1. "Worst Enemy to the Human Family" (Daily Herald from Biloxi, Mississippi on December 18, 1902)
2. "Dr. Kebler...Declares it Has Posion" (State Newspaper from South Carolina, Columbia on March 16, 1911)
3. "Pepsi-Cola Files Suit Against Coca-Cola" (Dallas Morning News from Dallas, Texas on August 9, 1938)
4. "Coca-Cola Says Stop Selling Imitations" (Jonesboro Evening Sun from Jonesboro, Arkansas on June 4, 1909)
5. "Coca-Cola, a Drug Drink" (Jeffersonian from Georgia, Atlanta on August 12, 1909)
6. "New 6-Bottle Carton" (Greensboro Record from Greensboro, North Carolina on April 6, 1933)
The first thing that I did was scroll through the many topics on the archived newspapers page. The first thing that caught my eye was "Coca-Cola." Coca-Cola has always been my preferred soft drink choice, so I wanted to find out more about the "birth" of the popular beverage. After clicking on the topic name I read through the articles found in newspaper that are listed above. After examining all of those newspapers, I have realized that the "invention" of Coca-Cola was a clear example of progressivism.
I found that many people argued that Coca-Cola was extremely bad for you, so much so, that by drinking it you were basically doing drugs. I was fascinated by the fact that people came up with crazy theories to try to stop others from consuming the beverage. I learned that by examining these newspapers I have been able to understand more than if I would have just read in a textbook about the topic. When I was reading these newspaper articles I felt like I was in that time period. I was able to find out how Coca-Cola started, who founded it, and specific details about the company as a whole.
Progressives may have thought that Coca-Cola was a good invention because it brought more money to the economy and it created a "need" for other soft drink companies. But, on the other hand, Coca-Cola created a lot of health problems that would "ruin" the society as a whole. Progressives thought that by drinking Coca-Cola, people would be shorter, not as smart, and not as kind with others. So, for progressives, the invention of Coca-Cola came along with a lot of problems as well as benefits.
I like researching from these kinds of archives. I feel like I really understand the material more and can relate it to other topics in history. For me, learning out of a textbook is hard so this was a nice way for me to connect progressivism to one of my favorite drinks, Coca-Cola. I now can talk about the various problems with Coca-Cola as a company and as a soft drink. I loved finding out about all the types of advertisements that the company used to attract buyers attention. Also, since I did a research project earlier in the year on marketing and advertising, this helped me connect that topic to this specific company. I like how I was able to establish that connection early on in the research and see the "various trends" as I continued researching. Overall, this whole "research project" was very interesting because I can "relate" to the topic.
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| Early Coca-Cola advertisements/signs |
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| Modern advertisement to celebrate 100 years of Coca-Cola |
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| The Famous Coca-Cola Logo |
My Notes on Coca Cola-
The late 1880s was when America really started to love and obsess over carbonated beverages. The Liquid Carbon Company was founded by Jacob Baur in 1888. Jacob was a pharmacist who started selling carbon dioxide in tanks. In 1886, John Pemberton founded a company that sold the Coca-Cola syrup as a remedy for headaches at various pharmacies. In 1889 the company was sold to Asa Candles and they established The Coca-Cola Company in 1892. The first carton of Coca-Cola was introduced to the public in 1923. America was "hooked" on this drink from the moment they took a sip of it. On December 18, 1902, there was a section in the Daily Herald Newspaper called, "Worst Enemy to the Human Family." In this short article, the author talks about how the Georgia Legislature passed a law that "requires dealers in Coca-Cola to pay a license of one thousand (should have been ten thousand) dollars for the privilege of selling the mind destroyer." In other words, Coca-Cola to some people was considered the baddest thing that could have been "invented." People argued that the effects of drinking Coca-Cola was "more lasting and damaging than whisky." This popular soft drink stunted physical growth and damaged brain cells. In another newspaper in South Carolina there was an article titled, "Dr. Kebler...Declares it Has Posion." In this brief passage, Dr, Kebler suggests that Coca-Cola contains poison. Now what does he mean by poison? He means caffeine. He tested 8 ounces of Coca-Cola and found that one and one fourths of the glass was caffeine. To him, "caffeine is a poison." He concluded that the caramel syrup and brown sugar are added to the beverage to hide all the "toxic" stuff that is found in the plain Coca-Cola syrup. An article in the Dallas Morning News in Dallas, Texas claims that Pepsi Cola filed a law suit with Coca-Cola. This article was titled, "Pepsi-Cola Files Suit Against Coca-Cola." In this passage, the author was claiming that Pepsi sued Coca-Cola for using the names "coca" and "cola" exclusively. Pepsi thought that those names/words were public property and that anyone could use them. The official law suit claims that Coca-Cola was trying to monopolize the market of soft drinks by destroying Pepsi-Cola. In the Jonesboro Evening Sun in Arkansas, Jonesboro there is a article titled, "Coca-Cola Says Stop Selling Imitations." This passage talks about how companies in cities were using the name, "Coca-Cola," to attract more business from the public. But, the truth was they were not selling Coca-Cola, they were just luring the public in and selling them products that were not Coca-Cola.
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