The Original Coca-Cola Woman: Diva Brown and the Cola Wars

By Dennis I Smith

Diva Brown was no "elusive phantom," as at least one writer claimed. She was a real person, living in Atlanta in 1888, and acquainted with Coca-Cola inventor John S. Pemberton. She spent her adult life selling cola drinks, either bottled under her own label or her formula so others could make it. Much of what people think they know of Diva Brown is wrong. This is in part due to the fanciful and incorrect statements made by Diva Brown, herself, and those who knew her, to either validate or discredit her claim to the original Coca-Cola formula. The National Bottler's Gazette alternately called her a "Successful New Woman of the South," and a "Fake and a Humbug." This book uses diverse primary sources: court transcripts, corporation records, letters, and original advertisements to provide a complete account of Diva Brown and her life as the self-proclaimed "Original Coca-Cola Woman." Where possible, the words are those of Diva Brown and those who knew her: John S. Pemberton, Asa Candler, James C. Mayfield, Frank Robinson, and many others. Did Diva Brown have possession of the original Coca-Cola formula? Read this account and decide for yourself. In two decades of advertising and selling her formula Diva Brown was not once sued by the Coca-Cola Company. You be the judge.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0DC71R5FT
• ISBN13: 9798334899414
• Release Date: August 2024
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 126 Pages
• Weight: 0.86 lbs.
• Dimensions: 11.0" x 0.3" x 8.5"