It's 1940. The world is on the brink of war and the United States is still struggling to shake off its hangover from the Great Depression. My great-grandfather, Benjamin J. Frink had a dream and a loophole where he could get the same amount of sugar rations as big cola companies like Pepsi and Coca-Cola. Sensing an opportunity, he switched from tobacco to soda-pop and started Bob's-Cola.

For the next 15 years Bob's-Cola churned out half a dozen flavors to hundreds of thousands of thirsty customers throughout the Southeast and as far west as Texas. Over the next 40 years much of the bottles, signage, and paraphernalia was lost, but then eBay appeared.

As for the name, B.J. Frink thought it sounded friendly because everyone has someone in their family named Bob. Except us, ironically. No Bob's in our family. Not even a Robert.


Below is a radio recording from the 1947 grand opening of the new Bob's-Cola bottling plant in Atlanta.

This recording was digitized from a very worn record made of the event. The quality is not great, but it's a pretty neat glimpse into the company.
























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