The History of Pepsi-Cola

Like so many classic sodas and soft drinks, Pepsi's origins lie in a drug store pharmacy in the 19^th century. The year was 1898. The place was New Bern, North Carolina. The man was Caleb Bradham.




Since 1893 Bradham had been selling a popular soft drink in his pharmacy known as “Brad's Drink.” Like most pharmacies in those days the drug store was equipped with a soda fountain and was a popular place to come and pick up a soft drink. Brad's Drink was quite popular in the town of New Bern.




Bradham saw bigger and better things for his drink, however, and decided that a name change was in order. In 1898 he bought the name “Pep Cola” from a firm in Newark, New Jersey that had gone out of business. He decided to name his own drink Pepsi-Cola after the pepsin and cola nuts used to make his drink. A neighbor of Bradham's then created the first Pepsi-Cola logo.




Sales of the new Pepsi-Cola grew and grew. In 1902 Bradham created the Pepsi-Cola Company. The original offices were in the back of his pharmacy. In these earliest years all production was handled by Bradham himself. He created the syrup for the drink and sold it to other pharmacies to sell in their own soda fountains.




In 1903 Pepsi-Cola was officially trademarked with the US patent office. Its tag line was “Exhilarating, Invigorating, Aids Digestion.” 7,968 gallons of syrup were sold to pharmacies that year. Pepsi-Cola was on its way up.




Bradham wisely recognized, though, that selling through pharmacies would only take him so far. In 1903 he decided to start bottling the drink as well. He moved his offices from the back of his pharmacy to a warehouse in New Bern.




Although the drink proved to be quite popular, the company went through some tough times. In 1923 Pepsi-Cola Company went bankrupt due to the large sugar prices resulting from World War I. The franchise was sold to Roy C. Megargel. The company went bankrupt again 8 years later.




This time Pepsi was bought up by the Loft Candy Company. Troublesome times continued for Pepsi and Loft Candy Company president Charles Guth even offered to sell the formula to rival Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola refused.