Cocaine-Caloried-Coca-Cola
On this 29th of May in 1886, John Pemberton, a pharmacist, placed the first advertisement for a new drink he had invented, in the Atlanta Journal. Originally called Pemberton French Wine Coca, he took out the alcohol – due to temperance restrictions back then in force – but kept in a smidgen of cocaine, as a healthier substitute (!) for the morphine to which he had become addicted, after a saber wound in the Civil War (Pemberton fought on the Confederate side, of course). Cocaine and wine – a winning combination to spruce up one’s day. Don’t laugh: There was a popular concoction in Italy with just those ingredients, called Vin Mariani – 6 mg of cocaine per fluid ounce of wine. This was enjoyed, apparently, in moderation, of course, by Popes Leo XIII and Pius X. So Pemberton wasn’t far off the mark, at least for his time. But what made Pemberton’s concoction different was that he also, by accident one day, added carbonation – that is, carbon dioxide – a process which had been invented in the previous century by Joseph Priestly (who also discovered oxygen). The name finally adopted for the fizzy beverage was Coca-Cola, the current, classic version of which has neither wine nor cocaine, but each can does have 39 grams of sugar. To put that into perspective, a teaspoon of sugar is 4 grams – so that is like putting ten teaspoons of sugar into your mug of coffee. Liquid calories are insidious. There are about 1.9 billion ‘servings’ of Coke sold each day, often downed with fries, burger and doughnuts (or donuts, for our American readers). No wonder obesity and diabetes are health crises of our era, even amongst children.
Mired in poverty towards the end of his life, John Pemberton sold the rights to his beverage for $300. The current net revenue of Coca-Cola is about $45.8 billions. Pemberton did not live to regret the loss of potential income, but I’m sure his descendants did.
Is Coca-Cola a good thing? I don’t drink ‘pop’, in general, except perhaps for the occasional bit of very diluted ginger-ale, or when social necessity requires. I suppose children enjoy such beverages, as a treat, but, for adults, as Belloc wrote, a sip or two of good, red wine is much more Catholic. Or even fresh, spring-or-deep-well water. None of this chlorinated citified tap water filled with who-knows-what other chemicals and hormones, that is about as drinkable as a swimming pool.
For those of a certain vintage, here is a vintage ad – hard to believe it’s over half-a-century old – singing of the ubiquity of Coca-Cola, and how it has brought the world together. Everywhere you go, you can always buy the world a Coke: Would that it were all so easy…
Carney’s Amoral Majority
After five defections – euphemistically described as ‘crossing the floor’ – and three by-elections, Mark Carney and his Liberals how have their coveted majority. One wonders what bowls of pottage were offered in back-room deals. In the archaic monarchical system that is the Dominion of Canada, this majority allows the newly-minted Prime Minister to rule[…]Continue reading→
Saint Kateri , Canada’s Protectress
This was the title given to Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, by Pope Benedict XVI, when he canonized her on October 28th, 2012, along with six others, in Saint Peter’ Square (she had been beatified by Pope John Paul II back in 1980). With Saint Joseph as our protector, along with the Canadian martyrs, we seem to[…]Continue reading→
A Tale of Two Benedicts
A grace-filled Holy Week to all our readers! As we await and prepare for the Resurrection about to dawn upon us, we might keep in mind two Benedicts: Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, requiescat in pace, elected on this day in 2005; and today’s commemoration of the mystic pilgrim, Benedict Joseph Labre, who died on this[…]Continue reading→
My Name is Bernadette
April 16th is a propitious day, for besides the anniversary of Father de Valk’s death, who founded Catholic Insight in its print form decades ago, and the commemoration of the ‘two Benedicts’, mentioned in accompanying posts, today we also recall Saint Bernadette Soubirous, the young visionary to whom the Virgin Mary appeared numerous times at[…]Continue reading→
Saint Lydwina of Schiedam and Suffering Joyfully
Saint Lydwina of Schiedam (1380 – 1433) was one of the countless and glorious ‘victim souls’ in the history of the Church, those whose lives are filled with suffering, often of an unimaginable intensity, but who suffer joyfully. She was a fifteen-year old Dutch girl, out skating one day, when she fell and broke one[…]Continue reading→
The Glorious Martyrdoms of Martin and Maximus
As we enter into Eastertide, we recall on this 13th of April Pope Saint Martin I (+655), one of the noblest, if most tragic, of the successors of Saint Peter. Born in Umbria, Italy, he was of noble lineage, with great intelligence combined with charity and love of the poor and the Church. While still[…]Continue reading→
Saint Stanislaus of Szczepanów
We celebrate Saint Stanislaus today (+ April 11, 1079), in light of this Easter Octave, a bishop and martyr who accepted the episcopacy only at the direct order of Pope Alexander II. He proved a wise and courageous leader of his flock, put to death by his own king, Boleslaus, for rebuking the monarch’s ‘immoral[…]Continue reading→
Saint Gemma Galgani
On this April 11th, in 1903 – the same year that the Italian Guiseppe Sarto was elected Pope later that summer as Pius X – a lovely, young Italian woman died, by the name of Gemma Galgani. She lived a brief life of 24 years, as did a number of other young saints, including Pier[…]Continue reading→
An Ideological and Improper Translation
I noticed something odd with the psalm reading at Mass the other day. Our bishops’ conference here in Canada has decreed that the Mass in English – Novus Ordo – use the ‘NRSV’, the ‘New Revised Standard Version’, an ‘updated’ translation of the original RSV, first published in 1952. This ‘new translation’ has the tendency[…]Continue reading→
Saint Jean-Baptiste de la Salle: A Teacher for Teachers
Jean-Baptiste de la Salle (1651 – 1719), a French nobleman, ordained a priest, founded the first order in the Church’s history entirely without priests, and this came about almost by accident. I say ‘almost’, for, of course, there are no accidents with God. Destined for ordination from an early age, Jean-Baptiste never looked back, even[…]Continue reading→