Throughout time many changes have taken place to make cities what they are today. One of the most important changes in my opinion was the invention of the soft fountain drink known today as Coca-Cola. John Pemberton, originally a pharmacist, opened the company known as Coca-Cola in 1881 after failing to create successful medications. He did this after moving to Atlanta and seeing advantages in the beverage market. Even though John Pemberton had created a phenomenon, he never got to really see what affect Coca-Cola would have on society, and specifically urban life. Mr. Pemberton had no idea how to advertise, so he gave that task to Frank Robinson. Frank Robinson you could say is what got Coca-cola to what it is today. Robinson not only registered the formula with the patent office and designed a logo that is used to this day, but also he made a slogan that caught many consumer's eyes: "The pause that refreshes."
After Pemberton's death in 1889, they company seemed it was gone and going to fail. At that point a man named Asa Griggs Chandler took over, buying the company for about $2300, equivalent to about $70,000 today. He was made the sole owner of the company and made some changes that would make Coca-Cola from selling 9 glasses a day to tens of thousands of glasses an hour. Mr. Chandler was very fond of advertising and you can see it if you look around this page, or just Google search
Coca-Cola advertisement 1900s. You see these amazing advertisements that were found in everyday newspapers, magazines, calendars, and many other things. Not only making it a successful drink, Chandler tried to put it in the medicine market, saying it removes fatigue and cures headaches. Coca-cola, unfortunately wasn't a successful medication, ending in 1898 after a tax had been put on medications following the Spanish-American War. I have to admit though, I appreciate some coke whenever I am getting tired or my mind is aching.
What did coke provide to city life is a question that was raised as I did much research on this project. Coke did something that I believe no one at the time, or now could. It provided a cheap drink that not only pleased but also refreshed the body. People usually see an increase in quality correlates with an increase in price, but that was not the case with Coca-Cola. Coke started bottling in 1894 when a Mississippi salesman named Joseph Biedenharm suggested the idea. Chandler, the owner of the company, wasn't too fond of it and only wanted to see coke as a fountain drink, but as we see today it proved to be wrong. I honestly like the taste of fountain drinks better, but I have drank probably 10-12 cans of just Coca-Cola in the past week. Two Chattanooga business lawyers bought the idea of bottling coke in 1900 for a sum of $1. In 1900 there were about 20 bottlers of Coca-Cola around the country, by 1920 there were over 1000 bottlers. Coke for 70 years was marked at only 5 cents (changed for inflation obviously). Even though there was a big divide between the working class and upper class, I found that Coca-cola was a commonality. The rich found Coke good because of its quality, and the poor found it nice because of its price. In this holiday season many go out shopping to find the best quality for the lowest price, and that was what Coke provided. This pleased the hearts of the city goers.
Many places throughout the country were vending Coke, whether it was locally in Atlanta or Coney Island in NY. This was possible because the amazing advertising that Frank Robinson had started and continued through Asa Griggs Chandler. They had an idea of giving out free coupons for coke. They wanted men and women to try, like, and then buy. This became common in big cities as men and women would appreciate its taste and go on to buy not only once but for a century to come. As I was looking through old newspapers on
Chronocling America I found that Coke was advertised in about a 1500 newspapers from San Francisco to NYC from the years of 1886 to 1920. This innumerable advertising eventually catches your attention. I can attest to that since the radio station I listen to coming to school has been advertising this mortgage company and I get a bit annoyed, however it has caught my attention. Once something is on your mind, you want to give it a shot, and if it is free then why not. That's what coke did, it caught people's attention through amazing and in-numerous advertising in many different everyday products. It got people people to try, like, and buy this drink that is my favorite.
Coca-cola had small beginnings but became the drink of not only the working man but also the families in the upper class. Coke was successful as it stayed alive through prohibition (even though it contained cocaine for some time). What coke did through generations is stay focused, and as my fathers advises me: If you stay focused the sky is the limit. Coke is the drink of anyone, a child or an adult, a man or a woman, an a rich or a poor.
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