Soft drinks are the substance of our lives. Of this there can be no doubt. I for one have been drinking Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola since I was a very young man indeed. Did you ever take time to wonder about the history of these two great and life-enriching drinks?
It all goes back to one pharmacist, Caleb Bradham, who in the waning days of the 19th century was occupied with preparing formula after formula involving carbonated water, sugar, and as luck would have it, vanilla and cola nuts at his drugstore soda fountain. His final concoction, which Caleb called "Brad's Drink," soon grew in popularity; he called it "Pep Cola." 
As it happens the Greeks used the word "pepsi" to describe certain functions of the stomach. Since the carbonated water in Brad's Drink promoted healthy digestion, the product finally became "Pepsi Cola." Brad sold Pepsi for years, and in 1929 a celebrity auto racer, Barney Oldfield, endorsed it in newspaper ads as "A bully drink...refreshing, invigorating, a fine bracer before a race."
Advertising and Pepsi went hand in hand. Upon the introduction in 1934 of a 12-ounce bottle, which sold for a dime, the drink's popularity sky-rocketed. Then the price was slashed to a nickel and sales went "through the roof." Radio listeners, in those golden early days of radio broadcasting, were treated to a jingle: "Pepsi cola hits the spot - Twelve full ounces, that's a lot - Twice as much for a nickel, too - Pepsi-Cola is the drink for you." Since that time, jingles have come and gone. In 1958 it was, "Be Sociable, Have a Pepsi." On then to 1961 - "Now It's Pepsi for Those Who Think Young." And in 1963, "Come Alive, You're in the Pepsi Generation."
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