Book Description

For the first decade of the 20th century more Coca-Cola was consumed in Atlanta than any other city. It was the city's most famous product and made Atlanta known around the world in just a few years' time. The first sky scraper in the south was the Candler Building designed as the home for the Coca-Cola Company. Atlanta citizens acknowledged this fact when they wanted a glass of Coca-Cola by asking the dispenser for "a brick in the Candler Building."But the citizens of Atlanta were drinking more than Coca-Cola - they were also drinking Afri-Kola and Koca Nola, Celery=Cola and Capacola, Fan-Taz and Pep-To-Lac, Dope and Koke, Jit-A-Cola and Ko-Nut, Nova-Kola and Rye-Ola. In addition to Asa Candler's Coca-Cola they were drinking Daniel's Koko-Kolo, Venable's Coca-Kola, and Standard Coca-Cola. Lee Hagan claimed to sell ten thousand drinks of his Red Rock Ginger Ale in Atlanta every day.There were dozens of brand name and proprietary soft drinks sold in the city of Atlanta in the first part of the 20th century. Many of these drinks were local in origin yet advertised nationally. Afri-Kola was bottled as far west as Texas, Koca Nola as far north as Maine and west to Washington state, and Nova-Kola as far away as Illinois. Others found markets regionally in Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, and other nearby states. Some of these beverages were intended to ride on the successful coattails of Coca-Cola and found themselves in court as a result. Whether selecting a similar name such as 'Venable's Coca-Kola' or substituting their own drink on calls for the original, these imitators found the Coca-Cola Company ready to protect its trademark and business. Here is the story of Atlanta's Kola Wars for the first fifty years.