125 Years Ago... Life without Coca-Cola - Letter Six

As a thank you for sharing our 125th Anniversary Year with us here on the blog, we close out one last time from the voice of someone who knew life before Coca-Cola was invented, in his own words. J.H. Bobbitt of Raleigh, North Carolina, declared in 1892 that "Coca-Cola has come to stay." He turned out to be right. This letter is also on display in the Milestones of Refreshment Gallery at World of Coca-Cola, and I'll let you read his first hand letter below. Cheers, and here's to another 125-plus years for Coca-Cola!

125 Years Ago... Life without Coca-Cola - Letter Five

In this last week of our 125th Anniversary, it is only right that we close it out with the final two letters in our "125 Years Ago... Life Without Coca-Cola" series. Today's letter comes from an Ocala, Florida store with a fantastic name: The Anti-Monopoly Drug Store. The letter is from 1891, and simply reads as follows:

Sir,

Coca-Cola is now the most popular drink sold in this vicinity, every body wants it. Have sold sixty [gallons] in two months.

Yours,

H.C. Grom, Proprietor

125 Years Ago... Life without Coca-Cola - Letter Four

The next letter in our "125 Years Ago... Life without Coca-Cola" series is a February 17, 1891 letter written to Asa Candler from a drug company in Griffin, Georgia. The soda fountain at this location had been serving Coke since 1886, and they shared this letter just two weeks prior to letter three in the series. It reads, "It gives us pleasure to attest the merits of Coca-Cola... It is now the most popular drink that we dispense.

125 Years Ago... Life without Coca-Cola - Letter Three

The third letter in our "125 Years Ago... Life without Coca-Cola" series comes from a soda fountain operator named J.B. Davenport in Augusta, Georgia. Writing on March 4, 1891, just shy of the fifth anniversary of Coca-Cola, he shares, "My customers were so delighted with Coca-Cola last year I have determined to make it my leader this year." He continued later, "I have been running soda founts for the last 15 years, during that time I have bit at nearly every new drink offered. My experience has been they run for a season, then die - not so with Coca-Cola. I am pleased with it. In my opinion Coca-Cola has come to stay." At the end of the testimonial letter, he gives advice to southern fountain operators to "let alone" beverages that come from the North, and "adopt Coca-Cola". While I, a Yankee, take offense at the regionalization, I can't argue the point about adopting Coca-Cola! While letter two in the series reported that "New converts are coming in everyday" for Coca-Cola, this letter proclaimed Coke "a pleasure to dispense".

Opening the "Vault of the Secret Formula"

On more occasions than I can count, people have told me that I have the best job at The Coca-Cola Company. For almost three and a half decades, I have served as the corporate archivist, charged with the responsibility of preserving the history of an American icon. In our collection, we have thousands of pieces of advertising, merchandising and packaging that document the growth of Coca-Cola from a regional soda fountain drink to a global beverage company. In addition to their historical value, many of these items have become high end collectibles commanding premium prices from fans of the brand.

Every day I have an opportunity to touch this incredibly rich collection and to create opportunities to share chapters of the Coca-Cola story with others through interviews, websites and exhibitions. I am trained as a professional archivist, but at The Coca-Cola Company, I am really a storyteller. Whether it is a discussion of the role of the soda fountain in nineteenth century America, the delivery of Coca-Cola to the troops during World War II, or the creation of the modern image of Santa Claus by illustrator Haddon Sundblom, it is really the stories about the brand that make Coca-Cola special and my job unique.

Today was one of those very special days in the history of Coca-Cola, a day that will generate many new stories about the most intriguing aspect of Coca-Cola: its Secret Formula. Today, the Company announced that the most closely guarded secret in the history of American commerce had been moved from a bank vault in Atlanta to the World of Coca-Cola. For the first time in over 85 years, the formula will have a new home. Please take a look at the video below that we used at todays event.

Normally, I only have the opportunity to tell stories after an event has been concluded. This time I had a chance to tell stories in conjunction with a very special event as it was happening. Today was a reminder that I do have the best job at The Coca-Cola Company.

Coke Crossword Puzzle Answers

Thanks to everyone who tested their skills on our Coca-Cola Crossword Puzzle from 1925. Below, you will find the image of the original crossword puzzle art from our collection, which was also run as the puzzle solution in the April 15, 1925 isse of The Red Barrel. Hopefully, you got all the answers right!

Coca-Cola Crossword Puzzle

I came across a curious contour bottle-shaped crossword puzzle in the Archives a few years back. I had no clue what it was at the time, but then about a week ago, while flipping through pages of The Red Barrel magazine, the monthly magazine published by The Coca-Cola Company from the 1920s to the 1950s, I came back across the puzzle, this time with the clues. It turns out that this was the Coca-Cola crossword puzzle winner in the March 1925 issue of The Red Barrel. That's right, readers would develop original crossword puzzles containing words pertaining to Coca-Cola to be published in the magazine. All you crossword puzzle enthusiasts can try your hand at this one, and I'll share an image of the original completed puzzle artwork soon so you can see how well you did! Use the comments field to ask your peers for help and anything else related to the puzzle.

I'll give you one answer: 7 Horizontal - The average enthusiast consumed three bottles per day in 1925, according to the puzzle. Good luck finding the rest of the answers!

125 Years Ago... Life without Coca-Cola - Letter Two

What was life like before Coca-Cola? We (thankfully) don't know. A few weeks back, we shared an 1893 letter that is on display at the World of Coke from a soda fountain operator in Woonsocket, Rhode Island describing the then new product, "Coca-Cola". Today's letter is a Coca-Cola Conversations exclusive from the G.M. Tower Company, a St. Augustine, Florida retailer, written to Asa Candler on December 30, 1890. One of the toughest things for me when I started as an Archivist a decade ago was to read the handwriting from this era, but among the things I can decipher in this letter are the following quotes: "We are on our last barrel of Coca-Cola. New Converts are coming in everyday & the beauty of it is they all make converts of others to its use", and "We make the prediction that in a short time it will become the most popular drink throughout the U.S." If you can make out anything else from this two-page letter, please send it in via comments! 

 

125 Years of Coca-Cola in Atlanta

Not only is Coke celebrating 125 years in 2011, but we are also celebrating 125 years in the great city of Atlanta. We are very proud to still call Atlanta home. Please take a look at this slide show that highlights some of the facts about Coca-Cola and Atlanta throughout the years. Be sure to watch in full screen mode!

125 Years Ago... Life without Coca-Cola - Letter One

What was life like before Coca-Cola? There's probably no one walking the Earth today that would know. Coke was introduced 125 years ago at a soda fountain in Atlanta, Georgia, and picked up steam as the first Cola beverage on the market. While we may not have known life before Coke first hand, there are some testimonial letters in the Archives that talk about the impact of Coca-Cola in the marketplace. This is the first letter in a short series that I will do over the next few weeks that captures the feelings soda fountain operators had about serving this new product, "Coca-Cola". This first letter, from a drug store in Woonsocket, Rhode Island in January of 1893 reads, "In over twenty years experience of Soda Fountain management I have not known a beverage to be put upon the market that in point of giving universal satisfaction and extent of sales can compare with Coca-Cola." You can view this actual letter in the Milestones Gallery at the World of Coca-Cola.