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Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era and the Consumer Economy, 1921-1929
The story of a pantry shelf, an outline history of grocery specialties: a machine-readable transcription.
2,400,000,000 Nickels
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2,400,000,000 Nickels
Coca Cola Once Was Mixed with a Kettle
and a Ladle in the Kitchen of an Old
Residence. Now Its Manufacture and
Distribution Require One of the Greatest
Commercial Chains in America
Coca Cola Once Was Mixed with a Kettle and a Ladle in the Kitchen of an Old Residence. Now Its Manufacture and Distribution Require One of the Greatest Commercial Chains in America
A search for perfection, begun in 1880, has resulted in the sale of 2,400,000,000 five-cent drinks of COCA COLA in one year.
Originated before modern chemisty was able to reproduce the tastes and colors that occur in nature by means of chemical compounds, COCA COLA still remains an old-fashioned beverage, composed entirely of natural products.
Atlanta, Georgia, was the scene of the labors of Dr. J.S. Pemberton, the originator of COCA COLA. As a contrast to the thirteen modern factories, equipped with every device for preserving the purity and wholesomeness of COCA
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COLA, he worked with a kettle and a ladle in the kitchen of an old residence.
On the corner below the house was a drug store, equipped with a soda fountain, one of the three fountains in the city at that time, though the number has increased to 389 now. After mixing a new combination in his kettle, Dr. Pemberton would rush down to the little drug store, mix his syrup with carbonated water and taste the drink.
In 1886 he made his final trial, his sense of taste assured him that he had reached perfection, his beverage was ready for the market. An associate, F. M. Robinson, suggested the name COCA COLA, and that year 26 gallons were sold. This ends the first chapter of the romance, the period of discovery.
The second chapter in the story of COCA COLA must describe the solution of a problem peculiarly modern--distribution.
Though the taste was good, the product wholesome, its manufacture clean, and its results as a thirst-quencher excellent, there still remained the difficulty of spreading the beverage and the message from the old resident in Atlanta to every town and hamlet of the United States and Canada and to 29 foreign countries.
For this purpose the original Coca Cola Company was organized as a close corporation in 1892. The originator had died and the destiny of COCA COLA was left in the hands of business men, better equipped than he perhaps to effect distribution. There had been no predecessor to show them how to market a soft drink. No pioneer had blazed the trail. Their methods were of necessity original.
The Coca Cola Company was one of the first companies in America to catch the vision of advertising--a means of telling the world that you have a quality product--delicious and refreshing.
Beginning with an initial expenditure of $46.00, the advertising appropriation has grown until at the end of 1924 more than forty million dollars had been spent advertising COCA COLA.
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In response to demand, factories were built at Dallas and Chicago, then Los Angeles, New York, Cuba and Canada, until now 13 factories, 27 warehouses, 1,200 bottlers, 2,300 jobbers, 115,000 fountain dealers and 300,000 bottle dealers form the distribution chain of COCA COLA.
During the year 1919 the close corporation which was The Coca Cola Company was changed into a corporation composed of thousands of stockholders.
The direction of the vast COCA COLA business now rests in the hands of Robert W. Woodruff. Under his able guidance, the manufacturing process was perfected and a sales organization, commensurate with the advertising development, was built. No small job, this, to cover the United States, Canada and Cuba with the actual beverage, the message inviting each passerby to partake and the service to the retailer afforded by the monthly visits of our salesmen. This task required the genius of organization.
The search for perfection brought success. The 26 gallons have increased to 700,000 times that amount. The romance of discovery was followed by the intelligent application of modern business methods, and the result is 6,000,000 nickels a day spent for COCA COLA.
Possessing the first essential, quality product, confident in the ability of its leader, assured by the cumulative effect of 39 years of advertising and the knowledge of steadily increasing sales, The Coca Cola Company looks forward to the future, realizing that popular demand has made of its product an essential.
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