Caleb Davis Bradham, founder of Pepsi-Cola,
pharmacist, and Shriner, was born at Chinquapin, Duplin County, the son of
George Washington and Julia McCann Bradham. He was of English and Scotch-Irish
descent, and his American background included a great-great-great grandfather,
John McCann, who was an officer in George Washington's army. He attended
several North Carolina academies before entering The University of North
Carolina in 1886. After three years he left to study medicine at the University
of Maryland. Before he finished his funds gave out, and he returned home to
teach in the Vance Academy in New Bern, a private school run by Appleton and
Augusta Oaksmith.
Bradham continued to be interested in medicine,
and after two years he went back to Maryland and entered the College of
Pharmacy. Upon completion of those studies, he purchased a New Bern drug store
and established "Bradham's Pharmacy," where the Pepsi-Cola story
began. It was his pleasure to concoct soft drinks for the friends always
gathered around his soda fountain. With his medical background and his
knowledge of compounding prescriptions, it was natural for him to experiment
with new flavor combinations. In the late 1890s he produced a beverage of his
own creation and began offering it at his fountain. It was successful
immediately and his friends promptly named it "Brad's drink." In
1898, however, for reasons no one knows, young Bradham changed the name to
"Pepsi-Cola."
In 1902, the year he married Sarah Charity Credle
of New Bern, he turned his drug store over to an assistant in order that he
might devote all his time to developing Pepsi-Cola into a full business. His
application to register "Pepsi-Cola" as his trademark was filed 23
Sept. 1902 and is the earliest dated document in the history of the company.
The U.S. Patent Office accepted the mark and registered it on 16 June 1903. In
April of the same year the trademark was registered in the Office of the
Secretary of State of North Carolina.
Bradham formed the first Pepsi-Cola Company in
December 1902, and it became a corporation under the laws of North Carolina. It
began in the back room of the drug store and was an immediate local success. He
mixed his syrup, packaged it, and went out to build sales. He was a popular man
and a superb salesman, and it was not long before his drink became a nationally
known product. He franchised other territories in rapid succession until, by
the end of 1910, there were at least three hundred bottlers spread over
twenty-four states. He continued to prosper until after World War I; then,
despite a hard fight, the rise and fall of the sugar market caused his
twenty-year-old company to fail. At this time, the technology of bottling had
not been perfected, and Bradham knew little of advertising and marketing. It
was said that "he had a modern business in the wrong decades; he was a
third of a century ahead of his time."
Although Bradham found his business engrossing, it
did not monopolize his life. He went far in the Shriners and was made recorder
of the Sudan Temple. In 1930 he was retired as "Recorder Emeritus."
He was a bank officer and honorary president of a state-owned railroad. He was
one of the founders of the North Carolina Naval Militia, with headquarters in
New Bern; later it became the Naval Reserve. When he retired, he did so with
the rank of rear admiral.
Bradham was interested in and always supported the
School of Pharmacy of The University of North Carolina. In 1901 he offered the
Bradham Prize to the student making the highest average during the two (later
three) years of study. He continued to give the prize until 1930, shortly
before his death.
He enjoyed boating, hunting, and fishing and was
considered a fine marksman. He was a member of the Presbyterian church and a
lifelong Democrat.
Bradham had three children, Mary Bradham Tucker of
Edenton, Caleb Darnell of New Bern, and George Washington of Greensboro.
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