Coca Cola Historical Highlights 1886: Atlanta druggist Dr. John S. Pemberton invented "Coca-Cola" syrup. He mixed it in a 30-gal. brass kettle hung over a backyard fire. It was marketed as a "brain and nerve tonic" in drugstores. Sales averaged nine drinks per day.
The name: Pemberton's bookkeeper, Frank M. Robinson, was the person who suggested the name Coca-Cola. It was suggested because both words named ingredients found in the syrup. Robinson also thought that two "C's" would enhance advertising.
Pricing: Coca-Cola was first sold for 5¢ a glass as a soda fountain drink at Jacob's Pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia.
Losing proposition? The first year's gross sales were $50 and advertising costs were $73.96.
Contents: The original formula included extracts of the African kola nut and coca leaves, both strong stimulants. Coca-Cola was one of thousands of patent medicines sold in the 1800s that contained traces of cocaine.
Carbonation: During the heat of summer in Coca-Cola's first year (1886), a customer walked into a drugstore complaining of a headache and requested a bottle of Coca Cola syrup. He asked the fountain attendant to hurry and mix a glass on the spot. Rather than walk to the other end of the counter in order to add cold tap water, the clerk suggested using soda water. The man said it really tasted great, and soon after Coca-Cola was regularly served in fizzy, carbonated form.
1888: Pemberton sells out to Candler: Asa Griggs Candler bought the company from Dr. Pemberton in 1888. Later that same year Dr. Pemberton died.
1894: Joseph A. Biedenharn, a 28-year-old owner of the Biedenharn Candy Company in Vicksburg, Mississippi, first bottled Coca Cola in 1894. This enabled Biedenharn to market Coca-Cola to more rural areas.
1894: The first outdoor sign advertising Coca-Cola was painted in 1894. It still exists and is located in Cartersville, Georgia.
1903: The use of cocaine as an ingredient became very controversial and Coca-Cola management decided to use only "spent coca leaves." It also stopped advertising Coca-Cola as a cure for headaches and other ills.
1929: After his death, Griggs Candler's family sold their interest in Coca-Cola in 1929 to a group of businessmen led by Ernest Woodruff for $25 million. Woodruff was appointed president of Coca-Cola on April 28, 1923 and stayed on the job until 1955.
1905: The bottle known today as the "hobbleskirt" or contour bottle was invented specifically for Coca-Cola by the Chapman Root Glass Company of Terre Haute, Indiana. They modeled the bottle after a cocoa bean. The bottle was first patented on November 16, 1915, and renewed on December 25, 1923. The actual shape of the bottle was patented in 1960.
1923: Coca-Cola was sold in a 6-bottle carton for the first time in New Orleans, Louisiana.
1932: At the 1932 Olympic Games, a foreign athlete was asked if he could speak English. He replied, "Sure, Hot Dog....Coca-Cola."
1936: Coca-Cola celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 1936. Not only was the popular drink available throughout the United States, it was now quickly becoming the favorite refreshment in other countries.
1941: The brand name "Coke" was used for the first time in magazine advertising in June 1941. The name first appeared on bottles on December 10, 1941.
1943: General Dwight D. Eisenhower sent a telegram requesting 10 "Coca-Cola" bottling plants for the troops overseas on June 29, 1943. At the beginning of the war, Robert W. Woodruff, president of The Coca-Cola Company, issued an order to "see to it that every man in uniform gets a bottle of Coca-Cola for five cents wherever he is and whatever it costs the Company." At the outbreak of WWII, "Coca-Cola" was bottled in 44 countries. At the close of the war, 64 additional bottling plants had been shipped abroad to be as close as possible to combat areas in Europe and the Pacific.
1947: When WWII began, The Coca-Cola Company's use of sugar in the manufacturing of syrup for civilian consumption was restricted to 50% of its prewar average due to rationing. The rationing ended in August, 1947.
1950: The cover page Time Magazine for May 15, 1950 features a Coca-Cola advertisement. It was the first time that a consumer product was featured on the cover of Time Magazine. The issue also contained a detailed story about Coca-Cola's extensive distribution and franchising system.
1950s: By the 1950's, automobile service stations sold more Coca Cola than they did motor oil.
1955: "Coca-Cola" was originally made available in cans for the military in 1955.
1967: The government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) first allowed Coca Cola to be produced and sold in that island nation. Coca Cola distributed familiar Coca Cola signs written in Chinese.
Click here to view a unique Coca-Cola collectible.
1982: The brand name "Diet Coke" was first introduced in 1982, and is the world's most popular brand of diet soft drink.
1985: In July 1985, Coca-Cola became the first soft drink to be enjoyed in outer space on the Space Shuttle Challenger. A special Company-developed space can was used.
