Story 12: Have a Coke and a smile
Name: Joseph Biedenharn
Act of Kindness: People in the country deserved to taste Coca-Cola, too. So why not deliver it to them!
Result: People around the world now enjoy Coke in bottles and cans.
Who here likes Coke? The brown sugary drink?
Well here’s a sweet story you’ll relish, I think.
It takes place during Coke’s 1890s inception
When Coke got a rave soda fountain reception.
A boy named Joe Biedenharn “adds life” to this tale
Tall, skinny, a bog joker, nothing on a small scale
He worked at his dad’s Vicksburg candy-can store
Where he sold treats & sweets, drinks, soda and more.
Knowing how most all things go better with Cokes
Joe sold glassfuls of Coke soda to all the town folks
But people in the country were behind the eight ball
Getting to town for a Coke wasn’t easy at all!
Joe knew the country people, he sold straight to them
Drove stuff out in his wagon, sold it right there and then
One day on his wagon, an idea filled Joe’s head
He’d put Coke in bottles, “Coke is it!” Joe said.
Joe found lots of bottles, he had bottles galore
Filled them up at the fountain, cased them up and made more!
He’d fill up the grates, stack ‘em up in his wagon
He’d drive to the country, his ride was a saggin’.
Now the country people pleased as punch
To have access to Coke, like the in-town bunch
Little did Joe know that this small act of sharing
Would have a far-reaching most global-like bearing
At age 27 this tall, skinny guy Joe
Was the first to put Coke a bottle, you know.
Now people all over, they know it’s no joke
That all things, well, they go better with Coke.