Pepsi Cola, Coca Cola; Among the Finer Things in Life!
Soft drinks are the substance of our lives. Of this there can be no doubt. I for one have been drinking Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola since childhood. Did you ever take time to wonder about the history of these two great and life-enriching drinks?
Pepsi Cola, an American classic, goes back to one pharmacist, Caleb Bradham, who in the waning days of the 19th century was occupied with preparing formula after formula involving carbonated water, sugar, and as luck would have it, vanilla and cola nuts at his drugstore soda fountain. His final concoction, which Caleb called "Brad's Drink," soon grew in popularity; he changed the name of the beverage to "Pep Cola". As it happens the Greeks used the word "pepsi" to describe certain functions of the stomach. Since the carbonated water in Brad's Drink promoted healthy digestion, the product finally became "Pepsi Cola." Brad sold Pepsi Cola for years, and in 1929 a celebrity auto racer, Barney Oldfield, endorsed it in newspaper ads as "A bully drink...refreshing, invigorating, a fine bracer before a race."
Advertising and Pepsi Cola went hand in hand. Upon the introduction in 1934 of a 12-ounce bottle which sold for a dime, the drink's popularity sky-rocketed. Then the price was slashed to a nickel and sales went "through the roof." Radio listeners, in those golden early days of radio broadcasting, were treated to a jingle: "Pepsi Cola hits the spot - Twelve full ounces, that's a lot - Twice as much for a nickel, too - Pepsi-Cola is the drink for you." Jingles come and go. In 1958 it was, "Be Sociable, Have a Pepsi." On then to 1961 - "Now It's Pepsi for Those Who Think Young." And in 1963, "Come Alive, You're in the Pepsi Generation."
But you my fine reader may profess a preference for Coca-Cola. For that, we go back to 1815. At that early date, John Pemberton, of Covington, Georgia, had developed a Cokawine - a wine made not of grapes, but of coka leaf extract - a wine formulated from what is now in most countries an illegal substance. At the time that Coka drug was heralded by all, including doctors, as a cure-all for just about everything. To this very day Coca Cola contains coka leaf extract processed at a plant in Maywood, New Jersey -- the only U.S. plant with government permission to import and process the plant. (In 1903 that coka leaf was replaced with a milder, drug-free version.) Coca-Cola, a carbonated, non-alcoholic version of French-Wine Cola, was sold, for five cents a glass, as a patent medicine, and it cured a wide range of ills. The current exact formula of Coca-Cola is a famous trade secret. The original copy of the formula for Coca-Cola is stored in an Atlanta, Georgia bank vault. To this day, only two top executives of the Coca-Cola Company have access to the vault, and to the secret formula!
Robert Winship Woodruff was an entrepreneur who contributed greatly to the success of the Coca-Cola Company. In 1941, the United States had become entrenched in World War ll. Woodruff ordered that the company provide "Every man in uniform" with "a bottle of Coca-Cola for 5 cents, wherever he is and whatever it costs the Company."
Currently, Coca-Cola is using its assets to encourage millions of people across the United States to tune into the television broadcasts of the "We Are The World 25 For Haiti" video and to visit www.WORLD25.org to download the song and support those in Haiti.
The current theme for The Coca-Cola Company is "Open Happiness".
Pepsi Cola, an American classic, goes back to one pharmacist, Caleb Bradham, who in the waning days of the 19th century was occupied with preparing formula after formula involving carbonated water, sugar, and as luck would have it, vanilla and cola nuts at his drugstore soda fountain. His final concoction, which Caleb called "Brad's Drink," soon grew in popularity; he changed the name of the beverage to "Pep Cola". As it happens the Greeks used the word "pepsi" to describe certain functions of the stomach. Since the carbonated water in Brad's Drink promoted healthy digestion, the product finally became "Pepsi Cola." Brad sold Pepsi Cola for years, and in 1929 a celebrity auto racer, Barney Oldfield, endorsed it in newspaper ads as "A bully drink...refreshing, invigorating, a fine bracer before a race."
Advertising and Pepsi Cola went hand in hand. Upon the introduction in 1934 of a 12-ounce bottle which sold for a dime, the drink's popularity sky-rocketed. Then the price was slashed to a nickel and sales went "through the roof." Radio listeners, in those golden early days of radio broadcasting, were treated to a jingle: "Pepsi Cola hits the spot - Twelve full ounces, that's a lot - Twice as much for a nickel, too - Pepsi-Cola is the drink for you." Jingles come and go. In 1958 it was, "Be Sociable, Have a Pepsi." On then to 1961 - "Now It's Pepsi for Those Who Think Young." And in 1963, "Come Alive, You're in the Pepsi Generation."
But you my fine reader may profess a preference for Coca-Cola. For that, we go back to 1815. At that early date, John Pemberton, of Covington, Georgia, had developed a Cokawine - a wine made not of grapes, but of coka leaf extract - a wine formulated from what is now in most countries an illegal substance. At the time that Coka drug was heralded by all, including doctors, as a cure-all for just about everything. To this very day Coca Cola contains coka leaf extract processed at a plant in Maywood, New Jersey -- the only U.S. plant with government permission to import and process the plant. (In 1903 that coka leaf was replaced with a milder, drug-free version.) Coca-Cola, a carbonated, non-alcoholic version of French-Wine Cola, was sold, for five cents a glass, as a patent medicine, and it cured a wide range of ills. The current exact formula of Coca-Cola is a famous trade secret. The original copy of the formula for Coca-Cola is stored in an Atlanta, Georgia bank vault. To this day, only two top executives of the Coca-Cola Company have access to the vault, and to the secret formula!
Robert Winship Woodruff was an entrepreneur who contributed greatly to the success of the Coca-Cola Company. In 1941, the United States had become entrenched in World War ll. Woodruff ordered that the company provide "Every man in uniform" with "a bottle of Coca-Cola for 5 cents, wherever he is and whatever it costs the Company."
Currently, Coca-Cola is using its assets to encourage millions of people across the United States to tune into the television broadcasts of the "We Are The World 25 For Haiti" video and to visit www.WORLD25.org to download the song and support those in Haiti.
The current theme for The Coca-Cola Company is "Open Happiness".
DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION:
The Contributor has no connection to nor was paid by the brand or product described in this content.
The Contributor has no connection to nor was paid by the brand or product described in this content.
Published by John Lake
Born on the North Side of Chicago. Educated at the University of Illinois, Years in Wonder Lake, and Lake Geneva, then back to Chi-town! View profile
Battle of the Soda Pops: Pepsi Versus Coca-Cola ClassicIt's been 107 years since Pepsi was launched in North Caroline, USA. The brand has modest beginnings just like most other big successes. - Pepsi VS. Coke: The Battle of a CenturyFor over 115 years these two companies have claimed to have the better cola. They continue to spend millions in advertising trying to convince the public that their product is superior.
Which is the Better Cola Soda: Coca-Cola Classic Versus PepsiA product comparison between Coca-Cola Classic and Pepsi.- Why Didn't Moviegoers Surrender to Phantom of the Opera?In aria, Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera begs his reluctant muse "surrender to the music of the night."
- The Sisterhood of the Traveling PantsA review of the new hygiene challenged, tweener girlpower flick The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
- Atlanta, Georgia's Coca-Cola Bottling Company Remains America's Number One Brand
- The History of Pepsi-Cola
- Product Review: Pepsi Cola Throwback
- The End of Coca-Cola and Pepsi: Or At Least the End of Their Rewards Programs
- Pepsi Throwback: Bringing Taste Back to Mountain Dew and Pepsi Cola by Using Sugar...
- Coca Cola Versus Pepsi Cola Products, Which is Better?
- Pepsi Cola Recipes, Uses and Tips from a Pepsi-holic
As it happens the Greeks used the word "pepsi" to describe certain functions of the stomach. Since the carbonated water in Brad's Drink promoted healthy digestion, the product finally became "Pepsi Cola."