My instinct is it was made up, especially as Gilbert Mosby originally sold a similar tonic called Vola for a company. I'd never heard of it here, but probably passed its original location when I was in Cincinnati. However, their newspaper has the story here and a comment box underneath, so if anyone can tell you for certain it would be them so best to fill in their comment box and see if they know. Normally such names are made up from parts of the ingredients, like Ribena (Ribes Negra) or blackcurrant in Latin, but Ko-la (Kola?) may indicate one of the many herbal ingredients as the kola nut would be a likely element. On a side issue it was sold during prohibition, and (before such consumer laws were in operation) said it contained no alcohol (it did) so sold millions. His later business partner was also a notorious bootlegger confirming his true operation.
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"Ask FunTrivia" strives to offer the best answers possible to trivia questions. We ask our submitters to thoroughly research questions and provide sources where possible. Feel free to post corrections or additions. This is server B184.