Tag: Atlanta (Ga.)

Posted on

Atlanta Lung Association Christmas Seals

In the first decade of the twentieth century, Tuberculosis (sometimes referred to as TB or consumption) was the leading cause of death in the United States. Its prevalence led to the nationwide creation of organizations for combating the disease. In Atlanta, the Fulton County Medical Society created the Fulton Sanitary and Tuberculosis Prevention Society in 1907 to fight the spread of TB and care for those whom it afflicted. That same year, social activist and Red Cross volunteer Emily Bissell of Wilmington, Delaware was called upon to help raise three hundred dollars for a local sanitarium struggling with funds. She adopted an idea from Denmark that involved the sale of Christmas-themed seals which could be placed on envelopes during the holidays. She sold them for a penny each, to make them affordable, and by the end of the campaign had raised thousands of dollars.

The National Association for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis (now known as the American Lung Association) joined the Christmas Seal campaign in 1911 and continues the practice today. The Atlanta Lung Association sold the Christmas seals featured below during the mid-twentieth century (by nobles at here). These images are part of the Atlanta Historical Society’s Atlanta Lung Association Photograph Collection, 1913-1977 (bulk 1945-1955). The collection also features photographs of medical professionals and volunteers working to fight the disease.

To learn more about the history of the Christmas Seals program, you can visit the American Lung Association’ s Christmas Seals website.

Share
Posted on

Have a Coke and a Smile . . . and Some Historic Ads.

Coca-Cola is an iconic soft drink, invented right here in Georgia by medical chemist and businessman John S. Pemberton in 1886. One of its earliest uses was as a cure for headaches, and the beverage was dispensed from drug store soda fountains. This can be seen in an early advertisement from druggists Evans and Howard, which was published in the April 29, 1887 issue of the Columbus Enquirer-Sun,  just one year after Pemberton (a resident of Columbus for much of his life) created the drink.

Columbus Enquirer-Sun, April 29, 1887
April 29, 1887

Another ad published in the June 7, 1888 edition of the Columbus Enquirer-Sun, this time from Columbus druggists Hall and Wheat, praises the benefits of Coca-Cola as “the most meritorious article ever drawn through a soda apparatus” for “headaches” and “tired feeling.”

Columbus Enquirer-Sun, June 7, 1888
June 7, 1888

Coca-Cola’s popularity spread quickly, particularly after Atlanta patent medicine manufacturer and pharmacist Asa Griggs Candler purchased the rights to produce the soda fountain remedy. This ad from the Milledgeville Drug Company, seen here in the August 3, 1891 issue of the Milledgeville Union Recorder, heralds the availability of Coca-Cola on draught. Asa Candler  incorporated the Coca-Cola Company in 1892.

Milledgeville Union Recorder, August 3, 1891
August 3, 1891

A Coca-Cola Company ad from a 1907 issue of the Atlanta Georgian and News shows  that competing fountain drinks attempted to imitate Coca-Cola due to its popularity, and that Coca-Cola appealed directly to its customers to help protect its trademark by refusing those products. This ad also features an earlier straight-sided Coke bottle design; in 1916, the company adopted its now-familiar contour-shaped or “hobble-skirt” bottle to guide its customers away from imitations.

Atlanta Georgian and News, Aug. 13, 1907
August 13, 1907

During the early twentieth century, the Coca-Cola Company also employed several common themes in American print advertising, one of which was to feature popular athletes in its advertisements.  The July 13, 1910 edition of the Athens Banner includes a Coca-Cola Company ad with Chicago Cubs first baseman Frank Chance;  the July 21, 1911 edition of the same paper features an ad with Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Hans (“Honus”) Wagner.

Athens Banner, July 13, 1910
July 13, 1910

Athens Banner, July 21, 1911
July 21, 1911

Besides athletes, another advertising staple has always been pretty girls. Coca-Cola was no exception to this rule when promoting its product as “purely delicious and deliciously pure–and wholesome” in this ad from the May 9, 1912 issue of the daily edition of the Thomasville Times Enterprise.

ThomasvilleTimes Enterprise (daily), May 9, 1912
May 9, 1912

Another ad from the June 27, 1911 edition of the Athens Banner  invited people to join the “merry throng” enjoying Coca-Cola.

Athens Banner, June 27, 1911
June 27, 1911

There were seasonal ad campaigns, as well. Thomasville, Georgia’s daily edition of the Times Enterprise  features a Coca-Cola Company ad that persuades readers to purchase Coca-Cola, “A Glass of Liquid Winter,” to help cool down on hot summer days; this appeared in the August 18, 1911 issue of the newspaper.

Thomasville Times Enterprise (daily), Aug. 18, 1911
August 18, 1911

Coca-Cola drinkers were encouraged to seek refreshment during the winter months, too. Like today, Christmas shopping back in 1915 could be an enjoyable, yet very tiring, exercise. Recognizing this, a local Coca-Cola bottler from Americus, Georgia ran an ad in the December 9 weekly issue of the Americus Times Recorder that promoted Coca-Cola as a refreshing tonic for “a busy day” of Christmas shopping.

Americus Times Recorder (weekly), Dec. 9, 1915
December 9, 1915

Browse through more examples of  historic print advertisement in Georgia newspapers, along with many more interesting items in the Digital Library of Georgia’s Georgia Historic Newspapers collections, which include the Athens Historic Newspapers Archive, the Atlanta Historic Newspapers Archive, the Columbus Enquirer Archive, the Macon Telegraph Archive, the Milledgeville Historic Newspapers Archive, and the South Georgia Historic Newspapers Archive.

Share