Multiple choice general knowledge

The iconic Coca Cola bottle was designed by the Root Glass Company. Chapman J. Root, president of the Root Glass Company, turned the project over to members of his supervisory staff, including company auditor T. Clyde Edwards, plant superintendent Alexander Samuelsson, and Earl R. Dean, bottle designer and supervisor of the bottle molding room. Root and his subordinates decided to base the bottle's design on one of the soda's two ingredients, the coca leaf or the kola nut, but were unaware of what either ingredient looked like. Dean and Edwards went to the Emeline Fairbanks Memorial Library and were unable to find any information about coca or kola. Instead, Dean was inspired by a picture of __________________ in the Encyclopedia Britannica. Dean made a rough sketch of what he saw and returned back to the plant to show Mr. Root. He explained to Root how he could transform the shape of the pod into a bottle. Chapman Root gave Dean his approval. What was the inspiration?

  1. Ridge gourd

  2. A WWII artillery shell

  3. A gelogical formation near Columbus, GA

  4. Cocoa pod

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

The Coca-Cola bottle's iconic contour shape was inspired by the cocoa pod, which has distinctive ribbed sides that Dean translated into the bottle's design. While the designers initially hoped to find images of the coca leaf or kola nut (soda ingredients), they found cocoa instead and used its pod shape. Ridge gourd and artillery shells don't match the historical record, and the Georgia formation is not the documented inspiration.