Then came the Civil War and Pemberton enlisted, serving in the Third Calvary for the Confederate Army. In 1865 he suffered a saber wound to the chest during the Battle of Columbus. During his recovery he became addicted to the morphine that he was using to ease his pain. This started Pemberton on a desperate search for an alternative to morphine that would allow him to cure his addiction.
His first recipe used as its major ingredient, buttonbush, a toxic plant found in Alaska. The cost of this product was not sustainable. Next he began experimenting with coca and coca wines, which led to a recipe also containing extracts of kola nut and damiana. He called this invention Pemberton's French Wine Cola. After creating this medicine in his store in Columbus, he started selling his product in nearby Atlanta. With the increase in PTSD, depression, and alcoholism among Civil War Veterans, as well as "neurasthenia" among "highly strung" Southern women, his medicine become very popular.
In 1886, Atlanta passed temperance legislation in hopes of reducing the growing problem of alcoholism in the city. Pemberton, with the help of Atlanta drugstore owner Willis E. Venable, begin testing and perfecting his recipe using only non-alcoholic ingredients. One day, by accident, he blended the base syrup with carbonated water and decided to sell this discovery as a fountain drink rather than a medicine. The name "Coca Cola" was picked because of its alliterative sound, popular among other wine medicines in that day. Pemberton continued to tout his product as a healthy alternative to other medicines, declaring that it would cure headaches, calm nerves, relieve exhaustion, as well as tasting delicious.
After Coca Cola hit the market, Dr. Pemberton fell ill. His finances were in shambles due to his ongoing morphine addiction. (Which his invention sadly failed to cure . . . ) Forced to sell his formula due to being nearly bankrupt, he sought to retain a share of the ownership for his son. He believed that his formula "some day will be a national drink" and urged his son not to sell his share of the formula. Pemberton's son, however, desired the cash instead of the share and sold the remaining portion of the patent for $1,750 in 1888. (Around $46,000 dollars in today's dollars) The worth of his share of the formula patent is difficult to estimate but just one share of Coca Cola purchased in 1919 (with all dividends reinvested in the company) would be worth almost 10 million dollars today.
Dr. John Pemberton, who went into medicine to help people, couldn't save himself from the pain addiction caused by his war injury. Sadly, he not only couldn't save himself, he couldn't save his own son. His son, Charles, sold his share of the formula because he too was an addict, addicted to opium, and required constant cash to feed his own habit. Charles died six years after the death of his father, from his addiction to opium.
One man, driven by the goal and passion to relieve his own pain with a non-addictive alternative, died in poverty. The irony is in his attempt to develop a non-addictive medicine to alleviate his pain, he invented a soda that has millions addicted throughout the world.
