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Photo courtesy of the Atlanta History Center
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ELLEN BERNSTEIN
Special to The Jewish News
n 1886, at Joseph
Jacobs' Pharmacy
in downtown Atlan-
ta, the first squirts
of a caramel-colored
syrup were blended
with bubbly water
and served as a
"refreshing tonic"
for five cents a
glass.
It was a humble,
yet auspicious start
for Coca-Cola, a soft
drink destined to
become the world's
most popular consumer
product.
As a tribute to the Jewish
druggist's early venture, a
1940s painting of his
original pharmacy hangs in
the recently opened World of
Coca-Cola Pavilion in Atlan-
ta. The $15 million museum
is a lavish display of
memorabilia and high-tech
gadgetry that documents the
soft drink's 104-year history.
With the unabashed hype
that is the signature of Coca-
Cola marketing, the cor-
porate magazine touted the
pharmacy at Peachtree and
Marietta Streets in a 50th
anniversary tribute in 1936:
Things could have gone
better for Joseph
Jacobs, whose
pharmacy served
the first glass
of Coca-Cola.
"From that famous corner,
Coca-Cola spread out the
five streets at the intersec-
tion to travel the highways
of the world and the lanes of
the seven seas."
Mr. Jacobs himself
profited little from the foun-
tain sales and his ground
floor investment in Coca-
Cola stock. As it happened,
the 26-year-old pharmacist
had acquired an interest in
the sweet syrup formulated
by Atlanta druggist John
Pemberton. In frail health,
Mr. Pemberton lacked the
capital to market his inven-
tion. He died a few years
after he sold the formula to a
group of investors.
Had Mr. Jacobs known the
Coca-Cola formula stood to
make millions for those ear-
ly investors, he might have
reconsidered his attitude
Top: This 1940s
painting of a
photograph of Joseph
Jacobs' pharmacy in
1886 hangs in the new
$15 million Coca-Cola
Pavillion.
Above: Joseph Jacobs.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
65