While it was called a coffee club, Coca-Cola was the preferred drink at the Casbah.

Readers of the blog will know what a huge fan of The Beatles I am.  I have written about their early days at the Casbah in Liverpool and have put the famous photo of the "fab four" at a street cafe in Paris in several of my traveling exhibits.  When I was in London a few years ago I made the pilgrimage to Abbey Road to have my photo taken crossing that famous street.

Earlier this week, a friend from Microsoft sent me a note with a link to an article from Vancouver about what The Beatles required in their dressing room.  It will not come as a surprise to Beatles fans, but Coca-Cola was the required refreshment. While the article speculates that the lure of Americana might have drawn them to Coca-Cola, the group had been enjoying the "pause that refreshes" since their first performance in Liverpool.

You don't even need to ask, but yes, I have already written the Vancouver City Archives to get a copy of the letter for our collection. ^TR

Tornado relief workers served meals on counter tops made of metal Coca-Cola signs

One of the worst tornadoes in US history ripped through the city of Gainesville, Georgia some 77 years ago and I recently found in the Archives a photo album that documented the situation. The Red Cross  and The Salvation Army both used the Gainesville Coca-Cola bottling plant as headquarters for relief efforts in the storm’s aftermath. I reached out to Michael Nagy, Director and Archivist at The Salvation Army Southern Historical Center, who shared some great detailed images and stories from inside the plant that I had never seen nor heard. My favorite picture is the one which shows relief workers being served refreshments on makeshift serving counters comprised of Coca-Cola cooler crates on the bottom and metal Coca-Cola signs as the counter tops! Many Salvation Army volunteers are seen inside the Coke plant in the photos, and Michael shared some information with me from the 1936 issue of the War Cry, a magazine issued by the Salvation Army in Atlanta. 

The Salvation Army relief workers at the Gainesville Coca-Cola plant after tornado

Mr. H. Earl Terrell, the manager of the Gainesville Coca-Cola Bottling Company, turned over his building to be used for the relief effort in any way fit. Food was sorted and a makeshift kitchen was set up to feed hundreds of storm sufferers and workers. The kitchen, which was operated by The Salvation Army workers just hours after the storm and all through the initial nights, was one of the most popular places in town. According to the War Cry, as soon as they were relieved, National Guardsmen, firemen, W.P.A. employees, and all other workers made their way to the kitchen in the Coca-Cola plant. The Salvation Army workers also carried refreshments to those working outside among the ruins of buildings, and “anyone and everyone was fed for the first day and night”. A caption on one of the photos in the magazine put it best: “The pause that refreshes amid the debris”.

All images courtesy of The Salvation Army Southern Historical Center

Relief workers and National Guardsmen gather at the Gainesville Coca-Cola plant

June 7th is National Donut day, so it is time for my annual National Donut Day post.  The art for today's post features a 1940 painting by Charles Heinzerling with our beautiful bell shaped fountain glass and a few donuts. 

Ironically I am in an all day meeting and this piece of original art is hanging in the conference room where the meeting is being held.  Now I will have to stare at these donuts all day before I can stop at Sublime donuts on the way home.  ^TR

For years we have had the restored version of "I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke" ad on our companion YouTube Channel.  As you would expect with one of the greatest ads ever made, it has always been one of the top performing videos on our channel.  I recently noticed a spike in comments and views of the ad and I was curious to see where the traffic was coming from. 

Today I found it!  msn.com featured a story on the 12 greatest advertising jingles. The story was written by Bruce Kennedy.  "Buy the World a Coke" was included in the list along with a few of the stories about the creation of the ad.  I have to admit that Bruce picked a pretty solid list.  I have been humming "You Deserve a Break Today" and "Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz" since I saw visited the site.  What do you think of the ranking?  ^TR

A new exhibit is opening at the World of Coke today called American Originals - Norman Rockwell & Coca-Cola.  You can read more details about the exhibition in a post I wrote for Coca-Cola Journey.  As noted in that story, the Archives was fortunate to recently acquire seven pieces of Norman Rockwell original art that was created by the artist as part of four ad or calendar concepts.  Amazingly, all four were turned down by The Coca-Cola Company.  While we do not know the full story on each of the seven pieces, over the next few months, I will highlight one of the pieces of art at a time in a blog post on this site to create a virtual exhibit for those around the world who can not get to Atlanta to see the exhibition in person.

The first piece of art is the one we know the least about.  This beautiful sketch is matted in a manner that suggest that Rockwell was proposing to use it as the 1936 calendar or with additional copy as a print ad.  Rockwell had already provided art for four calendars, but in this case, the Company chose to go with the beach scene painted by N.C. Wyeth for the 50th anniversary calendar. ^TR

50 YEARS YOUNG – STUDY FOR 50 TH ANNIVERSARY CAMPAIGN
13 1/2” x 10 1/2”, crayon and charcoal on paper
Study for proposed Coca-Cola advertisement for 1936:
50th Anniversary Campaign
50 Years Young,  Time tested. Taste Proven

On May 12th, Coca-Cola Malaysia sponsored the third Coca-Cola Collectors Fair in Berjaya Times Square Mall in Kuala Lumpur’s Golden Triangle.  Over 40 collectors participated setting up displays with highlights from their collections.  Last month, I was fortunate to be able to attend an event in Singapore and I experienced the passion the collectors have for their hobby.  The Malaysia event looks like it was even more exciting. The Archives provided the centennial bottle that was given to the best display as well as a few other items.  I hope that I will be able to attend the fourth collectors fair.  This video give a good overview of the event and the great collections on display. ^TR

Yesterday I was interviewed by Good Morning America about a Georgia man who claimed to have the secret formula for Coca-Cola.  Last week, I had seen an eBay listing for a document that was being offered with a "buy it now" price for the princely sum of $15 million.  While careful to indicate that he could not guarantee it was authentic, the seller had a document that he purported was a version of our secret formula.  I chuckled when I saw the listing, because as you can see from the photo above, people have been claiming to know the formula for more than a century.  The price does appear to have increased a little though!

Click the image above to watch the the segment from Good Morning America, but you can sleep easy and save your money.  The seller does not have the secret formula for Coca-Cola. The formula is safely locked away in the Vault of the Secret Formula at the World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta. 

Thanks to the millions of people who love Coca-Cola, the secret formula has a tremendous mystique in American pop culture, as was shown a few years ago when an episode on the formula aired on This American Life. This episode caused their servers to crash because of the number of hits they received. As one might expect this eBay listing created quite a bit of media interest including Good Morning America, and other media outlets have been calling for more information.  My answer is always the same.  The formula is safe and sound in the vault at the World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta. ^TR

On May 8th, 1886, the Coca-Cola was first served at Jacobs' Pharmacy at 2 Marietta Street in Atlanta, Georgia.  127 years later I wanted to take a moment to echo the text in the ad, "The party's on - Have a Coke!" Here's to the next 127 years! ^TR

Coke was being served in Canada as far back as 1897, and today I had a Coke in Canada in an advanced celebration of the brand's birthday with employees at the beautiful new office in Toronto. We set up a Coca-Cola Canada exhibit, which includes one of the syrup barrel labels pictured here. Although it is still hard to believe, I learned that in 1921, Winnipeg actually sold more cases of Coca-Cola than Atlanta and Birmingham combined. It is also interesting that Montreal sold nearly the same amount of Coke as New Orleans did in 1930. I guess it's true that "Thirst Knows No Season" (or temperature limits).

I love Star Wars Day.  Each year I have tried to find a different tie in between the movie and Coca-Cola.  This year, we have the Cobot, the nine inch remote controlled R2D2 like figure that the Company produced in 1977.  Enjoy the day and make sure to watch one of the movies today, but beware the Revenge of the Fifth!. ^TR