Coca-Cola

Atlanta, GA

The history of Coca-Cola is the history of America since 1886, when Doc Pemberton invented it. Wherever Americans went, in war and peace, a Coke bottle (and bottling plant) was sure to follow. We owe our modern image of Santa Claus to Coke. The 6 1/2-ounce bottle is itself iconic. The story has hubris (New Coke), tragedy (New Coke), and now controversy, with attempts to ban large sodas. (Coke may add to the obesity epidemic but probably isn't as lethal at tobacco. Discuss.) See Mark Pendergrast's exhaustive "For God, Country & Coca-Cola," also "The Big Drink" from 1959.

Dave