Coke and National Geographic

The third week in November is National Geographic Awareness Week.

Most collectors – and many people who may not consider themselves Coke collectors – have Coca-Cola ads that ran in the National Geographic magazine.

Our ads ran continually in National Geographic from 1933 to 1965. That means there are a lot of ads! And if you think about how many people subscribe to National Geographic, the number gets even larger.

Because the magazine ads were plentiful – and still are commonly sold today – individual ads are worth around $2-$5. Often collectors sell magazine ads in lots, encompassing a few years’ worth of National Geographic ads. Even these collections of ads do not bring in very high prices (only $25 or so).

If you have a set of magazine ads to sell, leave them in the magazines or cut them out at the seam. You don’t need to mount them on anything (nor should you, as that can destroy the paper). I’ve seen a number of ad collections sold in simple school notebooks, with each ad slipped into a clear plastic sleeve. The most important thing is to protect the ads and make sure they don’t rumple.

The ad I’ve included here ran in National Geographic in June 1936. By looking at a number of them, you can see how fashions, pastimes and everyday life changed over the years.