwide distribution. Coca-Cola has remained popular since its creation. It is usually first in many markets with its main competitor, Pepsi, in a close second and second to Pepsi in other markets. Here’s to the first bottling of Coca-Cola!

References
The Coca-Cola Company. www.coca-colacompany.com/our-company/history-of-bottling. Retrieved March 9, 2019
Wikipedia. www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Stith_Pemberton. Retrieved March 4, 2019

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