Post cards of cities in the south US

I recently saw a great old post card of Asheville NC from around 1910.

The sign on the side of the building says Pepsi Cola, though the swooping letters closely emulate Coca Cola.  But North Carolina was the home on Pepsi, so that was what was sold here. And it did't have the extra ingredient that Coke had, namely cocaine. Of course it wasn't in Coke after a while, so people had to find other ways to have a pick-me-up.

Thanks to Mary McPhail Standaert posting on The Original Black Mountain Exhchange on Face Book, for sharing these post cards, and giving good background on them.

"Horse-drawn hacks, trolley tracks and pedestrians share Asheville’s unpaved North Main Street, circa 1910. Store fronts advertising the sale of tobacco, coal, shoes and Pepsi Cola, North Carolina’s answer to Georgia’s Coca-Cola. Pepsi formulated in 1893 as a pure, healthy and refreshing drink by UNC graduate and New Bern pharmacist, Caleb Davis Durham (1867-1934). Originally marketed as Brad’s Drink, the name changed to Pepsi-Cola in 1898, from the root word “dyspepsia”, to promote its ability to calm digestive problems. When the National Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 was passed, Pepsi-Cola one of the few makers of refreshment drinks not needing to alter its original formula. Its 1903 marketing slogan, “Exhilarating, Invigorating, Aids Digestion." In 1906 the marketing slogan, “The Original Pure Food Drink”. After WWI the price of sugar per lb rose and fell sharply, 7 cents 1919, 21 cents May 1920, 5 cents December 1920, forcing Pepsi under Durham’s leadership to file bankruptcy in 1923. The company survived under new leadership. The 2020 marketing slogan, “That’s What I Like.”
North Main Street, Asheville, NC, circa 1910" Mary McPhail Standaert

"Coke, the official trademark of Coca-Cola, ruled the US Supreme Court, 1920. Coke, invented by pharmacist Dr. John Smith Pemberton (1831-1888) of Columbus, Georgia, 1886. Coke, a patent medicine and popular replacement for alcoholic beverages. Atlanta “dry” 1885-1891. Completely legal, cocaine in the original formulation. Removed 1903. Coke, the business, purchased in 1888 by Asa Griggs Candler (1851-1929), a marketing genius of Atlanta for $2300. Coke bottling rights sold by Candler in 1904 for $1.00. The first Coca-Cola bottling company in Asheville opening 1905. Its history noted on a 1940s postcard, “The Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Asheville with its 4 branches and 3 warehouses serves 22 countries of WNC. Founded by R. Lee Ellis, the company started business on Friday, October 13, 1905, with a one horse wagon carrying 26 cases. On Friday December 13, 1940, the business moved to the present plant where its most modern bottling company has a maximum capacity of 300 bottles of Coca-Cola per minute.” Designed in the Moderne style by Asheville architect, Henry Gaines, the extensively remodeled building stands at 345 Biltmore Avenue.

Coca-Cola Bottling Company, Asheville, NC. Circa 1940" Mary McPhail Standaert

An undated post card from Black Mountain, NC...which hasn't changed all that much. The cars say it's probably in the 1950s. I don't know when the Auction building became Tyson's furniture, but the mountains haven't changed much. The post mark wants us to think we're in Plant City FL, which is near where my relatives live in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area.

More on soft drinks...

The Dr Pepper Museum in Waco, Texas is on the National Register of Historic Places.

And my favorite soft drink (though I've had to cut out drinking them almost completely) is Dr. Pepper.  

On July 6, 1923, the Dr Pepper Company was incorporated in Dallas. Dr Pepper was first made in Waco in 1885. Wade Morrison, owner of Morrison's Old Corner Drug, employed a pharmacist named Charles Alderton, who, when not filling prescriptions, often served soft drinks to customers. Alderton enjoyed experimenting with various combinations of fruit extracts and sweeteners. One combination, later to become Dr Pepper, proved enormously popular with patrons. Morrison named the beverage after Dr. Charles T. Pepper, a physician and pharmacist for whom Morrison had worked in Virginia. Today Dr Pepper is an operating company of Dr Pepper/Seven Up, based in Plano. A collection of Dr Pepper memorabilia forms the core of the Dr Pepper Museum and Free Enterprise Institute, which opened in Waco in 1991. SOURCE: Texas Day by Day (of Texas Historical Assoc.)

I wonder which cola drink the folks in Richmond VA preferred. Sepia Saturday invites anyone to share old photos each week.


Today's quote:
If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian. 
-Paul McCartney, singer-songwriter, composer, poet, and activist (b. 18 Jun 1942)