![Even though the United States government had tightened restrictions on the public’s access to cocaine and coca leaf products, Brooklyn’s Ola Laboratories, Inc., copyrighted in 1935 its “invigorating” drink as “Ola” (above). The beverage blended “coca leaf, kola nuts, [and yerba] maté,” flavored with fruit, spices, and bitters and combined with caramel, sugar cane juice, and carbonated water. By combining one of North Americans’ most popular beverage combinations—cola with coca— with one of South Americans’ favorites—yerba maté, Ola should have been a carbonated sales sensation. Instead its rollout fizzled, and the Brooklyn firm was absorbed by Len-Ola Laboratories. (Copyright © the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology.)](https://asa2.silverchair-cdn.com/asa2/content_public/journal/anesthesiology/128/1/10.1097_aln.0000000000002020/2/m_31ff01.jpeg?Expires=1736316416&Signature=FUTn7VcjQzrRSlrymu3thX-mUHPVLup7PevdF6E4W1Md09EAc09Hic44lw~9AFKX-MIGyEPOw1Blpd5NQzR2gxFPQg-V8NvvgSociNHg41qauFKXSqJu1787qWVb0L~pQYln8kr9vONKYa~3hGum9G1mnHj7MCX6FrEn7eiw2zkrqMa06O18TywEqiwwzhojAFbufchR8JhbaUVH3R8HHoUAbSmuG1Pvrpb0fraAgQRLSJAScS1WXEnKdm35-nkt6YaGGKUtQ68FPb-nUG2AXyMCHUVe5rTJ9qAinR0FizWA~qeP-rGV9NBHd93FnDMFP-sjLRF3tvq5yi2NZlcCow__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAIE5G5CRDK6RD3PGA)
Even though the United States government had tightened restrictions on the public’s access to cocaine and coca leaf products, Brooklyn’s Ola Laboratories, Inc., copyrighted in 1935 its “invigorating” drink as “Ola” (above). The beverage blended “coca leaf, kola nuts, [and yerba] maté,” flavored with fruit, spices, and bitters and combined with caramel, sugar cane juice, and carbonated water. By combining one of North Americans’ most popular beverage combinations—cola with coca— with one of South Americans’ favorites—yerba maté, Ola should have been a carbonated sales sensation. Instead its rollout fizzled, and the Brooklyn firm was absorbed by Len-Ola Laboratories. (Copyright © the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology.)
Even though the United States government had tightened restrictions on the public’s access to cocaine and coca leaf products, Brooklyn’s Ola Laboratories, Inc., copyrighted in 1935 its “invigorating” drink as “Ola” (above). The beverage blended “coca leaf, kola nuts, [and yerba] maté,” flavored with fruit, spices, and bitters and combined with caramel, sugar cane juice, and carbonated water. By combining one of North Americans’ most popular beverage combinations—cola with coca— with one of South Americans’ favorites—yerba maté, Ola should have been a carbonated sales sensation. Instead its rollout fizzled, and the Brooklyn firm was absorbed by Len-Ola Laboratories. (Copyright © the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology.)
George S. Bause, M.D., M.P.H., Honorary Curator and Laureate of the History of Anesthesia, Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology, Schaumburg, Illinois, and Clinical Associate Professor, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio. UJYC@aol.com.
