Welcome to the Schmidt Museum of Coca-Cola

The Schmidt Museum of Coca-Cola® Memorabilia! Our 32,000 sq. ft. Museum Facility opened in late Fall 2005.
* Over 8,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space
* Added displays including antique Coca-Cola® delivery vehicles, turn of the Century bottling works, vending machines, toys, bottle displays, signs, expanded Santa exhibit and the only complete collection of classic Coca-Cola® serving trays known to exist.
* Expanded Museum Store
* 50's style Soda Fountain featuring Coca-Cola®, snacks and sandwiches
* Extended Museum hours
* Expanded Visitor comforts
* RV and Tour Bus parking

A Brief History of Coca-ColaHistory

Atlanta Pharmacist and former Confederate Captain in the Civil War, Dr. John Styth Pemberton was the inventor of the "secret formula" that would later become known as Coca-Cola. In 1886, while working on an elixir or in his words; "the ideal brain tonic", Dr. Pemberton took the basic formula of his earlier French Wine Coca, took out the wine, added extract of Cola nut, essential oils and other ingredients to concoct what his bookkeeper, Frank Robinson, later branded Coca-Cola ®. Mr. Robinson was also responsible for the Spencerian script used by Coca-Cola which was later to become the most recognized trademark in the world. John Pemberton died in 1888, and through a series of complicated transactions, another Atlanta druggist, Asa Candler, ended up with control of the Coca-Cola Company. It was through Candler's brilliant marketing that Coca-Cola's popularity began to spread throughout the country. Another stroke of marketing genius was introduced by Joseph Biedenharn of Vicksburg, Mississippi. In 1894, the Biedenharn Candy Company was the first to bottle Coca-Cola in the Hutchinson stoppered bottles. Two enterprising lawyers from Chattanooga, Tennessee named B.F. Thomas and J.B. Whitehead, recognized the potential of selling Coca-Cola in bottles and purchased the bottling rights for almost the entire country from an unconvinced Asa Candler. Coca-Cola's history is rich with intuitive company leadership. Under the leadership of men like Robert Woodruff, Coca-Cola became the most famous soft drink and trademark in the world.

History of the Schmidt Family and Coca-Cola

In 1901, Ben Thomas, one of the two lawyers who purchased the bottling rights to Coca-Cola, persuaded Frederick Schmidt to leave his managers position with Southern Railway Express of Chattanooga and to purchase a Coca-Cola bottling franchise in Louisville, Kentucky. In April of 1901, the first bottle of Coca-Cola was produced by the Coca-Cola Bottling Works 2nd under the ownership of Frederick Schmidt. In 1920, Fred Schmidt divided the Louisville Franchise Territory between his three sons and the Elizabethtown territory was given to, middle son, Luke Schmidt. Upon his death in 1941, his wife Irene managed the operation until 1955 when their son Bill, after completing college and serving as a pilot in the United States Air Force, returned to Elizabethtown to take over the family business. Bill and his wife Jan represent the third generation of Coca-Cola Bottlers. In the 1970's, Bill and Jan's two sons Luke and Larry began work at the bottling plant. Luke and Larry represent the fourth generation of the Schmidt family to be active in the business. In the mid-1980's, Luke left the CCBC in Elizabethtown to organize and head up an entity dedicated to recycling plastic beverage containers. Larry remained active in the management of the business - becoming president in the mid-1990's and stayed in the position through the sale of the Coca-Cola franchise in 1999 and the subsequent sale of the bottling and canning facility in 2004.

History of the Schmidt Museum

With completion of the third Elizabethtown Coca-Cola Bottling Plant in 1971, Bill and his wife Jan began to search out a few Coca-Cola antiques to decorate office spaces. By 1976, their passion for collecting Coca-Cola memorabilia was filling warehouses. In 1976, dedicated space was created in the bottling plant for the Schmidt Museum Collection of Coca-Cola Memorabilia, which opened to the public in March of 1977. After 25 years and almost a million visitors from around the world, the Museum closed in November of 1999 due to changes in State safety regulations. In April of 2001, The Schmidt Museum of Coca-Cola Memorabilia reopened in the Elizabethtown Tourism and Convention Center located at 1030 North Mulberry. The interim museum exhibited over 1100 rare artifacts from a collection, which now numbers well over 80,000 items. In the Fall of 2005 the Schmidt Museum of Coca-Cola Memorabilia moved to its new 32,000 sq. ft. museum/warehouse facility located at 109 Buffalo Creek Drive, Elizabethtown. KY.

Official Site