1910 Board Minutes - Advertising Expenditures

I am working on a project detailing our history of promotions and merchandising and in doing my research ran across a document that I wanted to share with you. 

As you may know, from 1892 to 1919, The Coca-Cola Company was a Georgia Corporation whose primary owner was Asa Candler.  We have the minute books from the board meetings for this Corporation and they provide a great deal of insight into the early history and growth of The Coca-Cola Company.

The 1910 Board Minutes contain a section detailing the "larger" expenses for advertising items from 1906 through 1910.  These three pages give the details of how much The Coca-Cola Company spent on many of the items that are now so collectible.  Do you have a 1907 tray produced by Charles W. Shonk Company?  We spent $14,197.97 for them.  Do you have a sampling coupon from 1910, we redeemed $13,695.35, which at five cents a serving equals 27,907 tickets.  

I blogged about wall signs a few weeks ago.  These pages show the steady growth in spending for this form of advertising. 

Enjoy the pages and let me know if anything stands out to you.

Spotlight On The World Of Coca-Cola - Sandwich Press

When you visit the World of Coca-Cola you may notice an odd looking contraption in the Logo section of the Milestones of Refreshment Gallery.  This device is an electric toaster or sandwich press from around 1930.  They are fairly valuable collectibles and in excellent condition can be worth more than $ 1,000. 

After the sandwich has been prepared, it is placed in the press which toasted the Coca-Cola script logo onto the bread. 

The only problem is the logo is incorrect - the word "Coca" and "Cola" are separated and there is no hyphen.

I would love to see one of the chefs with the Cooking with Coke Series at the World of Coke use it in one of their demonstrations. 

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Coca-Cola Bottles

I must confess that bottles have never been my favorite category of collectibles. I can admire and appreciate the different varieties of Hutchinson, straight-sided, and contour bottles that have been used for Coca-Cola over the years, but I have never had a great desire to either collect or document every variation of this packaging.

Fortunately, there are collectors who are obsessed with knowing everything they can about bottles and are willing to share that knowledge with their fellow collectors. Doug McCoy is one of those dedicated researchers/collectors who has assembled a mass of useful information on bottles used for Coke in two very useful tools. The first is a newly published book titled The Coca-Cola Bottle. In 96 very informative pages, Doug shares his insights and experiences on collecting bottles. This is a must read for anyone remotely interested in bottle collecting. You can purchase a copy for $30 on eBay now or wait a few weeks to buy it at Amazon.com.

Doug has also started a blog called the Coca-Cola Bottleman's Blog earlier this month.It is an ongoing report on bottle collecting and the resources he has found helpful in expanding his personal expertise.You will definitely want to bookmark this one.

http://cocacolabottleman.wordpress.com/

Spotlight on The World of Coca-Cola - Artist Burton Morris

The next feature in our 'Spotlight on The World of Coca-Cola' series is Artist Burton Morris. Morris has a series of five paintings, collectively titled "Can't Stop the Pop" in the new Pop Culture Gallery exhibit at the World of Coke. In his art, Morris presents his personal world of popular American icons that put a delightful spin on everyday objects and motifs. In his post-Pop style, Morris boldly projects an enticing mood of happiness, high energy and fun. He first gained national attention in the 1990’s when his artwork was chosen to hang on the set of the popular NBC series “Friends”, and he has also created signature images and original paintings for the Academy Awards, Major League Baseball and the International Olympic Committee. In this video, he breaks down his approach to creating his art.

And the Emmy Goes to...Coca-Cola

 

Coca-Cola has won its first Emmy ever for the animated television commercial titled "Heist." In the commercial, bees, ladybugs, grasshoppers and other insects join forces to steal a bottle of Coca-Cola from a slumbering picnicker. In 1997 our "Happiness Factory" commercial was nominated for an Emmy, as was "It's MIne"(Think Charlie Brown Balloon) in 2008.To see the award winning commercial, click on the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/cocacola#play/uploads/14/icV7fGqPZ2I

Spotlight on The World of Coca-Cola - Ida Bailey Allen

In the "Lifestyle Advertising" gallery of the Milestones of Refreshment exhibit at The World of Coca-Cola, we selected items which represented how Coca-Cola was advertised in seven categories; Work, Sports, Music, Fashion, Family, Travel and Food.  The centerpiece of the case is a large in-store display from 1933 featuring noted radio personality and cookbook author, Ida Bailey Allen.  

Allen began her relationship with The Coca-Cola Company in 1932 when she wrote the book "When you Entertain - What To Do, And How." While I have already blogged about the book in an earlier post, I thought you might be interested to learn more about Allen and the display piece.

 Allen was a cooking authority and pioneer in both radio and television food programing.  Her first radio program began in 1928 on CBS radio and ran for many years. She was the Founder and President of the National Radio Homemakers' Club.  Allen was the food editor of Good Housekeeping magazine and wrote a syndicated newspaper column called "Lets Eat" for decades.  She eventually penned over 56 books on cooking and nutrition. 

The window display piece was offered to our bottlers in the 1933 Bottlers' Current Advertising Price List Supplement and were sold for .49 cents and came in boxes of 10. The large window display was designed to feature items (including Coca-Cola) the proper host or hostess should always have on hand for an entertaining emergency.  We had a great time buying the vintage food packaging for this display.  Check it out next time you are at the World of Coca-Cola.  If you can find one, I think it would be worth considerably more than .49 cents now.

      

Cooking With Coke Event Series

Yesterday, I shared some our our heritage around Coca-Cola and food and told you we would be focusing on food in the coming months.  Today we have an exciting announcement from our partners at The World of Coca-Cola. 

The World of Coke is launching a series of cooking demonstrations.  The first three chefs will be Virginia Willis, Richard Blais and Paula Dean.

   

The World of Coca-Cola website has more information on how to order your tickets, but don't delay as they go sale Monday, September 14th at 10:00 am EST.

Coca-Cola and Food

We have received quite a few request to research Coca-Cola and food, both as a product that enhances meals at home and in restaurants and also as an ingredient in cooking.  While I posted a recipe for spicy ribs a couple of weeks ago, we are going to make Coke and food an ongoing topic of the blog in the coming months. 

From a very early period in our history, we advertised that Coca-Cola was a great complement to any meal.  Many of the early scenes at soda fountains contained scenes with Coke and food.  However, once the product was bottled and as home refrigeration increased, the volume of Coca-Cola food advertising increased.

I wanted to share some of these early ads with you.  This first batch of images will show advertising until 1939.  It is interesting to see the variety and types of food used in the advertising.

1916 Hot Dogs make an early appearance

1928, great with a sandwich

1930, I wonder what this is? Raisin bread?

  Interesting series from 1939.

Spotlight on the World of Coca-Cola-Prototype Can

Certainly, the most unusual can we display at The World of Coca-Cola is the experimental steel can that was developed in the early 1940s. This cone-style can, resembling an oil can or early beer can, was designed to make Coke more portable for picnics and other outdoor socializing. The testing was discontinued with the outbreak of World War II and the need to use metals for the defense industry.Because the can was never marketed, it is one of the rarest and most valuable packages in the Company collection.Eventually a new design for cans was created and introduced to the American market in 1960.

The Bent Page-An Author's Blog

I recently discovered a blog by Daniel Putkowski, a Philadelphia native and part-time resident of the island of Aruba who has written two novels about life on that island. He also authors a blog called The Bent Page that has has several interesting references to Coca-Cola. In  one post, he wrote about the pleasure of having the 8oz glass bottles readily available on Aruba, while in another he enjoyed his Coke from reproduction straight sided bottles at a book signing in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Just a few days ago, he blogged about a display case of Coke memorabilia in a gift shop at one of the incredible natural bridges found on Aruba.

Check it out when you have a minute at:http://bentpage.wordpress.com/.

If you have seen similar references to Coke on other blogs, I would love to hear about it.