It is curiously interesting that noted pharmacist & Confederate Colonel John Stith Pemberton (1831-1888), the inventor of Coca-Cola, was severely wounded during the Battle of Columbus, which caused him to endure chronic pain thereafter & resulted in his obsession with inventing various pain-killing medicinal formulæ -- ultimately resulting in the recipe for his celebrated soft drink, which originally contained both cocaine from “coca” leaves & caffeine from “kola” nuts, whereby the drink received the name of “Coca-Cola.”
☞Colonel Pemberton made many health claims for Coca-Cola, marketing it as “delicious,” “refreshing,” “pure joy,” “exhilarating,” & “invigorating,” & touting it as “an invaluable brain tonic” that would cure headaches, relieve exhaustion, & calm nerves.
☞Note: Coca-Cola, now the world’s most popular soft drink, was invented in Atlanta, Georgia by Colonel Pemberton in 1886, about one year after pharmacist Charles C. Alderton (1857-1941) of Waco, Texas invented Dr. Pepper, which is now the most popular soft drink in Texas. Alderton’s soft drink was named in honor of Charles Taylor “Old Doc” Pepper, M.D. (1830-1903) of Virginia, who had served as a surgeon in the Confederate Army during the War Between the States.
☞Note: Colonel John Stith Pemberton, C.S.A. (1831-1888) of Georgia, the inventor of Coca-Cola, is not to be confused with General John Clifford Pemberton, C.S.A. (1814-1881) of Pennsylvania, who resigned his commission in the U.S. Army at the beginning of the War Between the States, & who is noted for his defense of Vicksburg during the “Siege of Vicksburg” in the Summer of 1863.
☞The left-hand photograph depicts an undated portrait of Colonel John S. Pemberton, C.S.A. The right-hand photograph depicts a circa-1890s advertisement for the Confederate colonel’s famous soft drink -- Coca-Cola.
