Time for a Break . . . Have a Coca Cola

Coca Cola: It's the Real Thing 

by Martha Rogers

I don't imagine there are many people in the United States or even in the world who haven't heard of Coca Cola. A lot of people call any kind of soda in a bottle or a can Coke, but there is only one true Coke and that's Coca Cola which has been around since 1885 and began as a nerve tonic to help overcome a drug addiction.

A Confederate Colonel, John Pemberton had been wounded in the Civil War and became addicted to heroine. He had a medical degree and begin research into a way to combat his addiction. He owned a drugstore, Pemberton's Eagle Drug and Chemical House in Columbus, Georgia. He registered a nerve tonic, Pemberton's French Wine Coca, and introduced it at his store. He may have been inspired in his research by a French-Corsican coca wine to which he added the African kola nut as a source of caffeine. 

A year later, in 1886, Atlanta and Fulton County passed prohibition legislation. Pemberton promptly marketed a non-alcoholic version of his "Coca-Cola:The Temperance Drink" which appealed to many who chose it as their drink of choice during the prohibition. It sold at Jacob's Pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia on May 8, 1886 for five cents a glass.

Since soda fountains were already popular because of the belief that carbonated water was good for the health, Pemberton's new drink could be marketed and sold as a patent medicine. Pemberton claimed it to be a cure for morphine addiction, indigestion, nerve disorders, and headaches among other things.

Here's a picture of a fountain dispenser at Fleeman's Pharmacy in Atlanta in 1948 and was called "Boat Motor" because of its resemblance to a boat motor. 

Three versions of Coca-Cola emerged and were sold by three separate businesses. Four business men joined with Pemberton to form a co-partnership and combined versions to come up with one. No papers were signed as it was a verbal arrangement. This allowed Asa Candler to acquire a stake in the company in 1887. John Pemberton declared that the name "Coca-Cola" belonged to his son, Charley, but others could use the formula.

Several years of going back and forth with the formula and ownership as new companies formed until, in 1888, Dr. Pemberton died with his remaining shares being sold to Asa Candler. Shortly thereafter, he brought back all the remaining interests to gain complete control of the company. A few years later in July of 1894, Charley Pemberton also died, leaving control to Asa Candler who had already officially formed the Coca Cola company in 1892, six years after the first drink was created.



For many years Candler was content with merely selling the syrup to bottling

companies by contract. However, legal problems plagued the company for years bottlers subcontracted to other companies. The contract specified that the bottles would be sold for 5 cents each with no duration. This led to the fixed price from 1886 to 1959. 

Advertising began promoting the drink and in 1894, the first outdoor sign appeared in Cartersville, Georgia. The syrup was even sold over the counter as a remedy for upset stomach. Here is an example of an early ad.

Coupons were distributed for free Coca Cola as an advertising ploy to promote the drink in the 19th century

 By the time of its 50th anniversary, Coca-Cola had become a national icon. It was even declared kosher and certified by Atlanta Rabbi Tobia Geffen who was the first person to see the top-secret ingredient list. Then the company made minor changes so it would be accepted by the American Jewish population.

Here is a picture of the original framed Coca-Cola artist's graphic. It was presented to Charles Howard Candler on July 12, 1944 when Coca-Cola celebrated the sale of the "1 Billionth Gallon of Coca Cola" Syrup.







In 1931, the company commission Haddon Sundblom to

paint a picture of Santa Claus with a Coca-Cola in his hand. Santa then became related to Coke products and have been shown all over the world. Other ads have featured a variety of people and subjects from polar bears to start athletes to movie stars.






Many of us may remember all the controversy surrounding the company's attempt to introduce the "New Coke" and what a tremendous failure it was as consumers didn't want any meddling with the tried and true. Today it is available in a variety of flavors from Coke Zero to Cherry flavored and caffeine free. In addition Coca Cola offers all kinds of drink like water, tea, and other carbonated drinks with 500 brands and 3,900 beverage choices.

Coca Cola Museum in Las Vegas  

Coca Cola products are now sold in almost every single country in the world, and from its humble beginnings as a medical remedy for addiction and various ailments, its grown to the largest drink company in the world and one of 50 largest companies. 

If you had bought just one share of Coca Cola stock when it was IPO'd in 1919 and held it it, you would now have 9,216 shares after 11 stock splits. Those shares would now be worth than $400,000. Not a bad investment. 

What is your favorite soft drink, soda, pop or whatever you may call it in your part of the country? If you'll leave your email address, you will be eligible for the drawing of the novella described below. 

It's September so can Christmas be far behind? A Gift of Love is now available.

Cherie Kenton came home to Edenville to become business manager of her aunt’s floral shop. Although the town held bad memories for her, the object of that memory didn’t live there anymore. Then, Troy McNeil moved home to partner with his father in his law firm, and his office sat directly across the street from the floral shop. Ten years of the memory of how he humiliated her at their prom has built a wall around Cherie’s heart. It’s a wall Troy is determined to tear down and win back the trust and love of the only girl he has ever truly loved. Will his one selfish mistake as a teenager ruin their chances of ever finding happiness, or will this be the Christmas for the gift of love to reunite their hearts?

Martha Rogers is a free-lance writer and multi-published author from Realms Fiction of Charisma Media and Winged Publications. She was named Writer of the Year at the Texas Christian Writers Conference in 2009. She is a member of ACFW and writes the weekly Verse of the Week for the ACFW Loop. ACFW awarded her the Volunteer of the Year in 2014. Her first electronic series from Winged Publications, Love in the Bayou City of Texas, debuted in the spring of 2015.  Martha is a frequent speaker for writing workshops and the Texas Christian Writers Conference. She is a retired teacher and lives in Houston with her husband, Rex. Their favorite pastime is spending time with their twelve grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. 

Romance on a Toboggan

Toboggan Party, glass negative, ca 1910-1915. Source: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

The social aspect of tobogganing with friends is an enjoyment that can be experienced on snow or in water. Today's post shows images of winter tobogganing, with water tobogganing images to follow at a later date.

In today's modern world the sport of tobogganing might be considered too childish for adults with hectic lives, but a century ago, it was used as a social event for all ages, and especially as a romantic pursuit at a time when chivalry, chaperones and decorum often stood between two interested parties. 

In Sketches from America published in 1870, John White states "...a toboggin is made to hold at least two persons, as in the practice of the sport these two persons are usually of different sexes..." He goes on to explain that the person who steers the toboggan is at the back and can choose the snowbank he wishes to end up in when he upsets the craft and tumbles into the snow with his seat mate of choice. How clever.

Tobogganing, Quebec, 1863. Credit: Library and Archives Canada, Acc. No. R9266-919 Peter Winkworth Collection of Canadiana

Tobogganing certainly was an event enjoyed by all levels of society, including Lady Dufferin, viceregal consort of the 1872-1878 Governor General of Canada, who held toboggan parties on the grounds of Rideau Hall. (For more on composite photography, see my post here.)

"The Toboggan Party", Rideau Hall. This illuminated composite photograph is from Lady Dufferin's personal album. c 1872-1875. Source: Credit: William James Topley/Library and Archives Canada/PA-008492

Around the same period, Outing: The Gentleman's Magazine of Sport, Travel and Outdoor Life, Vol IX Oct 1886-1887 states that, "At present every Canadian city has its toboggan clubs with their elaborately built and prepared slides." The article, Snow-shoe and Toboggan by Newell B. Woodworth, goes on to say that in November 1884, the Saratoga Toboggan Club in New York had the first designated slide in the United States, as opposed to untended natural hills and slopes. 

Saratoga Toboggan Club at their custom-built, members-only toboggan slide, ca 1884-1885. Courtesy of the Saratoga Springs Public Library

By 1886, the Saratoga club slide had been moved to the Glen Mitchell Hotel where it became the longest in the nation running with almost 2,000 feet of iced surface.

Boston, Mass. had an informal toboggan run in Franklin Park prior to 1904 when a large slide was created to provide the public with an alternative sport to ice skating.

Toboganning [sic] scene at Franklin Park, Boston, Mass. C1904 Panoramic. Source: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

In Burlington, Vermont, the Charles H. Emerson & Co. manufactured wood products including his patented STAR toboggans, promoted as being, "The Best Flat Toboggans Made". 

[Advertisement for Star toboggans, showing people sledding in daylight] / Phoenix Litho. Co., Chicago. C1886. Source: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

Near Wilmington, Delaware, the Winterthur Museum is a good place to look for snow images, including these next two showing the social aspects of tobogganing.

[Tobogganing for all ages, undated.] Courtesy, the Winterthur Library, Winterthur Archives

[Tobogganing by horse, undated.] Courtesy, the Winterthur Library, Winterthur Archives

Since I've shown you enough photos of the bottom of a toboggan slide, what about one from the top? Taken during the 1922 Ottawa Winter Carnival, the toboggan slide ran alongside the drained Rideau Canal locks and down to the Ottawa River. If not a participant, the best vantage point was on the stone terrace of the Chateau Laurier which was also the launch point of the slide. 

Rideau Canal Toboggan run, Ottawa Winter Carnival, 1922. Credit: Canadian National Railways/Library and Archives Canada

Tobogganing on an iced slide of this magnitude would be exhilarating, don't you think? 

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Anita Mae Draper's historical romances are written under the western skies of the Saskatchewan prairie where her love of research and genealogy yield fascinating truths that layer her stories with rich historical details. Anita's short story, Here We Come A-Wassailing, was a finalist for the Word Guild's 2015 Word Awards. Her novellas are included in Austen in Austin Volume 1, The American Heiress Brides Collection, andThe Secret Admirer Romance Collection. Readers can check out Anita's Pinterest boards for a visual idea of her stories to enrich their reading experience. Discover more at:
Website - www.anitamaedraper.com
Pinterest - www.pinterest.com/anitamaedraper/

Light That Tree

While researching the availability of electric lights for a story set in 1890 America, I came across a reference to a letter from Montana pioneer Elizabeth Chester Fisk who wrote to her parents on December 29, 1891 that " . . . we lit the tree using electric lights. The effect was good and we had no candles to watch and no wax drippings to clear from the carpet or gifts." (Travers, Sam. Christmas in the Old West, Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Publishing Co., 2003. Page 155. ISBN 0-87842-460-1)

Electric lights on a Christmas tree in 1891? Clearly, this needed investigating. What I found was that Christmas lights back then were a lot more complicated that just looking for one burnt out bulb in a string. Check out this photo from GE Reports.

A box of GE Christmas tree lights from 1905. Image credit: The Schenectady Museum of Innovation and Science.

My research led me to Mr. E. H. Johnston, President of the Edison Company for Electric Lighting, who was the first person to use electric lights on a Christmas tree when he lit his 1882 tree with 120 globes of different colors. He then attached them to a dynamo, or crank, in the cellar which caused the tree to revolve, delighting his children and people who passed his window. Read the detailed newspaper article written about it here. (In and About the City: How an Electrician Amused his Children". New York Times. December 27, 1884. Retrieved July 17, 2015)

Early GE Christmas tree lights advertisements. Image credit: Museum of Innovation and Science Schenectady. Courtesy GE Reports

The White House tried them out in 1894 when Frances Cleveland decorated the library tree with "Tiny parti-colored electric lamps instead of the old-time wax candles." (Courtesy wikipedia.)

I've read that the public was leery of them and stuck with candles despite the fire danger, but the site Envisioning the American Dream has the explanation that it was due to cost and practicality. It shows that when the first General Electric (GE) Christmas light set came out in 1903, it cost $12, while at the time, the average wage earner brought home a weekly paycheck of about $13.20. 

And you couldn't just plug them into a socket like we do today. Back then, all electric appliances like toasters, irons, and extras like Christmas lights had to be connected to an existing wall or ceiling light socket, like you see in the above ad. Sometimes you had to choose between the light, or the appliance in the dark. 

Edwardian Drawing Room. Courtesy of The Cambridge Historical Society, Cambridge, MA

Can you see how the table lamp is hooked up to the ceiling light in the above photo? It kind of stands out, doesn't it?

I couldn't find a photo of an interior White House Christmas tree, but here's one of President Calvin Coolidge illuminating the community Christmas tree south of the White House on the Monument Grounds on December 24, 1923. Courtesy the Library of Congress National Photo Company Collection.

President Coolidge illuminating the community Christmas tree south of the White House on the Monument Grounds on December 24, 1923. Courtesy Library of Congress

Over the years there have been many different colors and shapes of bulbs to pretty your tree. Here are some of the earlier ones, courtesy of GE Reports.

Several shapes and colors of GE lights, 1910. Image credit: The Schenectady Museum of Innovation and Science.

By 1916, the price of Christmas lights had decreased by half, followed by another large cut in the 1920s which finally made them affordable to everyone. 

1916 Sears Roebuck and Company catalogue 

There have also been numerous other lighted decorations, such as these tree stands...

1926 3-Bulb Belmont Treeliter Metal Christmas Tree Stand sold by Etsy

1936 NOMA Lithographed Tin Lighted Tree Stand sold by Etsy

The tree stands look like they would highlight the tree wonderfully from the bottom up since the middle is usually the darkest part. However, the thought of water leakage onto the unprotected wires gives me the willies. Death by fire or electrocution? 

1904 General Electric advertising

I've steered clear of the technical aspects of electricity, however if you're really interested, check out the links I've scattered throughout this post. Whether or not you celebrate Christmas with a tree, I hope you've enjoyed this short walk through the brightly lit world Thomas Edison gave us. 

I'd love to hear your thoughts and memories of old Christmas lights, or any other decorations of days gone by. 

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Anita Mae Draper's historical romances are woven under the western skies of the Saskatchewan prairie where her love of research and genealogy yields fascinating truths that layer her stories with rich historical details.  Anita's short story, Here We Come A-Wassailing, was a finalist for the Word Guild's 2015 Word Awards. Her novellas are included in Austen in Austin Volume 1, and The American Heiress Brides Collection. Readers can check out Anita's Pinterest boards for a visual idea of her stories to enrich their reading experience.  Discover more at:

Website - www.anitamaedraper.com

Pinterest - www.pinterest.com/anitamaedraper/

Bucolic Billboard Barns ~ Harley Warrick and Clark Byers

by Ramona K. Cecil

As a child of the 1950s and 1960s growing up in the American rural Midwest, I was accustomed to seeing various advertisements painted on the sides and roofs of barns. In recent years, however, those iconic sights are becoming more and more rare.

During my childhood, you couldn’t travel ten miles in any direction of my home without seeing a handful of “billboard” barns. The most common of those were the ones promoting Mail Pouch Tobacco. While I don’t in any way advocate the use of tobacco products, I must admit, those barn signs always made me smile.

Turns out, there is a reason the Mail Pouch Tobacco barn signs were so numerous. Most were the prolific lifework of one man; Harley Warrick. While the Mail Pouch Tobacco Company first began using barns to advertise their product in the 1890s, the practice took off in 1925 when the company sent out six men in two-man painting crews to “barnstorm” the countryside in Ford model T trucks.

Original six Mail Pouch Tobacco barn painters

Barn in process of being painted

I always wondered what barn owners got in exchange for agreeing to have advertisements painted on their buildings. Turns out they were paid very little; $1.00 or $2.00 per year of advertising in the 1930s. The real value was not having to paint the barn themselves and they could pick whatever color they wanted the rest of the barn painted. A pretty good deal, I’d say.

  

It was in 1946 when one of these painting crews came to the Ohio dairy farm of Harley Warrick, that kicked their barn advertising into overdrive. Twenty-one years old and fresh from WWII, Harley was living on his family’s dairy farm and employed at a sign shop when the Mail Pouch Tobacco painting crew asked to paint the family’s dairy barn. Harley expressed interest in joining the company and was hired as part of their two-man painting crews. For the next thirty-eight years, Harley Warrick traveled the country painting two or three barns a day, six days a week; an average of seven hundred barns per year.

Harley Warrick beside his truck

Another familiar barn sign you may have noticed while motoring across the county is the one inviting travelers to see Rock City, Tennessee; a ten-acre natural attraction near Chattanooga that features massive ancient rock formations, botanical gardens, and a seven-state panoramic view from Lookout Mountain.

In 1936, Clark Byers had worked for a cotton mill and bottled buttermilk for $3.00 a week when a Chattanooga advertiser hired him to paint advertisements for the Rock City Gardens on barn roofs. For more than thirty years Byers and two helpers painted slogans like “See Rock City, TN,” and “See 7 states from Lookout Mountain” on 900 barn roofs over 19 states. As compensation for the advertising, barn owners were given either promotional wares like bath mats and thermometers that bore the Rock City name, or $3.00 to $5.00 cash. Over his three decades of work, Byers braved slippery roofs, angry bulls, and lightning bolts to spread the word about Rock City Gardens. In 1968, while painting a roof near Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Byers made contact with a high voltage wire. The accident put him out of commission for months and convinced him to hang up his paint brush for good.

Clark Byers in front of one of the barns he painted

By the mid 1960s, the Highway Beautification Act of 1965 and the new interstate highway system dealt the barn advertising business a fatal one-two punch. The Act deemed the barn signs an eyesore while the interstate highway system lured travelers away from the roads and highways along which, the barn signs could be seen.

President Johnson signing Highway Beautification Act of  1965

                

Modern interstate highway system

Though often rickety and with their messages weather-faded, a fair number of these bucolic billboard barns still dot the rural landscape of middle America. If you should come across one and can make out it’s message suggesting you try a tobacco product or visit an attraction, I hope you will smile, think of Harley Warrick and Clark Byers, and take a moment to appreciate their life’s work before it disappears forever.
                                             

Ramona K. Cecil is a poet and award-winning author of historical fiction for the Christian market. A proud Hoosier, she often sets her stories in her home state of Indiana.

Check out her website at www.ramonakcecil.com  

https://www.amazon.com/Plain-Sweet-Christmas-Romance-Collection/dp/1634097815/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1472065604&sr=1-1&keywords=a+plain+and+sweet+christmas+romance+collection