The Covert-O-Matic-a Revolutionary Vending Machine

In the early 1960s, the Coca-Cola Company was changing the way it went to market. For the first time, Coca-Cola was not the only brand that was available to bottlers. Fanta had made its appearance soon to be followed by Sprite and Tab. Additionally, new king-sized bottles were in distribution along with steel cans.

Vending machines had been designed to dispense the standard 6.5 oz contour bottle for years, but all of these new packaging and product changes demanded a change. In 1960, the Westinghouse Electric Corporation introduced the Convert-O-Matic, a vending machine that could handle multiple products and packages.The machine could handle 6.5, 8, 10 and 12 oz bottles and could also be adapted to handle cans. It also had the capability to price products at either 10 or 15 cents.

A few weeks ago, I received an email from a collector who had one of the most unusual machines in this line. This version only vended steel cans and had a built-in can opener where the bottle opener would normally reside. That is definitely a rare machine for anyone to have in their collection. Check out these photos.

       

Boys And Girls Club of America

I am a little late blogging about this, but I still wanted to share an opportunity for everyone to get a sneak peak at one of the ads from this weekends big game and to support the Boys and Girls Club of America.

As you can tell from this 1948 photograph showing a delivery truck with a message for the Boy's Club, The Coca-Cola Company has a long heritage of supporting the Boys and Girls Club of America.  Many of our Chairman from Woodruff on down have served on the Board of BGCA culminating in Roberto Goizueta announcing a 10 year $60 million dollar commitment.

This year, if you give a gift of a virtual Coca-Cola on Facebook, the Company will donate a dollar to the Club and you will be give a 20 second sneak peak of one of the new ads. 

Spotlight on The World of Coca-Cola - Mean Joe Greene Jersey Poster

 30 years ago during the big game, the all-time fan favorite Mean Joe Greene commercial aired while his team went on to take the victory. Last year, we did a two part (Part 1, Part 2) interview with him about the making of the commercial and he told us that the boy who starred in the commercial with him, Tommy Okun, got the actual jersey used during the filming. Did you know that you too also could have had a Mean Joe jersey? This poster, which is in the World of Coca-Cola's sports and entertainment Milestones Gallery, was part of the Joe Greene "Wear my number and name" promotion. For only $7.99 with the purchase of Coke, thousands of fans also wore #75. You can also see the famous Mean Joe Greene "Early Showers" commercial in the Advertising Theater.

One other tidbit that amazed me was when Joe told me that he was the second choice for the ad and that Roger Staubach was the first choice.  As much as I liked Roger, I do not think the ad would have had the same power and impression as it did with Joe.

Collector Focus - Krystal Gaubert

Last week I posted a story about James Love and his Coca-Cola Collection, I have also received a Twitter post from Krystal Gaubert with some photographs and a link to a newspaper article on her collection that I wanted to share with you.

Krystal sent me the some information on her collection.

I have been collecting since I was 7. One piece at a time, till it has now grown into something beyond my control! I have a few favorites! Its impossible to choose just one. A few favs: a Coca-Cola neon sign I received as a Christmas gift, a couple cans from various countries with all the text in a different language, a Coca-Cola hoodie, an old Coca-Cola pocket book with its original paper and lead pencil, and some old Coca-Cola blotters!

I have included some of the photos Krystal sent, including one with the Coca-Cola script tattooed on her arm.  Now that is dedication.  If anyone is participating in the sharez contest on mybrands.com, vote for Krystal as the Coke rep.

 

Saving Your Treasures - How to Preserve a Poster

Over the next few months, we'll be presenting a series on the blog that will teach you how to preserve your historic photos, documents and items in your own archives collection, using as examples items from our Coca-Cola Archives. This first example - fitting for of Black History month - features a poster from an early series of ads in the 1950s featuring African Americans. A colleague of mine brought this poster to me that hung in her grandmother's store in Alabama years ago. There was a lot of wear and tear on the 50 year-old poster, so I asked preservationist Bob Inge of Inge Preservations to see what he could do to restore the piece. While we will have some do-it-yourself tips in future posts, this is certainly a "don't try this at home" restoration project. Bob shared some details of the treatment process he used in restoring this poster with us, and this is the story of that process:

BEFORE

1. Cleaned it with a Magic Rub 1954 eraser and then with a damp cotton ball to remove surface grime from the front.
2. Immersed the whole piece is cold water to float off the surface print to separate it from its acidic backing. This is done because the paper the print is on is often of better quality than the backing boards and can last much longer if the rotten board is replaced. (On this piece, the print did not float off because it was put on with a non reversible adhesive so I had to slowly and carefully pull off the board layers a bit at a time while it was under water. This took all day!)
3. I let it dry thoroughly, then I light bleached the whole print for two hours on the front and 4 hours on the back and then let it dry again.
4. Spot bleached the stained areas and then rinsed it.
5. While wet I lined it with Japanese tissue using wheat starch paste that I prepared myself by cooking it.
6. Let dry thoroughly.
7. Humidified the print by sandwiching it between teflon sheets and placing it on top of a wet blotter and put a piece of glass on top to let it flatten out, and placed it under a lot of weight.
8. I attached the lined print to a new archival board and trimmed the edges of the board to the print edges.
9. My wife, Linda, inpainted the damaged areas that had pigment loss with reversible acrylics. 

AFTER

This finished piece should last a very long time as long as it is stored well now that it is off its rotten backing and the water staining has been reduced. I sometimes wonder if these treated pieces will be the only examples left after 100 years. These posters were originally mounted onto very poor quality board that through acid degradation will eventually destroy the surface print. I have heard some people say that keeping the piece all original keeps it's value, but if the original boards are destroying the artwork chemically, structurally, and visually then what is the point of paying big dollars for something that is almost dead or dying quickly? I write this thinking that this issue will probably come up on a blog at some point and is worth a good discussion. 

- Bob Inge, Preservationist

Utilizing professional preservationist is of the ways we save our Coca-Cola history, and one route you can take as well for the most fragile of your items. As Bob also noted, a piece like this should not be displayed where it is exposed to direct sunlight or florescent light.

Happy Birthday Norman Rockwell!

Today, February 3rd, is Norman Rockwell's birthday.  I posted a few weeks ago about the new painting by Rockwell that we had acquired, but I wanted to take the occasion of his birthday to spread the word that we are still looking for three of his paintings used for Coca-Cola ads in the 1920s and 1930s.  We periodically spread the word about the missing artwork, so let us know if you have ever seen any of these three, and Happy Birthday Norman!