Current：Home > MarketsWhy the price of Coke didn't change for 70 years (classic) -WealthMindset Learning
Why the price of Coke didn't change for 70 years (classic)
View
Date：2025-04-12 16:51:33
This episode originally ran in 2012.
Prices go up. Occasionally, prices go down. But for 70 years, the price of a bottle of Coca-Cola didn't change. From 1886 until the late 1950s, a bottle of coke cost just a nickel.
On today's show, we find out why. The answer includes a half a million vending machines, a 7.5 cent coin, and a company president who just wanted to get a couple of lawyers out of his office.
This episode was hosted by David Kestenbaum. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.
Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.
Always free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, NPR One or anywhere you get podcasts.
Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.
Music: "I'd Like To Buy The World A Coke" by New Seekers and "Always Coca-Cola" by Joey Diggs
veryGood！ (2)
Related
- Trump invites nearly all federal workers to quit now, get paid through September
- Can China save its economy - and ours?
- In Georgia Senate Race, Warnock Brings a History of Black Faith Leaders’ Environmental Activism
- Squid Game Season 2 Gets Ready for the Games to Begin With New Stars and Details
- Can Bill Belichick turn North Carolina into a winner? At 72, he's chasing one last high
- As Biden Eyes a Conservation Plan, Activists Fear Low-Income Communities and People of Color Could Be Left Out
- 3D-printed homes level up with a 2-story house in Houston
- 2 boys dead after rushing waters from open Oklahoma City dam gates sweep them away, authorities say
- 'Malcolm in the Middle’ to return with new episodes featuring Frankie Muniz
- Olaplex, Sunday Riley & More: Stock Up on These Under $50 Beauty Deals Today Only
Ranking
- How to watch new prequel series 'Dexter: Original Sin': Premiere date, cast, streaming
- Watch the Moment Pregnant Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker Revealed They're Expecting
- J.Crew’s 50% Off Sale Is Your Chance To Stock Up Your Summer Wardrobe With $10 Tops, $20 Shorts, And More
- Ray Lewis’ Son Ray Lewis III’s Cause of Death Revealed
- IRS recovers $4.7 billion in back taxes and braces for cuts with Trump and GOP in power
- Having Rolled Back Obama’s Centerpiece Climate Plan, Trump Defends a Vastly More Limited Approach
- At buzzy health care business conference, investors fear the bubble will burst
- Biden Heads for Glasgow Climate Talks with High Ambitions, but Minus the Full Slate of Climate Policies He’d Hoped
Recommendation
Backstage at New York's Jingle Ball with Jimmy Fallon, 'Queer Eye' and Meghan Trainor
Drier Springs Bring Hotter Summers in the Withering Southwest
'It's like gold': Onions now cost more than meat in the Philippines
2 boys dead after rushing waters from open Oklahoma City dam gates sweep them away, authorities say
Megan Fox's ex Brian Austin Green tells Machine Gun Kelly to 'grow up'
New York orders Trump companies to pay $1.6M for tax fraud
How to deal with your insurance company if a hurricane damages your home
Here's what's at stake in Elon Musk's Tesla tweet trial