How a pharmacist’s vision on January 29, 1892, transformed a local tonic into the world’s most recognizable brand
By Victor Owencho January 29, 2026 | Historical Feature
On this day in 1892, a Georgia pharmacist made a business decision that would reshape American commerce and create one of the most iconic brands in human history. Asa Griggs Candler, along with his brother John S. Candler, Frank Robinson, and two other associates, officially incorporated The Coca-Cola Company with an initial capitalization of $100,000.
While the familiar brown beverage had been serving thirsty Atlantans since 1886, it took Candler’s business acumen and marketing genius to transform Dr. John Stith Pemberton’s medicinal syrup into a commercial phenomenon that would eventually reach every corner of the globe.
A Wounded Veteran’s Invention
The story of Coca-Cola begins not in a boardroom, but in the laboratory of a Confederate veteran struggling with addiction. Dr. John Stith Pemberton, a respected pharmacist and chemist, had been wounded by a saber strike across the chest during the 1865 Battle of Columbus—one of the final engagements of the Civil War. Like many wounded soldiers of his era, Pemberton became dependent on morphine for pain relief.
In his Atlanta laboratory, Pemberton experimented with various compounds seeking alternatives to his morphine addiction. His work led him to create “Pemberton’s French Wine Coca” in 1885, a popular drink that combined wine with extracts from coca leaves and kola nuts. The beverage was marketed as a remedy for nervous disorders, headaches, and various ailments.
“Delicious! Refreshing! Exhilarating! Invigorating!” — The first Coca-Cola advertisement, Atlanta Journal, May 1886
But fate intervened when Atlanta and Fulton County enacted temperance legislation in 1886, prohibiting the sale of alcohol. Pemberton was forced to reformulate his popular drink. Working at his Marietta Street home with an industrial-sized mixing machine, he removed the wine and substituted sugar syrup, creating an entirely new carbonated beverage.
Pemberton’s bookkeeper and business partner, Frank Robinson, suggested the name “Coca-Cola,” believing that “the two Cs would look well in advertising.” Robinson also designed the flowing script logo that remains virtually unchanged today, more than a century later.
On May 8, 1886, Pemberton brought his perfected syrup to Jacobs’ Pharmacy in downtown Atlanta, where it was mixed with carbonated water and sold for five cents a glass. The first year saw modest sales of about nine drinks per day.
Key Dates in Early Coca-Cola History
- May 8, 1886: First glass of Coca-Cola served at Jacobs’ Pharmacy
- 1888: John Pemberton dies; Asa Candler begins acquiring rights to the formula
- April 1891: Candler achieves sole ownership for a total of $2,300
- January 29, 1892: The Coca-Cola Company officially incorporated
- January 31, 1893: “Coca-Cola” trademark registered with U.S. Patent Office
- 1895: Coca-Cola sold in every U.S. state and territory
The Candler Vision
Tragically, Pemberton never witnessed his creation’s success. Diagnosed with stomach cancer and facing mounting debts from his continuing morphine addiction, he began selling portions of his business to various partners. Pemberton died on August 16, 1888, at age 57, penniless and largely forgotten. When Atlanta druggists learned of his death, they closed their stores as a group to attend his funeral.
Enter Asa Griggs Candler, an Atlanta pharmacist and businessman who had been purchasing shares in the Coca-Cola formula since 1887. Through a series of transactions, Candler acquired complete ownership by April 1891 for approximately $2,300—a sum that would prove to be one of history’s greatest business bargains.
Candler recognized what Pemberton could not: Coca-Cola’s potential wasn’t as a medicinal tonic, but as a refreshing beverage. He published a full-page advertisement in The Atlanta Journal on May 1, 1889, proclaiming himself “sole proprietors of Coca-Cola… Delicious. Refreshing. Exhilarating. Invigorating.”
By 1892, Candler’s marketing prowess had boosted syrup sales nearly tenfold. He liquidated his pharmaceutical business to focus exclusively on the soft drink, and on January 29, 1892—exactly 133 years ago today—he made it official by incorporating The Coca-Cola Company.
Revolutionary Marketing Tactics
Candler proved to be a marketing pioneer, implementing strategies that seem commonplace today but were revolutionary in the 1890s. He distributed coupons for free drinks—one of the first uses of sampling in American advertising. He plastered Atlanta with oilcloth signs reading “Drink Coca-Cola” on store awnings and streetcars. He distributed calendars, clocks, and other merchandise bearing the Coca-Cola trademark.
The results were staggering. By 1895, just three years after incorporation, Candler announced to shareholders that “Coca-Cola is now drunk in every state and territory in the United States.” A new headquarters building erected in 1898—the first devoted exclusively to syrup production—was declared by Candler to be “sufficient for all our needs for all time to come.” It was inadequate within a decade.
“Coca-Cola is now drunk in every state and territory in the United States.” — Asa Candler, 1895 annual report
The Bottling Revolution
While Candler focused on soda fountain sales, a parallel innovation was developing that would prove crucial to Coca-Cola’s global expansion. In 1894, Joseph A. Biedenharn of Vicksburg, Mississippi, impressed by growing demand at his soda fountain, installed bottling machinery in his store and became the first person to bottle Coca-Cola.
The real breakthrough came in 1899 when Benjamin F. Thomas and Joseph B. Whitehead of Chattanooga, Tennessee, secured exclusive bottling rights for practically the entire United States from Candler—reportedly for just one dollar. Joined by John T. Lupton, they developed what became the worldwide Coca-Cola bottling system.
Unable to raise sufficient capital themselves, the trio contracted with individuals to establish bottling operations in defined geographic areas. Within 20 years, the number of bottling plants grew from two to more than 1,000, with 95 percent locally owned and operated.
A Secret Formula Closely Guarded
From the beginning, Candler was obsessed with protecting Coca-Cola’s secret formula. He personally oversaw the mixture of every drop of syrup. The formula, referred to as “7X,” faced constant scrutiny and controversy over its ingredients—particularly the amounts of cocaine, caffeine, and sugar.
In 1903, Candler decided to remove cocaine from the coca leaves before mixing them with the drink, selling the extracted cocaine to pharmaceutical companies. By 1917, the company agreed to reduce caffeine content by 50 percent. Despite these changes, the core formula has remained a closely guarded secret for over a century.
From Local Drink to Global Empire
Candler served as company president until 1916, when he was elected mayor of Atlanta. In 1919, he gave most of his Coca-Cola stock to his children, who subsequently sold their shares to a consortium of investors led by Ernest Woodruff for $25 million.
Under the leadership of Ernest’s son, Robert Woodruff, who became president in 1923, Coca-Cola transformed from primarily a soda fountain company into a truly global business. Today, The Coca-Cola Company produces and distributes over 3,500 beverage products in more than 200 countries, making it arguably the most widely recognized consumer product in the world.
The incorporation decision made 133 years ago today—a simple legal formality in many ways—set in motion a commercial empire that has touched virtually every nation on Earth. From a wounded veteran’s laboratory experiment to a five-cent fountain drink to a $100,000 corporation to a global icon, the story of Coca-Cola remains one of American business’s most remarkable transformations.
Coca-Cola by the Numbers
- Initial investment by Pemberton partners (1886): Minimal startup costs
- Candler’s total acquisition cost (1887-1891): $2,300
- Initial corporate capitalization (1892): $100,000
- Sale price to Woodruff group (1919): $25 million
- First-year sales (1886): Approximately 9 drinks per day
- Sales increase under Candler (1891-1892): Nearly 10-fold
- Bottling plants by 1919: More than 1,000
As Atlantans passed by druggist windows on that winter day in 1892, few could have imagined that the incorporation papers being filed would create a brand that would outlast empires, survive wars and depressions, and become synonymous with American culture itself.
The Coca-Cola Company, born 133 years ago today, stands as testament to the power of vision, marketing genius, and the enduring appeal of a perfectly crafted product—even if its creator died never knowing just how right he was when he predicted his formula would “someday be a national drink.”
It became far more than that. It became a global phenomenon.
Sources & Further Reading
- The Coca-Cola Company: The Asa Candler Era – Official company history
- The Coca-Cola Company: The Birth of a Refreshing Idea – May 8, 1886 origins
- Wikipedia: Asa Griggs Candler – Biography of the company’s founder
- Wikipedia: John Stith Pemberton – Inventor of Coca-Cola
- Wikipedia: The Coca-Cola Company – Corporate history and timeline
- New Georgia Encyclopedia: John Stith Pemberton – Detailed biography
- Georgia Historical Society: The Birthplace of Coca-Cola – Historical marker information
- Rock Hill Coca-Cola: Asa Candler Built the Coca-Cola Brand – Marketing history
- EBSCO Research: Coca-Cola Company – Academic research overview
- EBSCO Research: Pemberton Introduces Coca-Cola – Historical context of 1886
- Emory University Finding Aids: Coca-Cola Collection, 1912-1990 – Archival documents
- Lemelson-MIT: John Pemberton – Inventor profile
- History Oasis: John Stith Pemberton and The Invention of Coca-Cola – Detailed invention story
