The First Coca-Cola Bottle: Monroe's Joseph Biedenharn

In 1894, Monroe candy store owner Joseph Biedenharn noticed customers loved Coca-Cola at the soda fountain but couldn't take it with them. He used a small bottling machine in the back of his shop to put the drink in Hutchinson-style bottles and shipped a case to Coca-Cola's Asa Candler in Atlanta. Candler thanked him but showed little interest. Three years later, the company began its own bottling operation. Biedenharn never received a national franchise, but Monroe can claim — with documentation — that bottled Coca-Cola started here. The original equipment is on display at the Biedenharn Museum.