John Pemberton
Encyclopedia
John Stith Pemberton was a Confederate veteran
and an American druggist, and is best known for being the inventor of Coca-Cola
.
) and Martha L. Gant (born 1803 in Virginia
), both of English descent. Though born in nearby Knoxville
, Georgia
, Pemberton, as a young child, moved with his family to the larger city of Columbus
, Georgia. His uncle, John C. Pemberton
, was a Confederate lieutenant general during the U.S. Civil War.
, and like many wounded veterans, he became addicted to morphine
. Searching for a cure for this addiction, he began experimenting with coca
and coca wines, eventually creating his own version of Vin Mariani
, containing kola nut
and damiana
, which he called Pemberton's French Wine Coca
.
With public concern about drug addiction, depression and alcoholism
among veterans, and "neurasthenia
" among "highly-strung" Southern women, his medicinal concoction was advertised as being particularly beneficial for "ladies, and all those whose sedentary employment causes nervous prostration, irregularities of the stomach, bowels and kidneys, who require a nerve tonic and a pure, delightful diffusible stimulant."
In 1886, when Atlanta and Fulton County
enacted temperance
legislation, Pemberton found himself forced to produce a non-alcoholic alternative to his French Wine Coca. Pemberton relied on Atlanta druggist Willis Venable to test, and help him perfect, the recipe for the beverage, which recipe he formulated by trial and error. With Venable's assistance, Pemberton worked out a set of directions for its preparation that eventually included blending the base syrup with carbonated water, and 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 its cocaine
content would later prompt The Coca-Cola Company
to state that the name was "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 1887. In 1894, Coke was sold in bottles for the first time. During World War II
, bottling plants were set up in Europe, Africa, and the Pacific islands
.
John Pemberton was also referenced in an installment of Futurama
titled "The Deep South."
In May 2010, a Twitter
account was created for John Pemberton, which was subsequently "verified" by the website. It is currently active and has more than 55,000 followers as of September 2011.
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
and an American druggist, and is best known for being the inventor of Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
.
Early life
Pemberton was born to James Clifford Pemberton (born 1803 in North CarolinaNorth Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
) and Martha L. Gant (born 1803 in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
), both of English descent. Though born in nearby Knoxville
Knoxville, Georgia
Knoxville is an unincorporated community in and the county seat of Crawford County, Georgia, United States. The community is part of the Macon Metropolitan Statistical Area....
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, Pemberton, as a young child, moved with his family to the larger city of Columbus
Columbus, Georgia
Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Muscogee County, Georgia, United States, with which it is consolidated. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 189,885. It is the principal city of the Columbus, Georgia metropolitan area, which, in 2009, had an estimated population of 292,795...
, Georgia. His uncle, John C. Pemberton
John C. Pemberton
John Clifford Pemberton , was a career United States Army officer who fought in the Seminole Wars and with distinction during the Mexican–American War. He also served as a Confederate general during the American Civil War, noted for his defeat and surrender in the critical Siege of Vicksburg in...
, was a Confederate lieutenant general during the U.S. Civil War.
Invention of Coca-Cola
In April 1865, Pemberton was wounded in the Battle of Columbus, GeorgiaBattle of Columbus, Georgia
The Battle of Columbus, Georgia , also known as the Battle of Girard, Alabama is widely regarded to be the last battle of the American Civil War...
, and like many wounded veterans, he became addicted to morphine
Morphine
Morphine is a potent opiate analgesic medication and is considered to be the prototypical opioid. It was first isolated in 1804 by Friedrich Sertürner, first distributed by same in 1817, and first commercially sold by Merck in 1827, which at the time was a single small chemists' shop. It was more...
. Searching for a cure for this addiction, he began experimenting with coca
Coca
Coca, Erythroxylum coca, is a plant in the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America. The plant plays a significant role in many traditional Andean cultures...
and coca wines, eventually creating his own version of Vin Mariani
Vin Mariani
Vin Mariani was a tonic and patent medicine created circa 1863 by Angelo Mariani, a French chemist who became intrigued with coca and its economic potential after reading Paolo Mantegazza’s paper on coca's effects...
, containing kola nut
Kola nut
Kola Nut is the nut of the kola tree, a genus of trees native to the tropical rainforests of Africa, classified in the family Malvaceae, subfamily Sterculioideae . It is related to the South American genus Theobroma, or cocoa...
and damiana
Damiana
Turnera diffusa, known as damiana, is a shrub native to southwestern Texas in the United States, Central America, Mexico, South America, and the Caribbean. It belongs to the family Passifloraceae....
, which he called Pemberton's French Wine Coca
Pemberton's French Wine Coca
Pemberton's French Wine Coca was a coca wine created by the druggist John Stith Pemberton, the inventor of Coca-Cola.It was an alcoholic beverage, mixed with coca, kola nut and damiana....
.
With public concern about drug addiction, depression and alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
among veterans, and "neurasthenia
Neurasthenia
Neurasthenia is a psycho-pathological term first used by George Miller Beard in 1869 to denote a condition with symptoms of fatigue, anxiety, headache, neuralgia and depressed mood...
" among "highly-strung" Southern women, his medicinal concoction was advertised as being particularly beneficial for "ladies, and all those whose sedentary employment causes nervous prostration, irregularities of the stomach, bowels and kidneys, who require a nerve tonic and a pure, delightful diffusible stimulant."
In 1886, when Atlanta and Fulton County
Fulton County, Georgia
Fulton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. Its county seat is Atlanta, the state capital since 1868 and the principal county of the Atlanta metropolitan area...
enacted temperance
Temperance movement
A temperance movement is a social movement urging reduced use of alcoholic beverages. Temperance movements may criticize excessive alcohol use, promote complete abstinence , or pressure the government to enact anti-alcohol legislation or complete prohibition of alcohol.-Temperance movement by...
legislation, Pemberton found himself forced to produce a non-alcoholic alternative to his French Wine Coca. Pemberton relied on Atlanta druggist Willis Venable to test, and help him perfect, the recipe for the beverage, which recipe he formulated by trial and error. With Venable's assistance, Pemberton worked out a set of directions for its preparation that eventually included blending the base syrup with carbonated water, and Frank Mason Robinson
Frank Mason Robinson
Frank Mason Robinson , was an important early marketer of what became known as Coca-Cola.As a young man he was in Iowa where he married Laura Clapp. In 1886 Frank Mason Robinson settled in Atlanta, where he was secretary and bookkeeper for the Pemberton Chemical Company.Dr...
came up with the name "Coca-Cola" for the alliterative
Alliteration
In language, alliteration refers to the repetition of a particular sound in the first syllables of Three or more words or phrases. Alliteration has historically developed largely through poetry, in which it more narrowly refers to the repetition of a consonant in any syllables that, according to...
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 its cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
content would later prompt The Coca-Cola Company
The Coca-Cola Company
The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational beverage corporation and manufacturer, retailer and marketer of non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups. The company is best known for its flagship product Coca-Cola, invented in 1886 by pharmacist John Stith Pemberton in Columbus, Georgia...
to state that the name was "meaningless but fanciful." Robinson also hand wrote the Spencerian script
Spencerian Script
Spencerian Script is a script style that flourished in the United States from 1850 to 1925.Platt Rogers Spencer, whose name the style bears, was impressed with the idea that America needed a penmanship style that could be written quickly, legibly, and elegantly to aid in matters of business...
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 1887. In 1894, Coke was sold in bottles for the first time. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, bottling plants were set up in Europe, Africa, and the Pacific islands
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
.
John Pemberton in popular culture
In 2010 the Coca-Cola Company paid tribute to Pemberton as a key character within an advertising campaign called "Secret Formula". Centered on the secret ingredients of Coca-Cola, imagery related to Pemberton was used to make people more aware of Coke’s history and mythology.John Pemberton was also referenced in an installment of Futurama
Futurama
Futurama is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of a late 20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J...
titled "The Deep South."
In May 2010, a Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
account was created for John Pemberton, which was subsequently "verified" by the website. It is currently active and has more than 55,000 followers as of September 2011.