As Coca-Cola increased in popularity, hundreds of imitator colas emerged. With names and cola formulas similar to “The Real Thing” these companies were riding the coattails of Coca-Cola. J. C. Mayfield, a former business partner of Dr. Pemberton’s and the manager of the Wine Coca Company, also sold Celery-Cola and Koke, a beverage capitalizing on its similarity to Coca-Cola.
Other bottling works were operating in the Valley around this time. The West Point Bottling Works sold Cheery Nectar Cola, Claud Morris of Langdale bottled Lime Cola, and Crowder & Horn Bottling Works in Lanett purchased the Roberts Brothers Bottling Works formerly of West Point.
In addition to competing in a crowded market, Coca-Cola also came under scrutiny from the country’s chief chemist, Dr. Harvey Wiley. In 1906, he penned the Pure Foods Act which President Theodore Roosevelt signed into law. Dr. Wiley questioned the use of caffeine as an ingredient. After a lengthy trial, with experts testifying for both sides, Coca-Cola was victorious.
An up-and-coming Coca-Cola bottler named George S. Cobb wrote a letter to his congressman about the Pure Food Law and assured him that he and his family had been drinking Coca-Cola for ten years and that “it has not injured our health in any way nor has it become a habit.”
Cobb Memorial Archives 