First Coca-Cola Bottle

In 1899, the Coca-Cola story took a pivotal leap. Two ambitious lawyers from Chattanooga, Tennessee, Joseph Whitehead and Benjamin Thomas, approached Asa Candler to negotiate the rights to bottle Coca‑Cola. Candler, more focused on syrup sales than on bottling, granted them exclusive bottling rights for nearly the entire United States. 

With the rights secured, Thomas and Whitehead brought on a third partner, John T. Lupton, and together, the trio laid the foundation for what would…