BELL BROTHERS BROUGHT COCA-COLA

TO MONROE IN 1907

                Ah, summertime when the living is easy….Well not in today’s world of the coronavirus, but the heat & humidity is beginning to spiral and what is the best thirst quencher around? An icy cold Coca-Cola!      

There is no one around now to remember when Coke came to Monroe in the guise of the Bell Brothers way back in 1907 and forever changed our drinking habits.  Even though the iconic Coke bottle is quickly fading into oblivion, still nothing tastes quite like an icy cold bottle or can of Dr. John Pemberton’s 1886 creation, named by Frank M. Robinson and partnered with Asa Candler and Robert Woodruff’s brilliant marketing strategies turning this soft drink into one of the most recognized names in the world.

        Being almost raised as a child on Coca-Cola and remembering there was hardly ever a time when there was not a familiar yellow crate of Cokes or a cardboard six pack of them in the kitchen or back porch, they were as much a part of my life as everyone else in town, with thanks to the Bell family.

        Growing up with Coke I guess it was only natural for me to have an appreciation of the beverage and the walls in my kitchen bear testimony to just how popular the beverage was and still is… to me.  Folks my age remember how our perception of Santa Claus was forever changed thanks to the Coke Company’s artist, Haddon Sundblom, who gave the world his interpretation of how Santa looked which has stayed with us to this day.

        Looking through my notebooks of early Monroe, I found a Walton Tribune article honoring the Bell family on the fiftieth anniversary of the company’s bottling business which began on August 20, 1907.

The article ran in the September 18^th, 1957 issue, telling how the company was created.

Two brothers, Weyman P. and Alvin F. Bell owned and operated a grocery store in a building located at the site of (what was then) Jac’s Clothing Store on Broad Street.  They began to bottle soda water in the back of the store in 1902 to sell to their customers.

In a short while they sold the grocery store and moved to E. Spring Street across from the court house.  Here they began to bottle soda water for wholesale distribution over the county and named the business “Monroe Bottling Works.”  Because the building was long and narrow it was nicknamed the “shotgun plant.”

By 1904 the business had outgrown the “shotgun plant” so the bothers built a building behind what was then the home of Mrs. R. A. Durden.  The building was used as a plant and the mules which pulled the wagons were housed behind it and was aptly named “the barn.” 

The Bell brothers became quite well known for their soda water and decided it might be prudent if their business were in the downtown area.  They moved their business to what was the old Van Horne building on South Broad Street where Pearl & Gertrude Landers once housed their dress shop.  From this location the business was moved to 115 North Broad Street where it remained for around 40 years.

In 1907 the company began bottling Coca-Cola in partnership with the Athens Coca-cola Bottling Co.  Weyman and Alvin owned 8 shares each, L. C. Brown owned 1 share and the Athens Bottling Company owned 15 shares making a grand total of 32 shares.

In June of that year the company applied for a charter to change the name from Monroe Bottling Works to the Monroe Coca-Cola Bottling Company.  The charter was granted on August 30, 1907.

In 1911 Charles V. Rainwater, a long-time Coke executive, bought the shares owned by Brown and the Athens Coca-Cola Bottling Company.

Alvin Bell sold his 8 shares to his brother making Bell and Rainwater equal partners in the business.  After the sale of his shares Alvin Bell moved to Royston, Georgia and began bottling Coca-Cola there.

In these years all the deliveries were made by wagon and mules. Each day deliveries were made to a different part of the county to ensure all areas had this invigorating soft drink.  The days began quite early and sometimes ended late at night.  In the winter months the driver walked alongside the wagon to keep from freezing.

During 1912 & 1913 the merchants formed a motor car caravan known as “round the county tour. The cars, T-Model Fords, were decorated with Coca-Cola calendar girls which was hoped would help sell more bottles of Coke.

One of the company’s earliest employees who was still with the company when this article was written, was Fred Thodmas, better known as “Slick.” He came to work for the company in 1913.  Slick’s job was to work Broad Street. He recalled using a covered cart which held a capacity of 8 cases. Two trips were made daily, selling 16 cases per day. He added that on Saturdays he sold a few more cases depending on the number of folks in town.

The company delivered Coke in the mornings and in the afternoon bottled what they hoped to sell the next day. By this time the company owned four wagons with covered tops, drawn by horses for the county trips; one open wagon for around town which was drawn by a horse named “Robin.”

In 1914 the company purchased its first truck.  This was a two-cylinder Autocar with the engine under the seat. There was no top or windshield and was used only when the roads were dry. This truck carried around 50 cases.  In rainy weather it became necessary to use the wagons.

The sugar rationing followed our entry into World War I in 1917 and ended in 1918.

In 1919 Allen (Doc) Head came to work as a salesman for the company.  There were no paved roads in the county at the time which became slippery after a rain in the summer and muddy for much of the winter.  Often times the drivers slipped into ditches in the summer and were mired in the mud in the winter.  Mr. Head recalled how difficult it was on the roads during these times.  Often he would have to spend the night with some of his customers and sometimes walk miles to use a telephone.

With the arrival of the boll weevil in 1912, and loss of cotton crops, the farmers were forced to stop buying many of the things they enjoyed, Coca-Cola among them.

On September 6, 1939, Weyman Bell who helped bring Coca-Cola to Monroe and Walton County, died. His only child, John, assumed his father’s position as Manager and Secretary-Treasurer.

Sales continued strong for the company until the onset of World War II and again the rationing of sugar caused a great loss of sales even more than the boll weevil did.

In 1943 John Bell enlisted in the Navy where he served two years. During his absence his wife, Clara, managed the business.

On July 28, 1947 sugar rationing was lifted and that same year the company was awarded “The Silver Bottle” for selling 100 cases per capita.

In August 1947 the company purchased Prather Enterprises on East Spring Street.  After extensive remodeling and adding an additional building and installing a brand new bottling machinery, the company began business in its new home on June 22, 1948.  The new machinery increased the bottling capacity by two and a half times.  The same year the company received the “Gold Bottle Award” for selling 150 cases per capita.

Interviewed for this article, John said he had the same confidence as his father in the growth of Monroe and Walton County.  He said the new plant would grow even as Walton County continued to grow.  He said he looked forward to the changes for the county and for Coke in the next 50 years.

John headed the Monroe Coca-Cola Bottling Company until ill health forced his retirement in March of 1968.  His son, former Mayor Knox Bell, took over his father’s position on April 1^st.  John Bell died on April 26, 1968.

In December of 1983 it was announced that the Monroe Coca-Cola Bottling Company would merge with the Athens Coca-Cola Bottling Company as of January 1, 1984, bringing to a close 76 years of the Bell family providing Monroe and Walton County with one of the best-known and loved soft drinks in the world.