III.

Early Growth

In 1893 Candler registered Coca-Cola as a patented trademark. He also responded to growing concerns over the dangers of cocaine by reducing the amount of coca in the drink to a trace. However, he kept some coca extract in Coca-Cola so the name would accurately describe the drink. Candler only had a patent on the name, and not the drink syrup—that is, the drink’s base, containing all the ingredients minus the carbonated water. He figured that keeping the coca in his formula would legally allow the company to distinguish its drink from imitations. Other companies also produced soda drinks made with kola nut extracts. In particular, the Pepsi-Cola Company (see PepsiCo, Inc.) and its cola of the same name (or Pepsi, for short) would become Coca-Cola’s major competitor over the next few decades.

Candler also spent more than $11,000 on his first massive advertising campaign in 1892. The Coca-Cola logo appeared across the country, painted as a mural on walls; displayed on posters and soda fountains where the drink was served; and imprinted on widely marketed, common household items, such as calendars and drinking glasses. In addition, Candler was the first person ever to use coupons to gain customers for a product. He distributed flyers offering free soda fountain glasses of Coca-Cola to people visiting his drugstore.

In 1894 the Coca-Cola company opened its first Coke syrup production plant outside of Atlanta, in Dallas, Texas. That same year a candy store owner in Vicksburg, Mississippi, installed bottling machines and produced the first bottled Coke. It had previously been sold only at soda fountains. By 1895 the drink was sold in all U.S. states and territories.

In 1899 lawyers Benjamin Thomas and Joseph Whitehead of Chattanooga, Tennessee, bought the exclusive rights to distribute Coke syrup to bottlers throughout most of the country for only one dollar. At the time, Candler saw little profit in bottling, and was more than willing to give up that part of the business. Their contract maintained that Candler could withdraw bottling rights, however, if the quality of bottled Coke was not consistently high. Because of differences in availability of time and money, Thomas and Whitehead split their partnership soon after it started. In 1890 Thomas took bottling rights for the Northeast and the West Coast. Whitehead received financial backing from Chattanooga businessman John Lupton, and the two formed the Dixie Coca-Cola Bottling Plant in Atlanta. They had bottling rights for the Southeast, and they soon gained rights for the Southwest and Midwest as well. Their enterprise established an extensive bottling franchise system that still exists.

In 1915 the Root Glass Company created a contour glass bottle for Coke, its design based on the curvature of a coca bean. This bottle design became a Coke trademark worldwide. The same year, Candler retired from the company, passing it on to his children and moving into politics. He was elected mayor of Atlanta in 1916.

In 1919 the Candler family sold Coca-Cola to businessman Ernest Woodruff of Columbus, Georgia, for $25 million. Woodruff’s son, Robert, was elected company president in 1923. Robert Woodruff was a skilled marketer, and he put more of the company’s resources into market research than into manufacturing Coke. Two new Coke slogans were developed under Woodruff: “The Pause that Refreshes” (1929) and “It’s the Real Thing” (1941).