A CENTURY AGO

a century ago Grover Cleveland was the 22nd President of the United States and the Statue of Liberty was dedicated in New York Harbor 900 miles south in Atlanta Georgia and obscure pharmacist John Pemberton concocted a soft drink syrup in an iron kettle he put it in jugs and sold it to Jacobs pharmacy where it was mixed with carbonated water at the soda fountain and served customers across the stores marble counter the drink was named coca-cola although businesses were growing and manufacturing processes becoming more refined the production and marketing of carbonated soft drinks remained relatively primitive Pemberton's drink was to change this although the sales results in 1886 came to only $50 while advertising expenses were $73 96 cents in 1888 Pemberton sold his interest in the product to an Atlanta wholesale druggist asic handler for $550 in three years Candler had acquired the total rights to coca-cola for an additional $1,800 he sold his other interests in order to devote all his efforts to the product and registered the trademark coca-cola by 1897 coca-cola while still sold only at soda fountains had established branch operations in Dallas Los Angeles Chicago and Philadelphia to better serve its customers nationwide in 1898 the first building constructed specifically to house the headquarters of the coca-cola company was completed and the following year an event took place that would profoundly influence the growth of coca-cola two gentlemen from Chattanooga Tennessee Benjamin F Thomas and Joseph B Whitehead came to Atlanta and asked mr. canler to grant them the rights to bottle coca-cola throughout the United States although he had allowed Joseph a Biedenharn of Vicksburg Mississippi to begin putting the product in bottles in 1894 Candler was still skeptical of the future of the bottled product however he sold Thomas and whitehead the bottling rights for virtually all of the country for the sum of $1 legend has it he never bothered to collect this toke payment with the substantial assistance of a third Chattanooga jaunty Lupton Thomas and white head began to build a network of independent bottlers from coast to coast the efforts of Candler thomas whitehead and Lupton the growth of sales at the soda fountain and the ever-expanding bottler system kept coca-cola on the move through the first two decades of the 20th century [Music] [Music] in 1919 mr. canler sold the coca-cola company for 25 million dollars to a group of investors led by Ernest Woodruff the sale was the forerunner of an event that took place in 1923 an event that would shape the character and assure the continued success of coca-cola that was the year when Ernest Woodruff's eldest son the 32 year old Robert Winship Woodruff was elected president of the coca-cola company although Ernest Woodruff himself questioned the move under Robert Woodruff's leadership coca-cola began to move forward with renewed vigor it was he who recognized the potential in meeting the refreshment needs of the world by expanding the products limited offshore distribution within six years coca-cola was being sold in two dozen countries outside the United States and Canada with strong advertising and distribution like that in Holland Belgium and Spain in Panama Italy in England and in Germany Mexico France and China by the end of the 1920s coca-cola had become truly international and was moving ahead at a pace that would continue through the years of economic depression and world conflict [Music] [Applause] at the outset of World War two mr. Woodruff had ordered the company to see that every man in uniform gets a bottle of coca-cola for five cents wherever he is and whatever it costs during the war five billion bottles of coke went to service men and women from sixty-four bottling plants that were shipped overseas and set up as close as possible to combat areas one year after the war's end coca-cola was available in 59 countries the past four decades have seen dramatic changes in the soft drink industry new products new packages new technology new consumer lifestyles but coca-cola has continued to stay a step ahead of the changing times [Music] looking back over the years we can see early bottling works replaced by modern production facilities the foot powered bottling machines give way to generations of new machinery machines that today are capable of filling over 1,500 packages per minute we see the wooden syrup drum as a distant ancestor of the giant tank truck the old truck is first in a long parade of delivery vehicles we see the world-renowned hobble skirt bottle of 1916 as the father of a healthy family of all shapes and sizes the six bottle curtain of 1924 as the inspiration for an ever evolving line of convenient multipacks the ice filled tub replaced by the open cooler of 1928 forerunner of improved models to follow we see variations on the old fountain syrup urn give way to the automatic dispenser of 1933 the forerunner of ever improving units the coin controlled vendor of 1935 as the first of an increasingly sophisticated line of automatic units keeping in step with an ever-changing world has always been a major strength of the coca-cola system as consumer lifestyles and tastes have changed coca-cola has changed to meet them as the nature of the trade has changed from small stores and shops to giant food stores and fast food restaurant chains coca-cola has changed to better serve their needs as ways of communicating with the public have changed coca-cola has changed the ways to deliver its message of refreshment most effectively during the last four decades television has been a powerful force in strengthening the image and widening the acceptance of coca-cola with timely tasteful and memorable messages in this country and beyond [Music] nothing nothing else gives you the bracing Sparkle and the bright little lips that so delightful of yours and ice-cold coca-cola coke has a distinctive flavor all its own that no one has ever succeeded in message no wonder coca-cola is the most asked in the world [Music] [Music] it's right now why not let an ice cold coke make things go better for you in cold crisp never too sweet fun and people all need the spirited taste of ice cold coke to be really refreshed things go better with coca-cola things go better with coke [Music] what you hoping to find it's a real it's a real thing code [Music] to see [Music] see what [Music] that's a way the bottle of code and the way once today [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] yeah you need any help mm-hmm what my cult no no really you can have it okay thanks [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] the most refreshing way to make the most of every day and wherever you go and whatever you do the something big waiting for me [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] you are about to experience something new a new wave of taste that will stretch your imagination a taste so smooth so refreshing so irresistible your only choice will be catch the wave looking back over the road coca-cola has traveled we see a record of success that was built unsuccessfully meeting the human desire for refreshment and the ability to meet this desire first with a single delicious and refreshing soft drink a drink that has fathered a line of quality brands for every taste in every occasion in 1886 13 drinks of coca-cola were purchased daily in 1986 that figure is more than 300 million drinks a day and that's the figure for coca-cola alone include the company's other soft drink products and the daily total exceeds 450 million astounding and growing today coca-cola is part of the lives of people in more than 155 countries now the coca-cola system is crossing the threshold that leads into a new century certainly the coming decades we'll see today's theories become realities and we'll experience realities as yet undreamed of the coca-cola enterprise will anticipate and adapt to the world of the future and continue to grow the enterprise will grow because whatever the years ahead may hold for ours and succeeding generations it will remain on the leading edge of marketing practices and technological innovations it will keep in step with the changes that take place among its customers and consumers everywhere as in the past coca-cola and our other products will remain ever contemporary every young while new products and new methods of service will be developed and put in place to fulfill the evolving needs of customers and consumers change is inevitable it is welcome and its pace will accelerate but there is one factor that will remain unchanged it is timeless it is the simple desire of people everywhere to pause to refresh and this is the core of the success of coca-cola yesterday today and tomorrow [Music] title dolls I like to teach the world to save me [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music]