Joseph Biedenharn of Vicksburg was the first to bottle Coca-Cola. From the Biedenharn Museum website:
"In 1894, Joseph A. Biedenharn, a country businessman in Vicksburg, Mississippi, and owner of the Biedenharn Candy Company, made a world changing decision. In order for his customers outside downtown Vicksburg to have Coca-Cola, he had his brother Herman put Coca-Cola in a bottle, making the Biedenharn Candy Company the first to ever bottle Coca-Cola. Today, Coca-Cola is sold in more than 200 countries."
Under Joe's leadership, his brothers, sons, and grandsons, established plants in Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, and Arkansas eventually becoming the ninth largest bottling corporation in the United States."
Coca-Cola collectibles range from the 1894 period through present day, including original bottles and the large metal side plate from a Coke cooler pictured above. Local bottle diggers often discover the original Hutchinson style bottles while digging local bottle dumps.
