New Coca-Cola: Branded, Bottled, Corked, and only 5¢!
New Coca-Cola: Branded, Bottled, Corked, and only 5¢!
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COCA-COLA IN BOTTLES
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The Coca-Cola Bottle, through the years. Image: Courtesy of FanPop
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In 1894, impressed by the growing demand for Coca‑Cola and the desire to make the beverage portable, Joseph Biedenharn installed bottling machinery in the rear of his Mississippi soda fountain, becoming the first to put Coca‑Cola in bottles. Large scale bottling was made possible just five years later, when in 1899, three enterprising businessmen in Chattanooga, Tennessee secured exclusive rights to bottle and sell Coca‑Cola. The three entrepreneurs purchased the bottling rights from Asa Candler for just $1. Benjamin Thomas, Joseph Whitehead and John Lupton developed what became the Coca‑Cola worldwide bottling system.
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Among the biggest challenges for early bottlers, were imitations of the beverage by competitors coupled with a lack of packaging consistency among the 1,000 bottling plants at the time. The bottlers agreed that a distinctive beverage needed a standard and distinctive bottle, and in 1916, the bottlers approved the unique contour bottle. The new Coca‑Cola bottle was so distinctive it could be recognized in the dark and it effectively set the brand apart from competition. The contoured Coca‑Cola bottle was trademarked in 1977. Over the years, the Coca‑Cola bottle has been inspiration for artists across the globe — a sampling of which can be viewed at World of Coca‑Cola in Atlanta. (emphasis added)
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Coca-Cola’s Bottles Over the Years. Changing Shape and Cork gives way to Metal Cap. Image: Courtesy of Meme Center
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Coca-Cola In the Distinctive Bottle, est. 1886. Tin sign, sized 16×13-inches, for sale at Amazon.com.
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Coca-Cola “Call for the Genuine” vintage-style sign, 12.5×16-inches, for sale on Amazon.com.
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CORKS
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Speaking of bottles, they still hadn’t satisfactorily solved the problem of how to cap a bottle, back in the 1870s. They had soda water, yes, and other sparkling beverages as well, champagne, sparkling burgundies, and the like. But for capping bottles, they still mostly used corks, wired on, glued on, wrapped on, a weird and wonderful assortment of not-too-good methods. Nobody popped a cap in the sixties, seventies, or eighties, unless it was a percussion cap. The crimped bottle cap, as we know it, didn’t arrive until 1892.
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~ The Look of the Old West by William Foster-Harris, with illustrations by Evelyn Curro, The Viking Press, 1955, p 116 (reprinted again, including 1960 and 2007, also 2007)
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LOGOS THROUGH THE YEARS
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Logo Timeline. Image: Courtesy of Pinterest.
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Coca-Cola Logo Evolution. Image: Courtesy of Packaging Sense
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SPENCERIAN SCRIPT
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Coca-Cola Spencerian Script: the “font”, “handwriting” used to create the famous logo. This image of a metal sign, originating in 1952 is weathered and worn, and courtesy of picclick.com (a service for searching ebay faster).
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See a bit more about Spencerian handwriting/script in my Fountain Pens article, and see why so much handwriting from the late 19th century strongly resembles the Coca-Cola trademark logo.
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ONLY 5¢
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What cost $0.05 in 1886 would cost $1.35 in 2016. (last year available)
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Victorian Coca-Cola Advertisement. One of the numerous Victorian-era inventions in the United States.
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“On January 31, 1893 Coca Cola was granted its first trademark from the patent office. From that day onward, the brand would appear with the words TRADE MARK underneath.” ~ FinePrintNYC.com
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What cost $0.05 in 1899 would cost $1.46 in 2016. (last year available)
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$1.46 (comparatively) for a serving of Coca-Cola at the soda fountain… 6 to 8 oz. Not bad, given the price of the company (with the secret recipe)…
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1891: Atlanta businessman Asa G. Chandler buys the company for $2,300.
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What cost $2300.00 in 1891 would cost $62,313.70 in 2016. (last year available).
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But the product was selling very well, and the company thrived with the rapid increase in consumption.
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Updated March 2021
Copyright © 2017 Kristin Holt LC
New Coca-Cola: Branded, Bottled, Corked, and only 5¢!
This was a fun and informative article. Thanks for researching the subject. I can’t wait for the next one.
Thanks, Marianne–
I’ve had a bit too much fun looking into the Coca-Cola of the late 19th century. Every little bit of detail I’ve heard older generations speak of, and digging into original sources. At least two more Coca-Cola articles to come!
Kristin