In a small town in Georgia in 1920, an American icon was born. That year, a pharmacist in Griffin, Georgia, developed a cough and cold syrup called Creomulsion.

A group of investors in Atlanta, forty miles to the north, learned of his formula and arranged, through contacts at Coca-Cola, for a chemist to test it. The test proved Creomulsion to be a highly effective cough medicine, and so, that October, the investors founded Creomulsion Company. The product was manufactured at a plant in Griffin and moved rapidly toward national distribution, supported by ads in daily and weekly newspapers.

By 1925, Creomulsion was available in drug stores alongside brands like Scotts Emulsion, Rem, Pinex, Father John’s, Percussion, Foleys, Bells Pine Tar & Honey and Ayers Cherry Pectoral.

The first bottles of Creomulsion sold for $1.25 each. But less than a decade later, in the midst of the Great Depression, $1.25 had become a lot of money. In fact, in 1938, the company received many requests for refunds because, at the time, a family of four could eat for a week on that amount! The Company reimbursed the customer for the product and then sent them a new bottle for free with a note saying they hoped that it would work the next time they needed a cough syrup. That year a smaller, 3-ounce bottle of Creomulsion was introduced with a new, lower retail price of 59 cents less than half as much as the original.

In 1954, Creomulsion for Children was introduced.

Today, of the brands that shared the drug store shelves in 1925, only Creomulsion has stood the test of time. It is now one of North America’s best-loved brands, a trusted cough and cold remedy for both children and adults.