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25 Layers Chipped Off: ‘Coca-Cola’ Sees Light

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From United Press International

A pharmacist has uncovered what is believed to be the first sign advertising Coca-Cola, one which set the stage for one of the most successful advertising efforts in the country, historians said.

Dean Cox, owner of Young Brothers Pharmacy in Cartersville, said the 95-year-old Coca-Cola logo painted on the side of his century-old building was uncovered by restoration experts who chipped off 25 layers of paint. Old timers had told him the sign was there and a photo in an old hometown newspaper confirmed its existence.

Historians hired by the Coca-Cola Co., which is based in Atlanta, said they believe the Cartersville sign was the first ever to advertise Coke, which was invented in Atlanta in 1886.

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Cox and historians have suggested the sign was created by James Couden, a traveling Coca-Cola salesman who offered to paint the wall free if he could also paint on the trademark, a practice that continues today in many countries.

Wall signs were Coke’s main form of advertising during its early years. In 1905, the company allocated 10% of its advertising budget for painted signs and increased that to 25% in 1910. By 1922, there were 16,000 Coca-Cola signs.

Coke historians believe the wall signs have made Coca-Cola one of the world’s best-known trademarks.

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