CANE COLA BOTTLING COMPANY

In the May 20, 1915 edition of the Bluefield Daily Telegraph it is reported that Graham, VA may land a "big soft drink factory".(1) The article goes on to note that the town at this point doesn't have a modern soft drink concern, so apparently Chrystal Bottling & Cider Company is indeed gone by 1914.(1) I’m not sure if this article is referring to the same company that appears in the blurb from the October 22, 1915 which states that J. D. Patnaude had located in Graham and would engage in the manufacture of soft drinks, which would include Coco-Cola (Coca-Cola was often spelled this way earlier on).(1) The new building that would house this new bottling works was being built on Highland Avenue at the time of the blurb by C. W. Kelster. According to a Bluefield Daily Telegraph article from January 6, 1916 the company was named the Cane Cola Bottling Company, and the Patnaudes who were originally from Canada, were experienced soft drink manufacturers.(1) They made all flavors of sodas including a Ginger Ale and leader Cane Cola (not Coco-Cola, easy mistake).(1) I seriously doubt that this company lasted very long, if business was good, then Coca-Cola would have ripped them to shreds for the name. Actually in a list of imitators published in Pat Roddy’s book 75 Years of Refreshment Cane Cola is listed among the list of names of Coca-Cola "imitators" in 1917 so this might explain why they didn't survive.(2) Coca-Cola didn't stand for anyone using any variation of their trademark including the use of the word cola.

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