Presumably, it’s impossible to post a reply to this post Is it true Coca-Cola once contained cocaine? - The Straight Dope which is actually WHY I finally bothered to register. It’s bothered me every time I’ve seen it. I wonder why a pharmacist who was living in Columbus, GA and working at a pharmacy IN Columbus, GA is referred to as “an Atlanta druggist”? I realise that Coca-Cola in Atlanta likes to gloss over the fact that Coca-Cola was actually created in another city and NOT in Atlanta, but when “The Smartest Man Alive” or however he calls himself perpetrates the “Coke was made in Atlanta” myth, it bothers me. Because it’s wrong. One making something in Killarney and then opening a factory in Dublin doesn’t magically make one a “Dublin (whatever)”…even if the factory in Dublin fails to point out that the product was actually created in Killarney. Specially if the Killarney maker initially distributed the product in Killarney and then once it became popular enough to necessitate large scale production to meet demand decides to place the factory in Dublin. That doesn’t alter the fact that the maker was from Killarney. S/he doesn’t magically become a Dubliner or a “Dublin chemist” or whatever. Such an error makes me leery of anything I might read on the site. Interestingly, when I Googled “Birthplace of Coca Cola” I found two sites stating “Atlanta”. One allowed for readers to “improve answer”. Supposedly. After attempting to sign up using one email, I then made a new email in a futile attempt to sign in. Perhaps it’s simply an elaborate email theft scheme. Whatever. But at least Wikipedia had the correct information as to Coca Cola’s origins. The “editable” site still falsely claims “Atlanta”…further spreading the ignorance and misinformation. Even Atlanta sometimes uses the “birthplace of Coca Cola” phrase. But at least the World of Coca Cola will admit that it was formulated in a city nearly 100km away…while rationalising the false claim. And usually only when one ASKS about Columbus. But then, ignorance is bliss, innit? And if this appears to be a reply to someone’s comment rather than a comment in and of itself, it’s cos after trying to “improve answer” on one site and noting that another site simply has a wrong “fact” with no way to comment, I can’t be bothered to sort out WHERE to precisely make this post. Cos there’s no way to post it at the link in question on THIS site. Snopes doesn’t say Coca Cola was invented in Columbus…but at least it doesn’t say it was invented in Atlanta…it simply addresses the “cocaine in Coca Cola” issue. And I assume it’s correct, 100%. Had “Cecil” simply not mentioned the bit about “Atlanta”, I could have simply regarded it as correct. But an error as to where it was MADE makes me wonder whether “Cecil” even had a clue regarding it…or simply Googled and took what he saw…whereas I always assume anything I find on the internet is possibly in error. The bit about the inclusion of cocaine appears to be accurate considering my search results, but i know for a fact that the Atlanta bit is patently false. And at least found ONE site that indicates as much (Wikipedia), while another (Snopes) merely makes no mention of its origins regarding location. But “Cecil”'s blatant error will make me question anything I see on the site. But at least I WAS able to create an account in order to MAKE this post, unlike another site offering an “improve answer” option which apparently is impossible to actually do.
No edits after 5 minutes? Interesting. Whatever. “There are those who say that Asa Candler, who bought the infant Coke company from Pemberton, tinkered with the formula a bit before settling on a version that he liked; and these folks claim that the formula thus cannot truly be said to be 99 years old. Others regard this as contemptible nitpicking.” Taking into account that the person who “tinkered” before settling on the formula WAS from Atlanta, one MIGHT claim that Coca Cola was born/invented in Atlanta. But would not alter the fact that “The World’s Smartest Human” erroneously referred to the chemist who lived AND worked in Columbus as “an Atlanta druggist”. I suppose that one could call Adolf Hitler “German” despite his being born in Austria…but then again, Pemberton (the “Atlanta” druggist) didn’t move to Atlanta, claim Atlanta citizenship and then annex Columbus.
I’ve moved these interesting posts to the proper forum.
samclem, moderator
- Pemberton lived in and ran his pharmacy in Columbus, which is presumably where he formulated Coca-Cola.
- Coke’s first sales were in Atlanta.
- Pemberton’s four partners were all from Atlanta.
- The first ad for Coke was in the Atlanta Journal.
- Nobody much outside of Jawjuh has ever heard of Columbus.
I’d say the weight of all but one minor point explains why Pemberton and Coke are “Atlanta” products.
To stop psychotics from posting “Kill all the inferior races”, waiting until they’ve gotten dozens of angry replies, and then changing it to “I like kittens” and complaining about all the kitten-hating scum attacking them for no reason. Yeah, it happens.
- Coke’s first sales were in Atlanta.
Meaning that when Pemberton first sold it at the pharmacy (in Columbus) presumably that didn’t count. It took me a while to sort out who (or actually WHAT) “Jawjuh” was. And the fact remains that one site indicates Columbus. Granted, Wikipedia can be quite wrong, except in THIS case it’s not. And someone living in Columbus and working in Columbus is hardly “an Atlanta druggist”. Unless perhaps Pemberton didn’t actually CALL it “Coke” or “Coca Cola”. I can’t state positively that he did. But then if someone created acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) under another name in France and sold it in France and then for whatever reason sold the formula to someone who opened a factory in München (Munich) who then sold it as acetylsalicylic acid, it wouldn’t alter the fact that it was CREATED in France. A minor point, perhaps, but still a point. Atlanta enjoys calling itself Coke’s “birthplace”…I can’t say whether anyone in Columbus cares whether the facts are correct or not. But I dislike seeing erroneous information.
I sympathize with you for realizing too late that you needed to break up that mass of text into several paragraphs for clarity’s sake. Just a clue for future posts (as you have found yourself in a den of your fellow “contemptible nitpickers” I assume you will find a home here ;)), the “Enter” key is your friend.
However, please note that the column in question was first published in 1985, eleven years before the founding of Google and six years before the creation of Berner-Lee’s World Wide Web, so Cecil did not use Google to get the information. I assume he got the info by reading a book or calling Coca-Cola’s company historian. And don’t flash your fancy Wikipedia or Snopes citations and expect to get any respect; since 1973 Cecil has led the way for the rise of pedantic nitpickery in the Modern Age. 
While most of that is true, for some reason I call customers in Columbus, GA at least as often as those in Chicago. We must advertise more heavily in the Atlanta market.
If you read the Wikipedia entry you will see that Pemberton specifically made Coca-Cola for the Atlanta market:
The evidence points to Pemberton probably developing the product in Columbus for sale in Atlanta, as his own Chattahoochee County was not dry so he could continue selling French Wine Coca there.