Spotlight On The World of Coca-Cola - German Vending Machine

Last Wednesday evening at the World of Coke we had an employee screening of the classic 1961 Billy Wilder movie "One, Two, Three." This film featured Jimmy Cagney as the manager of Coca-Cola operations in West Berlin during the Cold War.  The movie also starred Arlene Francis, Pamela Tifton and Horst Buchholz.  It was Cagney's last feature role as he retired after the movies release.

The event was a great success both because it is a very funny movie and because of the depictions of what it was like to work in one of the offices of The Coca-Cola Company.

As I watched the movie, I was making a mental list of the German advertising material from 1961 that I saw in the film.  While we hold many of the items in our collection, there were a few we do not have.

Visitors to the World of Coca-Cola may recognize the vending machine on the right.  It is part of the "Arms Reach of Desire" section of Milestones of Refreshment gallery.  We acquired the machine from our German office when they moved from Essen to Berlin. 

New Acquisition For Archives Collection

Pardon the quality of the photograph, but I wanted to share our newest acquisition to for the Archives collection.

This is the couch that was used on American Idol last season (season 8.)  While it is too fragile to go on display at the World of Coca-Cola like the leather couch from season 3, we are happy to add it to the collection and have it with the couch from season 6.

Spotlight on the World of Coca-Cola: Space Dispenser

In keeping with our theme for this week, I thought it would be appropriate to provide some background information on the Space Dispenser that is on display at The World of Coca-Cola. In 1995, this dispenser provided refreshment to astronauts Eileen Collins, Bernard Harris, and James Weatherbee on board the Space Shuttle Discovery. Both Coca-Cola and diet Coke were available on this mission. In 1996, a more advanced version of the dispenser also supplied Powerade to the crew.

Coke's 1969 "Moonshot" Television Commercial

In 1969, we saluted America's lunar astronauts (both present and future) with a television commercial. Before the Apollo 8 lunar flight, everyone wondered what the other side of the moon looked like, so we decided that we would disclose that secret in this commercial. In the beginning, a rocket approaches the moon, and once it makes its way around it reveals what is on the opposite side - the trademark Coca-Cola red disc, of course! As the announcer says, "There is, however, just one little thing you should know about", and a certain jingle plays in the background. Can you name the tune?

Apollo 11 Anniversary

         

In July 1969, The Coca-Cola Export Corporation co-sponsored the first truly international telecast – the landing on the moon. The Company was involved in the Apollo XI Moon Shot telecast via satellite in major markets in Latin America and Southeast Asia. Nine countries in Latin America took part in this historic broadcast.

In announcing the sponsorship, a Company statement said: “It is with true pride and a sense of pioneering spirit that we can announce that The Coca-Cola Export Corporation is commercially co-sponsoring the telecast of the Apollo XI Moon Shot -- from take-off July 16 through moon landing July 20, to splash-down July 24 – on behalf of the product Coca-Cola.”

 

The Apollo XI Moon Shot was truly a "first." It was the culmination of humankind's dream since its earliest stages of existence. It was, at the time, seen as fiction turned to fact. It was a "first" by the very nature of its being, and, in turn, it was a "first" for television, sharing such an occurrence around the world.

It also was a very important "first" for Coca-Cola: It was the first product of its kind ever advertised on international television.

On July 20, 1969 -- the day Neil Armstrong and Colonel Edwin Aldrin stepped on to the moon – full newspaper ads in Chile contained a quotation for a German poet, Schiller:  “Nada hay tan alto donde el hombre esforzado no pueda apoyar su escala” ["Nothing is so high that the man of determination cannot put his ladder against it!"].

The only other copy in the ad was: "A Message from the Authorized Bottlers of Coca-Cola.”

 

Spotlight on The World of Coca-Cola - Artist Gordon Chandler

The next feature in our 'Spotlight on The World of Coca-Cola' series is Artist Gordon Chandler of Carrollton, Georgia. Chandler's works in the new Pop Culture Gallery exhibit at the World of Coke are entitled “3 Cokes”, “Carrollton Coke” and “Three Color Cokes”. Chandler uses many re-purposed materials in his art, including the Coke bottle. He started W&P Builders in 1976, a construction company that manufactured welded steel woodstoves, and began equipping the studio that he still occupies today. Much of his work is inspired by traditional Southern collectibles. Originally from Massachusetts, he also shares with us a memory of Coke as a kid, and something else that he learned was pretty popular with Coke in the South!

Painted Wall Sign In Pontiac, Illinois

We have received photographs from Georgia muralist Sonny Franks of a painted wall sign he recently finished in Pontiac, Illinois.  Two newspaper (Pontiac) accounts (Gwinnett) detail the origins of the sign and the dedication to Sonny's father.

I wanted to share both the original 1941 Canadian cardboard poster and some of the photos Sonny sent us showing the sign progress.

Collectible Contour Glasses Available At McDonalds's in Asia

I just received our set of Colored Contour Glasses for the Archives Collection and they are great.  I love the different colors and the great contour box they arrived in.  If you are traveling in Asia this summer, you need to look for the glasses.

The Coca-Cola Company and McDonald’s Corporation are joining hands to bring a new limited edition colored “Coca-Cola” Contour glass series to millions of consumers throughout Asia Pacific. The campaign will cover nine markets – Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Korea, The Philippines, Malaysia, Tahiti, Samoa, and Fiji  – and it follows the very successful partnership around the Beijing 2008 Coca-Cola Contour glass promotion.

McDonald’s, which has been a partner with Coca-Cola since 1955, will offer customers the chance for a limited time to collect these quality “Coca-Cola” Contour glasses in six colors – Pink, Green, Blue, Lime, Charcoal and Purple. The “Coca-Cola” Contour glass was developed from the “Coca-Cola” Contour Bottle, one of the most recognizable cultural icons and collectible items in the world.

Dispatches From Denver - Farewell And See You In Milwaukee

For our final post from The Coca-Cola Collectors Convention, I wanted to give you an idea of what the well dressed collector wears to the closing banquet.  I posed with Dan Dean who was sporting a handsome "Its The Real Thing" outfit.  Even the shoes matched!

If you are planning to join us in Milwaukee in 2010, you better begin planning your wardrobe.

Spotlight On The World Of Coca-Cola - South Africa Folk Art Bottle

This week for our focus on the World of Coke, we wanted to highlight one of the 24 folk art bottles that are on display. 

Originally created for the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games, held in Atlanta, Georgia, The Coca-Cola Salute to Folk Art was collection of folk art bottles from 54 countries. To create their own one-of-a-kind bottle, some countries commissioned well-known artists, while in most cases, competitions were held to select the artistic concept best representing that country. Many of these contests selected the entries of school students and local artisans.

The program celebrated the folk art and craft traditions of some of the countries where Coca-Cola is sold around the world. Each work of art started with the same basic “canvas” – an oversized three-dimensional Coke bottle – onto which artisans applied their local art traditions and indigenous materials to make the bottle their own.  Since the 1996 Games, the Folk Art Bottle program has been utilized by other countries as well.

SOUTH AFRICA

ARTISTS: Maria Msiza, her mother Anna, her sisters Johanna and Sarah, and friends Anna Ntuli and Francinah Mtshwene

A team of six artists from KwaNdebele, Mpumalanga, created this bottle, which is covered by a “glove” of beads tied with nylon thread.  The artists incorporated the boldly contrasting shapes and colors of traditional Ndebele house painting in their beadwork, and labored five weeks to complete the sculpture.

Of the six artists, five are former domestic workers who formed an artists' cooperative specializing in Ndebele art and craft.  Most of their work is sold in flea markets in Johannesburg.

Beads, nylon thread, on hollow plastic bottle form
Bottle height: 87 inches