COCA-COLA ANTIQUES

MAKE SURE IT'S THE REAL THING!

by Wayne Mattox

After fighting for the confederacy during the civil war, John Pemberton moved to Atlanta, Georgia where he specialized in the mixing and vending of various patent medicines. The pharmacist claimed that one of his recipes, a Bordeaux laced with caffeine (from the seed of an African kola tree) and cocaine, would cure sluggishness, nervous disorders, headaches, internal plumbing, and improve sexual performance. Not surprisingly, French Wine of Coca, was his best seller.  cont'd