Vintage Photos Show French People Tasting Coca-Cola For the First Time

Coca Cola, came to France in 1919, when Raymon Aaron Linton registered the brand in France. French infantry officer Georges Delcroix started importing and selling the drink in Bordeaux. However, it was not popular as it was in the United States. It was the first major flavorful nonalcoholic beverage widely consumed, and it became even more popular during Prohibition.

In 1950, Coca Cola decided to boost the sales by marketing the product directly to the people. Under the slogan ‘Drink Fresh’ Coca Cola vans toured in the cities, towns and streets of France and distributed the samples to adults and children. The LIFE magazine photographer Mark Kauffman was there to photograph the genuine reactions of French people trying the drink for the first time. As these pictures show, the French didn’t initially find the ‘great taste of Coke’, all that great.

#1 At a Paris bar, a man in a beret spits a mouthful of Coca-Cola at the camera.

3 Points

Upvote Downvote

#2 Watched by a man with several bottles in his hands, a woman drinks a bottle of Coca-Cola in a shop, in Paris, France.

3 Points

Upvote Downvote

#3 Coke comes to France.

2 Points

Upvote Downvote

#4 A bystander watches as a man pours a bottle of Coca-Cola into a glass held by a smiling, elderly man, in Paris, France.

2 Points

Upvote Downvote

#5 A young woman drinks a bottle of Coca-Cola in a Paris shop.

2 Points

Upvote Downvote

#6 A Coca-Cola delivery driver sits in the open door of his truck while on a break, in France.

2 Points

Upvote Downvote

#7 View of a Coca-Cola delivery truck as it crosses Pont de l’Archeveche, near the cathedral Notre Dame de Paris.

1 Point

Upvote Downvote

#8 Several unidentified men drink bottles of Coca-Cola, in Paris, France.

1 Point

Upvote Downvote

#9 People buying Coca-Cola at an air exhibition.

1 Point

Upvote Downvote

#10 Coca-Cola magazine ad. 1945.

1 Point

Upvote Downvote

#11 In a Paris shop, a man pours a bottle of Coca-Cola into a glass held by an elderly woman.

1 Point

Upvote Downvote

#12 A group of people trying the Coca Cola.

1 Point

Upvote Downvote

#13 An unidentified couple sit at a sidwalk cafe near the Eiffel Tower and read. Each has a bottle of Coca-Cola in front of them.

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#14 The salesmen took to the streets of the capital to distribute marketing material in Parisian cafés and give samples to adults and children

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#15 To get Parisians to part with their beloved wine was going to be one tough feat.

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#16 This man probably didn’t like the taste.

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#17 A man trying the Coca Cola drink for the first time ever.

0 Points

Upvote Downvote

#18 A young boy tasting Coca Cola.

0 Points

Upvote Downvote