John Pemberton
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| John Stith Pemberton | |
 John Stith Pemberton
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| Born | January 8, 1831 Georgia |
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| Died | August 16, 1888 (aged 57) |
| Resting place | Linwood Cemetery in Columbus, Georgia |
| Nationality |  United States |
| Occupation | Druggist |
| Known for | Coca-Cola |
John Stith Pemberton (January 8, 1831–August 16, 1888) was a Confederate veteran, an American druggist, and perhaps was best known for being the inventor of Coca-Cola, which in his lifetime had been used only for medical purposes.
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[edit] Invention of Coca-Cola
While he was a druggist and chemist in Columbus, Georgia, Pemberton began work on a coca wine, an alcoholic beverage mixed with coca, kola nut and damiana called Pemberton's French Wine Coca. It was intended to stop headaches, Henniganism and calm nervousness, but others insist he was attempting to create a pain reliever for himself and other wounded Confederate veterans.
In 1885, when Atlanta and Fulton County enacted temperance legislation, Pemberton produced a nonalcoholic alternative to his French Wine Coca. Frank Mason Robinson came up with the name "Coca-Cola" for the alliterative sound, which was popular among other wine medicines of the time. Although the name quite clearly refers to the two main ingredients, the controversy over cocaine content would later prompt The Coca-Cola Company to state that it is "meaningless but fanciful." Robinson also hand wrote the Spencerian script on the bottles and ads. Pemberton also made many health claims for his product and marketed it as 'delicious, refreshing, exhilarating, invigorating' and touted it as a 'valuable brain tonic' that would cure headaches, relieve exhaustion and calm nerves.
Asa Candler bought the business in 1888. In 1894, Coke was, for the first time, sold in bottles. During World War II, bottling plants were set up in Europe, Africa, and the Pacific.
Pemberton himself was plagued by an addiction to morphine[1] and imbibed his cocawine and soda in an effort to control the addiction (both beverages contained coca leaf, from which cocaine is derived). The original formula allegedly called for 8.46 mg of cocaine, while an average dose of the street drug is between 15–35 mg. However, the effects of the coca leaf is greatly compounded by the presence of caffeine from the kola nut. Coca-Cola was originally advertised as a cure for morphine and opium addictions among a multitude of other health benefits.
[edit] References
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This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (May 2009) |
- ^ Dominic Streatfeild, Cocaine: An Unauthorized Biography, Macmillan (2003), p. 80. ISBN 0312422261
[edit] Further reading
- Schoenberg, B S (1988), "Coke's the one: the centennial of the "ideal brain tonic" that became a symbol of America.", South. Med. J. 81 (1): 69–74, 1988 Jan, doi:, PMID 3276011, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3276011
- King, M M (1987), "Dr. John S. Pemberton: originator of Coca-Cola.", Pharmacy in history 29 (2): 85–9, PMID 11621277, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11621277
- Hasegawa, Guy (March 1, 2000), "Pharmacy in the American Civil War.", American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy 57 (5): 457–489, American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy
[edit] External links
- John Stith Pemberton Entry in the New Georgia Encyclopedia
- Patent for an Improved Medical Compound from Globe Flower - Patent #100439, dated March 1, 1870
