Royal Crown Cola

In 1905, Claud A. Hatcher, a pharmacist, established the Union Bottling Works in the basement of his family’s grocery store in Columbus, Georgia. “Chero-Cola” was the first of his “Royal Crown” line of beverages; it was followed by ginger ale, strawberry soda, and root beer. In 1912, Hatcher changed the name of the company to the Chero-Cola Company. The company struggled through the sugar rationing of World War I, and suffered financial difficulties during the early 1920s, but in 1924 Hatcher was able to launch a new brand, “Nehi,” with orange and grape sodas leading the new line. No one seems to know what the name Nehi meant.