- Pemberton's French Wine Coca
Pemberton's French Wine Coca was a
cocawine created by the druggist John Stith Pemberton, the inventor ofCoca-Cola . It was an alcoholic beverage, mixed withcoca ,kola nut anddamiana .French Wine Coca was marketed mostly to
upper class intellectuals , afflicted with diseases believed to have been brought on byurbanization and Atlanta's increasingly competitive business environment. In an 1885 interview with the "Atlanta Journal ", Pemberton claimed the drink would benefit "scientists, scholars, poets, divines, lawyers, physicians, and others devoted to extreme mental exertion."History
In 1885, when
Atlanta and Fulton County enacted temperance legislation, Pemberton scrambled to develop a non-alcoholic version of his popular product. Ironically, the new legislation did not affect the coca ingredient (cocaine), which remained in the formula until the end of the 19th century.The result was an early version ofCoca-Cola , although the coca ingredient (cocaine) was the main active ingredient when the company was acquired byAsa Candler .French Wine Coca was essentially an imitation of
Angelo Mariani 's blend ofBordeaux wine and coca, calledVin Mariani . Mariani's beverage achieved extraordinary success in the 1880s, inspiring a host of knock-offs, of which Pemberton's was merely one of the more successful. However, Vin Mariani lacked both damiana, a reputed cure forimpotence , as well as kola nut, a source ofcaffeine - both of which were later included in Coca-Cola.Despite Atlanta's Temperance legislation, production of French Wine Coca continued until Pemberton's death in 1888. Indeed, in the year 1887, French Wine Coca sold 720 bottles a day - far outstripping Coca-Cola.
Uses
Pemberton claimed astounding medicinal properties for his French Wine Coca, which was marketed as a
patent medicine . The beverage was advertised as a cure for nerve trouble,dyspepsia , mental and physical exhaustion, gastric irritability, wasting diseases,constipation ,headache ,neurasthenia and impotence. It was also suggested as a cure formorphine addiction , which was increasingly common after the Civil War (Pemberton himself was addicted to the drug).
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