On this date in 1886, what is probably the most well-known soft drink in the world was invented and served. Dr. John Stith Pemberton, an Atlanta (Georgia) pharmacist, created the syrup for a new drink, which his partner and bookkeeper, Frank M. Robinson, named Coca-Cola, and a new age for soft drinks was begun.
At the time, the beverage was advertised as a tonic, good for "Sick Headaches, Neuralgia, Hysteria, Melancholy..." and even morphine addiction! Considering the original formula was said to contain both coca leaves and kola nuts, it may well have cured headache and melancholy, though I can't attest to any of the other ailments. Dr. Pemberton carried a jug of his new syrup down the street to Jacobs' Pharmacy, where it was sampled, pronounced "excellent," and sold for five cents a glass as a soda fountain drink, mixed with carbonated water.
Robinson's elegant handwriting was also responsible for the iconic trademark for the drink. The first newspaper ad for Coca-Cola soon appeared in The Atlanta Journal, inviting readers to try "the new and popular soda fountain drink." Hand-painted oilcloth signs bearing the trademark were hung from store awnings, with the word "drink" added so passersby knew the new word referred to a soda fountain beverage.
During the first year, sales averaged only nine drinks a day.
Dr. Pemberton never realized the full potential of his tonic. He gradually sold portions of the business to various partners. Just before his death in 1888, he sold his remaining interest in the beverage to Asa G. Candler, an Atlanta businessman and fellow pharmacist. Candler then proceeded to buy up additional rights an dsoon acquired complete control, for a total investment of $2,300. Under Candler's management, the Coca-Cola label soon dominated the global soft drink market throughout the 20th and 21st Centuries.
The background of Coca-Cola is as interesting as its current popularity. In 1885, at Dr. Pemberton's Columbus, Georgia drugstore (Eagle Drug and Chemical House), the pharmacist registered a nerve tonic called Pemberton's French Wine Coca. This might have been inspired by the success of Vin Mariani, a French-Corsican coca wine, but Pemberton's recipe also included the African kola nut, containing caffeine. In the same year, a Spanish drink called Kola Coca was presented in Philadelphia for a contest. In 1953, the rights for this drink were purchased by Coca-Cola.
In 1886, when Atlanta and Fulton County passed prohibition legislation, Pemberton's response was to develop a non-alcoholic version of his French Wine Coca, marketed as--you guessed it!--Coca-Cola. The "temperance drink" appealed to many people as the temperance movement became more popular. Drugstore soda fountains were also popular in America at the time due to the belief that carbonated water was healthier than still, and Coca-Cola was marketed and sold as a patent medicine.
Your characters may have enjoyed a glass of Coca-Cola at a soda fountain, or sought the drink out to cure whatever ailed them. At least it didn't have some of the crazy ingredients some patent medicines did, like opium or chloroform!
J.E.S. Hays
www.jeshays.com
www.facebook.com/JESHaysBooks
