Welcome to KocaNola.com!

KocaNola.com is a site dedicated to the process of gathering, preserving, and sharing historical information about Koca Nola. Much of the information and material accumulated thus far has been obtained thanks to the strong and much-appreciated support of a core group of advanced collectors and researchers who have generously responded to advertisements placed in hobby publications.  By broadening communication about this initiative to the world wide web, we are expanding our search and reaching out to all collectors and historians across the continent.

This beautiful golden yellow Koca Nola Hutchinson soda bottle was utilized by James Esposito in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  The embossed lettering has been painted white to make it easier to read.  (Photo: R. J. Brown)

MISSION STATEMENT

Our objective is to support and promote the preservation, study, documentation, collection, display, communication and sharing of information about everything related to Koca Nola.  In the short term we are gathering as much information as possible prior to the publication of A Heads-Up On Koca Nola, the book (with price-value guide) I am researching and writing.  Longer term we will continue to gather and present information, with KocaNola.com serving as a centralized repository and source of information for anyone interested in Koca Nola.

WHY KOCA NOLA?

Of the 150+ Coca-Cola copycat soda brands known to exist during the first two decades of the Twentieth Century, Koca Nola was remarkable for three reasons:

• Koca Nola was one of six major brand name sodas first marketed in embossed bottles utilizing Hutchinson's Patent Spring Stopper (Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, Celery-Cola, Ala-Cola, and Moxie were the others);

• Although it is well-documented that the syrup of other major brand name sodas contained cocaine at some point, the Koca Nola Company was one of very few soda bottling firms indicted and found guilty of adulteration (corrupting, debasing, or making impure by the addition of a foreign or inferior substance in a product); and

• Confirmed as having 52 franchises in 15 states, DC, and Mexico (and counting), the Koca Nola Company was probably one of the most successful of all the early copycat soda brands.  It is this author's conjecture that during the company's 1906-1909 heyday, Koca Nola was one of the top five selling soda brands in the United States.

WHERE TO FROM HERE?

Please check out the accompanying pages to learn more about my background, the history of Koca Nola, how you can help, and how to contact us.  After you've reviewed that information, we encourage you to:

• Add KocaNola.com to your favorites list and check back frequently (the latest web site changes are detailed on the Koca Nola News page!) for updates concerning publication of the Koca Nola book;

• Contact us for free appraisals of Koca Nola bottles and/or related go-with items (note: please send photos with descriptions, not the actual items!); and

• Do not wait for someone else to submit information.  If you have any information related to Koca Nola, please contact us as soon as possible. Your help is needed!