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) The real question is whether or not this new company, which was apparently at the planning stages at this point, is the company that eventually shows up in January 1916, and is known as the Cane Cola Bottling Works. According to the Bluefield Daily Telegraph article from January 6, 1916 the company was owned by the Patenaudes who were originally from Canada, and were experienced soft drink manufacturers.(1) They made all flavors of sodas including a Ginger Ale and leader Cane Cola.(1) The plant was located on Highland Avenue (1), and I suspect that it may have been occupying the former location of the Chrystal Bottling & Cider Company which is also located on this street, and would already be set up for a bottling plant. 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.

The brick building sits on the location of the Crystal Bottling & Cider Company of Graham, VA, this building was built in the 1930's (according to the sanborn maps) after the original building was torn down. I feel that this is the most likely location of this company which was located on Highland Avenue.

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