"America's Home Town" Christopher Columbus Ad

Today we're celebrating Columbus Day here in the United States, and I thought you might like this ad that connects two different places around the globe. The ad reads, "Back to Genoa! Through ancient city gates and narrow, twisting streets that wind among medieval churches and palaces to the boyhood home of Christopher Columbus. Back, as it were, to America's hometown has come Coca-Cola and the pause that refreshes." 

The caption for the painting in the image on this ad from 1930 reads, "A Coca-Cola delivery truck lumbering over the cobblestones past the boyhod home (first house on the right) of the discoverer of America." At the time this ad appeared in print, Coca-Cola was served in 76 foreign countries. Today, nearly eighty years later, Coca-Cola calls over 200 countries home!

Spotlight on the World of Coca-Cola - Contour Radio

When you visit the World of Coca-Cola, one of the galleries in the Milestones of Refreshment exhibit is devoted to the contour bottle.  The case is filled with a variety of items in the classic contour shape.

One of my favorite items in the case and a very valuable collectible is the 1933 contour bottle radio produced by the Crosley Radio Company of Cincinnati, Ohio.  This bottle radio is very impressive standing 23" inches tall and 7.5" in diameter and weighing nearly 15 pounds.  The radio case was molded of "Durez" a red plastic material that was similar to Bakelite.  The words "Drink Coca-Cola" were typically painted silver as was the bottle cap.  The two nobs on the front controlled the station and the volume produced by the five tube radio.

The radios cost $ 18.75 dollars in 1933, which was a considerable amount of money for a merchandising item during the depression.  Given this price, the radios were used for different purposes than many of the promotional item of the day.  They were used as dealer incentives to sell the standardized Glascock Coolers, sales incentives for salespeople as part of a refrigeration push or often just loaned to prized customers.

Due to the breakable nature of the Durez plastic, these radios are pretty rare and are quite valuable, generally selling between $ 7,500 to $ 8,000 in excellent condition.

Coca-Cola Recipes

I ran across a few more recipes featuring Coca-Cola that I wanted to share with you.  I can't wait to try the brined chicken.

This Coca-Cola Pork Chop recipe looks delicious and comes courtesy of Cooks.com.

While this Coca-Cola Brined Fried Chicken recipe by John Currence, who runs the City Grocery in Oxford Mississippi originally appeared in Esquire Magazine, I have linked to Nigela Lawson's site as I love her commentary and it reminded me of her ham recipe we posted earlier.

These Cherry Coke Cupcakes sound like they should be made with Cherry Coke, but they are Coke Cupcakes with a maraschino cherry baked in.  Yumm.

Reading these should get us in the mood for Virgina Willis in the first of the Cooking with Coke demonstrations at the World of Coke this Saturday (10/10/09.)  If you have not purchased your tickets for Virgina, Richard Blais or Paula Deen make sure to order them now.  It should be interesting to see what recipes she cooks - and you get to sample the food to boot.

Pop Culture Advertising: The “Coca-Cola is Coke” Campaign

In the early years of Coca-Cola, many imitator beverages surfaced with similar-sounding names, such as “Koca-Nola”, and “Koke-Ola”, hoping to capitalize on the success of Coca-Cola, and fool consumers searching for “The Real Thing.” 

This prompted The Company to place advertising that prodded consumers to “Ask for Coca-Cola by the full name – to avoid imitations and substitution.”  The Supreme Court held in 1920 that the term “Coke” was an abbreviation of the world’s most well-known trademark, Coca-Cola, and is used by the public in designating the product of The Coca-Cola Company. 

The Company was hesitant still to embrace the name “Coke”, until it finally gave in to the public’s affection for the brand’s nickname with a brilliant ad campaign that began in national magazines on June 1, 1941 that announced that “Coca-Cola is Coke”.  “Coke is Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola is Coke ... Both are the Registered Trade-marks which Identify the Product of The Coca-Cola Company.”  One ad read, “It’s natural for people to use friendly abbreviations.  That’s why Benjamin is called “Ben” and why Coca-Cola is called “Coke.”

 

Spotlight on The World of Coca-Cola - Betty and Elaine

When you visit The World of Coca-Cola, in the Early Marketing gallery in the Milestones of Refreshment, keep an eye out for Betty, Elaine and Constance.

During the 1910s, Coca-Cola advertising featured a different “Coca-Cola Girl” each year. Often the same image of a woman was used on calendars, trays, pocket mirrors and other collectible pieces for the year.

In a few instances, the Coca-Cola Girl was referred to by name, such as “Betty,” “Elaine” or “Constance.”

However, those names were not the names of the models themselves! They’re actually names assigned to the artwork by someone in advertising!

Collectors know these pseudonyms, and we use those names in the Coke Archives as well.
 
Betty, Constance and Elaine have appeared on Coke collectibles well after their original years, including modern-day licensed items. So just because that tray you have features “Betty,” don’t think you have a fortune in your hands!

As you walk through the gallery, you will find one "Betty" and two "Elaine" items, but poor "Constance" did not make it in.

Betty is pictured on top in on a 1914 tray and Elaine below on a 1916 self framed tin sign.