On this day: in history (1894), Coca-Cola was sold in bottles for the first time by Joseph A. Biedenharn, owner of a candy store in Vicksburg, Mississippi. For the first several years of its existence, Coke was only available as a fountain drink, and its producer saw no reason for that to change.
Coca-Cola was originally developed as a non-addictive substitute for morphine, then marketed as a non-alcoholic drink. Coca-Cola was invented by John Pemberton, a druggist in Columbus, Georgia, in 1886. It was soon popular throughout the region, and the rights to the brand passed to Asa Griggs Candler. Candler’s nephew had advised him that selling the drink in bottles could greatly increase sales, but Griggs apparently wasn’t interested. Believing that bottles could boost sales, Biedenharn put the drink into a common and reusable glass bottle that bore no resemblance to the modern Coke bottle. He sent Candler a case, but Candler continued to stick with fountain sales.
Five years later, Candler still convinced that bottling would not be a major source of revenue, sold the bottling rights for a dollar and reportedly never collected even that. The contract stipulated that a bottle of Coke would cost 5 cents and had no end date, a legal oversight that resulted in the price remaining the same until 1959.
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Created by Okey Obiabunmo
