The Birth of Coca-Cola in Atlanta in 1886
The world’s most famous beverage was born in Atlanta on May 8, 1886. Dr. John Stith Pemberton, a local pharmacist, “invented” a syrup made from coca leaves and kola nuts. He sold it at Jacob’s Pharmacy, where carbonated water was added and the drink was sold for 5 cents at a soda fountain. This drink was already described as “delicious and refreshing”—a theme still associated with Coca-Cola today. A stroke of luck? A coincidence? Perhaps a pragmatic approach, in fact.
We need to look back a few years, to France, where Angelo Mariani, a pharmacy assistant, created Mariani wine in 1863. He prepared this drink using coca leaves macerated in Bordeaux wine. Even Pope Leo XIII appeared in an advertisement for this wine, which was very famous at the time and also distributed in the United States.
But alcohol consumption became the target of numerous movements in the United States, to the point that some cities, such as Atlanta, banned its consumption. Several pharmacists then set up fountains dispensing beverages of their own creation. John Pemberton was one of them, and he may have been inspired by Mariani syrup.
In this version of the story, Coca-Cola has a bit of French heritage!
Dr. Pemberton’s accountant, Franck Robinson, suggested the name and the calligraphy for Coca-Cola. Jacob’s Pharmacy sold an average of nine glasses a day in the first year—and we all know the result!
Dr. Pemberton never fully realized the potential of his invention. He gradually sold shares of his company to various partners and then sold the remainder in 1888, shortly before his death, to Asa G. Candler. Asa G. Candler, however, had a keen business sense and gradually bought back the other shares to take full control of Coca-Cola.
1893: The machine is up and running
Asa Candler, a former pharmacist turned businessman, quickly recognized the power of advertising and the potential of his beverage. With a full-page ad in The Atlanta Journal and having abandoned his pharmaceutical business, he refocused his efforts on the “soft drink.” He founded The Coca-Cola Company on January 29, 1892, with his brother John, Frank Robinson, and two other partners. The Coca-Cola trademark was registered on January 31, 1893, and the first dividends were paid out…
A pioneer, Candler ramped up advertising efforts, coupons, and promotional products. Sales rose, and by 1894, the first factory producing the base syrup opened outside Atlanta, in Dallas, followed by Chicago and Los Angeles the next year.
While Candler focused on distributing his beverage through soda fountains, another concept emerged in Mississippi that would enable Coca-Cola to become a truly global brand.
In 1894, seeing the growing demand at soda fountains, Joseph A. Biedenharn became the first bottler and began selling bottles of Coca-Cola to local farmers. This marked the beginning of a model that remains in use today: a company that produces the syrup, and bottlers/distributors who add carbonated water and do the bottling.
The Contour Bottle
By 1915, Coca-Cola was facing competition and imitations. To combat this, the company issued a call for bids to numerous bottle manufacturers. The Root Glass Company of Terre Haute proposed a bottle that made it possible to instantly and unambiguously recognize a Coca-Cola bottle—one that even a blind person could identify. The contoured bottle was patented and distributed in 1916.