Coca- Cola The Growing Industry
Since so many were trying to imitate the beverage, the Company also decided to create a distinctive bottle shape to assure people they were actually getting the real Coca-Cola. The Root Glass Company of Terre Haute, Indiana, won the contest to design a bottle that could be even recognizable in the dark. In 1916, The Root Glass Company began manufacturing the famous contour bottle. The contour bottle was chosen for it had an attractive appearance, was an original design and that even in the dark, you could identify the genuine article of the beverage Coca Cola.
As the country moved into the new century, The Coca-Cola Company was growing rapidly, moving into Puerto Rico, Canada, Cuba, Panama, France, and other countries and U.S. territories. In 1900, there were only two bottlers of Coca-Cola beverage but by 1920, there would be about 1,000 bottlers of Coca-Cola.
Robert WoodruffNo one person had more impact on The Coca-Cola Company more than Robert Woodruff. In 1919 Robert Woodruff father Ernest Woodruff purchased the Company from Asa Candler Four years later in 1923 Robert Woodruff became the Company president. While Candler had introduced Coca-Cola throughout the U.S.A, Woodruff would spend more than 60 years as Company leader introducing the beverage to the world.
Woodruff was a marketing genius who saw opportunities for expansion everywhere, he even led the expansion of Coca-Cola overseas. In 1928 he introduced Coca-Cola to the Olympic Games for the first time. Coca-Cola traveled with the U.S.A team to the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics. There Woodruff pushed development and distribution of the top cooler open six-pack, and many other innovations that made it easier for people to drink Coca-Cola away or at home. This new thinking not only made Coca-Cola a huge success, but a big part of many people's lives. World War II In 1941, America entered World War II. Due to the war thousands of men and women were sent overseas, the country and Coca-Cola, rallied behind them. Woodruff ordered that "every man in uniform gets a bottle of Coca-Cola for 5 cents, wherever he is, and whatever it costs the Company." In 1943, General Dwight D. Eisenhower sent an urgent cablegram to Coca-Cola, requesting that a shipment of materials be sent for 10 bottling plants. During the war, many people got to enjoy their first taste of Coca-Cola, when the war ended and peace finally came, the foundation was laid for Coca-Cola to do business overseas.
Woodruff’s vision that Coca-Cola would be placed within "arm's reach of desire," was coming true. From the mid-1940s until 1960, the number of countries with bottling operations nearly doubled its production. Post-war America was alive with optimism and prosperity and Coca-Cola was part of that fun, carefree American lifestyle.
Death of the Soda Fountain - Rise of the Bottling Industry
Until the 1960s, both small town and big city dwellers enjoyed carbonated beverages at the local soda fountain or ice cream shop. The soda fountain counter was often housed in the drug store and served as a meeting place for people of all ages. The soda fountain declined in popularity as commercial ice cream was made, bottled soft drinks, and fast food restaurants became more and more popular.
