Walk into any gas station in the world and you’ll see that iconic red, white, and blue globe. It’s everywhere. But back in the 1890s, if you wanted a "Pepsi," you had to walk into a specific pharmacy in New Bern, North Carolina, and ask for a guy named Caleb.
Caleb Davis Bradham is the name you’re looking for.
He wasn’t a corporate titan or a marketing genius from Madison Avenue. Not at first, anyway. He was a pharmacist. A guy who spent his days mixing tinctures and powders behind a wooden counter. Honestly, the story of how a digestive aid became a multi-billion dollar empire is kind of wild when you look at the raw facts. Bradham didn't set out to conquer the beverage world; he just wanted to give his customers something that tasted good and settled their stomachs after a heavy meal.
The Birth of Brad’s Drink
Before it had the catchy name we know today, the world had "Brad’s Drink."
That was the original moniker. Simple. Direct. Maybe a little too humble. Bradham started experimenting with different concoctions at his drugstore, the Bradham Drug Company, located on the corner of Middle and Pollock Streets. You have to remember that in the late 19th century, the soda fountain was the social hub of the town. It was the "third place" before Starbucks ever thought of the concept.
People came for the medicine, but they stayed for the carbonation.
Bradham’s recipe was a specific blend of sugar, water, caramel, lemon oil, nutmeg, and kola nuts. But the "secret sauce" in his mind? Pepsin. Or at least, that’s what he wanted people to think about. He believed his syrup helped with dyspepsia—basically just a fancy 1800s word for indigestion.
By 1898, Bradham realized "Brad’s Drink" wasn't going to cut it if he wanted to expand beyond New Bern. He bought the name "Pep Kola" from a local competitor for $100 and tweaked it. On August 28, 1898, Pepsi-Cola was officially born.
👉 See also: Share Market Today Closed: Why the Benchmarks Slipped and What You Should Do Now
Why Caleb Bradham Succeeded Where Others Failed
Most people think of the soda wars as a 1980s phenomenon with Michael Jackson and Cindy Crawford. Truthfully, the war started the second Bradham decided to bottle his syrup.
He wasn’t just a chemist; he was an early adopter of the franchise model. He saw what Coca-Cola was doing in Atlanta and realized he couldn't grow by just selling glasses of soda over his own counter. He needed scale. By 1902, he launched the Pepsi-Cola Company in the back room of his pharmacy. By 1903, he had the trademark. By 1905, he was selling bottling franchises to anyone with a bit of capital and a willingness to work.
It worked. Fast.
In 1904, he bought a building in New Bern for $5,000 and moved all production there. Within a decade, there were over 250 bottlers across 24 states. Bradham was rich. He was successful. He was the king of New Bern. But as any business historian will tell you, the higher the climb, the harder the fall when the market shifts.
The Sugar Crash That Almost Killed Pepsi
If you're wondering who was the inventor of Pepsi Cola and why his name isn't as famous as, say, Henry Ford, it's because Bradham lost it all.
World War I happened.
During the war, the price of sugar was regulated. It was stable. But once the war ended, the market went absolutely haywire. Bradham, thinking the price would keep skyrocketing, decided to gamble. He "went long" on sugar. He bought massive amounts of it at the peak price of 22.5 cents per pound.
✨ Don't miss: Where Did Dow Close Today: Why the Market is Stalling Near 50,000
Then the floor dropped out.
The price of sugar plummeted to 3 cents per pound. Bradham was stuck with a massive inventory of expensive sugar that was now worth pennies. He was essentially bankrupt. By 1923, the company he built from a pharmacy counter was forced into reorganization. He sold the assets for a mere $30,000 to a man named Roy C. Megargel.
Bradham went back to his pharmacy. He lived out his days as a respected member of the community, but the empire he started was now in the hands of Wall Street investors. He died in 1934, never seeing Pepsi become the global powerhouse it is today.
The Myth vs. The Reality of the Formula
There is a lot of "lore" surrounding the original Pepsi recipe. Some people swear it contained actual pepsin (the enzyme), while others point out that official records are a bit spotty on the exact chemical breakdown from the 1890s.
The name itself is a dead giveaway of the intent. "Pepsi" comes from dyspepsia.
Bradham’s goal was "The Light, Refreshing, Healthful Drink." That was the actual slogan. He marketed it as a "pure" beverage, unlike some of his competitors who were still battling rumors about "medicinal" ingredients that weren't exactly savory.
What was actually in it?
While the current recipe is a closely guarded trade secret (though we know it uses high fructose corn syrup and phosphoric acid now), Bradham’s original 1902 trademark filing gave us the basics:
🔗 Read more: Reading a Crude Oil Barrel Price Chart Without Losing Your Mind
- Sugar and Water: The base of any syrup.
- Caramel: For that deep, signature color.
- Lemon Oil and Orange Oil: The citrus notes that distinguish it from the "spicier" taste of Coke.
- Nutmeg: This is what gives it that slightly more "rounded" flavor profile.
- Kola Nuts: The source of the caffeine and the "Cola" name.
The Legacy of the New Bern Pharmacy
If you ever find yourself in eastern North Carolina, you can actually visit the birthplace of Pepsi. It’s not a sterile museum. It’s a functioning soda fountain at 256 Middle Street. You can sit on a stool, order a cold Pepsi, and look at the old photographs of Caleb Bradham.
It’s a reminder that global brands often start in the smallest, most unassuming places.
Bradham’s story is a classic American tragedy of sorts. He had the vision to create a product people loved and the drive to franchise it, but he was undone by the volatility of the commodities market. He was a brilliant pharmacist but a lackluster speculator.
Moving Forward: Lessons from the Inventor of Pepsi
When you look back at the history of Caleb Bradham, there are a few real-world takeaways that still apply to business today.
First, branding matters more than you think. "Brad’s Drink" would have stayed in New Bern. "Pepsi-Cola" had the rhythm and the "health-adjacent" vibe that allowed it to travel.
Second, don't bet the house on a single commodity. Bradham’s downfall wasn't a bad product; it was a bad bet on sugar prices. Diversification isn't just a buzzword; it's survival.
Lastly, scale requires partners. Bradham didn't build the bottling plants himself. He sold the rights to others to build them. That’s how you go from one pharmacy to 250 locations in a decade without modern technology.
If you want to dig deeper into the history of carbonated beverages, look into the 1923 bankruptcy records of the Pepsi-Cola Company. It’s a fascinating look at the financial side of a collapsing empire. You can also visit the New Bern Historical Society’s archives to see Bradham’s original pharmaceutical licenses.
To apply this knowledge, start by examining the origins of other everyday brands. Often, the "corporate" history you see in commercials is a sanitized version of a much grittier, more human story involving a single person with a mixing bowl and a dream. Take a look at your own favorite products—chances are, there's a "Caleb Bradham" behind them who risked everything and, more often than not, ended up losing it before the world found out who they were.