Claim:   The shape of the Coca-Cola bottle was mistakenly based on the cacao tree seed pod.

Status:   Undetermined.

Origins:   The unmistakable curved shape of its bottle has been part of Coke's image ever since the original glass contour bottle was designed in 1915 and introduced throughout the United States in 1916. To this day, people wonder where the design came from, and some odd theories have surfaced, including one about its being modelled after a Victorian hooped dress.

(One popular misconception credits the bottle's unique form to famed designer, Raymond Loewy. That one is easily dismissed as Loewy didn't arrive in America until 1919, three years after what came to be called the "hobble skirt" bottle was in wide distribution. Loewy later did design products for Coca-Cola such as cans, coolers, and vending machines, which likely led to this misconception. He also called the Coke bottle "the most perfectly designed package in the world." It's hardly likely he'd be that arrogant if he were describing his own design.)

None of the false theories is any more odd that what the company itself claims as the correct origin.

Back in 1915, soda bottles were pretty much the same shape no matter which beverage they contained. What differentiated one unopened soda from another was its label. Great, except for one problem: paper labels slid off bottles when they became wet.

In those long-ago days, keeping soft drinks chilled was typically accomplished by leaving them in tubs of ice water. This led to confusion and frustration as customers blindly fished around in cold water for the brands they wanted. Finally, a light bulb went off over someone's head — what if Coca-Cola's bottle had an unusual shape? The days of brand confusion would be over, because a customer could easily pick out an ice-cold Coke by feel alone.

So much for the decision to shape the bottle differently; now onto where this particular shape came from. Though I grant this is a hard one to swallow, Coca-Cola swears happened like this:

A heat wave shut down operations at the Root Glass Company of Terre Haute, Indiana, one of Coca-Cola's bottle suppliers. As a result, there was free time to be frittered away on odd projects. Plant manager Alex Samuelson was puzzling over the Coke bottle design problem when he was struck by an inspiration. What if the bottle were made to resemble the shape of either a kola nut or a coca leaf, the two flagship ingredients the product had been named for?

He dispatched one of his employees (a fellow by the name of Clyde Edwards) off to the city library to look up information about those two items. A misunderstanding occurred, leading Edwards to the wrong page of the Encyclopedia Britannica. The sketches he returned with were turned into the bottle design we know and love so much today, but the vertical striations and curved, bulging middle bore no resemblance whatsoever to either the coca leaf or the kola nut. Instead, they were a darned good rendition of a cacao tree seed pod. Yes, cacao. As in chocolate.

I've seen this story in books. I've also heard it told as gospel at both the Coca-Cola Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada and its parent museum in Atlanta, Georgia. But you be the judge, eh? Have a look at the cacao pod graphic at the top of the page — does it say Coke bottle to you?

Barbara "chocolate up to experience" Mikkelson

Last updated:   13 March 2007

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  Sources:

    Allen, Frederick.   Secret Formula.

    New York: HarperCollins, 1994.   ISBN 0-88730-672-1   (pp. 112).

    Stattmann, Ed.   "Coke Successfully Bottled Its Image 70 Years Ago."

    United Press International.   11 July 1985.