National Eat Outdoors Day

Readers of the blog will know that I have several calendars I use that list interesting "days" which I draw on for blog ideas.  My personal favorite is still Star Wars Day, "May The Fourth Be With You."  When I noted in yesterdays post that I was going to skip today as National Trail Mix Day, I received a note pointing out that August 31st is also National Eat Outdoors Day.  The poster asked me if there was a day any better for a Coca-Cola than that?  You win, Mary.  Enjoy this 1949 print ad with a beautiful outdoor picnic scene.

National Toasted Marshmallow Day

Just in case you were looking for a way to celebrate today, August 30th is National Toasted Marshmallow Day.  While it may still be a bit warm for a fire here in Atlanta, if you live where the weather is getting a chill in the air, make sure to make a s'more tonight.  The couple in this newspaper ad from 1946 sure look like they are having a swell time with their marshmallows.  Tomorrow is National Trail Mix day, but we will let that one pass without a post.

Asa Candler Purchases The Coca-Cola Company

On August 30th, 1888, Asa Candler essentially completed his purchase of the formula, trademarks and manufacturing equipment of Coca-Cola.  Candler had begun buying portions of the Company in April 1888 when Walker, Candler & Company (which was controlled by Candler) purchased the one third share of Coca-Cola held by John Pemberton for $ 550.  Three days later, Candler purchased a one half portion of the remaining interest of Coca-Cola which was held by two investors, Wollfork Walker and his sister Mrs. M.C. Dozier for $ 750.

When Candler purchased the rest of Walker and Dozier's interest on August 30th for $ 1,000 plus interest, he now controlled all the stock for Coca-Cola and had expended $ 2,300.00 plus interest.  While he controlled the Company and the formula, Candler waited until December 29th, 1891 to petition the Fulton County Superior Court to incorporate The Coca-Cola Company as a Georgia corporation.  The first meeting of the The Coca-Cola Company was held on February 22nd, 1892.  Candler sold the Company in 1919 for 25 million dollars.  Not a bad investment on that original $ 2,300.

Youth Olympic Games In Singapore

Today marked the close of inaugural Youth Olympic Games which were held in Singapore.  The Youth Olympic Games are part of the International Olympic Committee efforts to inspire young people to participate in sports and adopt the Olympic values.  It not only focuses on sports, but also education and culture.  Over 3,600 athletes between the ages of 14 and 18 took part in the Games.  Our team in Singapore has been working overtime the last few weeks with activations during the Olympic Torch Relay and at schools around Singapore. 

I shipped some historical material to Singapore a few month ago and the team used them as part of a portable exhibit that has been displayed at over 16 schools and several Olympic Torch Run Celebration Sites.  I love the idea in the photograph where the kids get to pretend they are running with the torch.  We considered that concept when we were working on the World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta. 

The photos below show the activations team setting up for the Games and then a few of the traveling exhibit. 

 

The $ 4,000.00 Bottle of Coca-Cola

While there are many stories of Coca-Cola during World War II, one of my favorites is about a special bottle of Coke.  According to the great war correspondent Ernie Pyle, two soldiers in the 13th Field Artillery Brigade outfit stationed outside Naples, Italy received two bottles of Coca-Cola from Stateside member of the battalion.  While one of the bottles of Coke was quickly consumed, they decided to raffle off the other bottle to raise money to help children whose fathers had died in battle.  Another soldier then donated one of the small collectible bottles as a second prize.  Pyle wrote that the soldiers publicized the raffle in their mimeographed newsletter and sold the chances for a quarter a piece.  As the word spread, according to Pyle, "The money came in quarters, dollars, shillings, pounds, francs and lire.  They had to appoint a committee to administer the affair.  Just before the grand drawing the fund reached $ 4,000.00"  Sgt. William de Schneider of Hackensack, N.J. was the prize winner.  He thought the bottle was too special to drink and said he would send it home as a keepsake.

The photo to the left is not Sgt. de Schneider, but it was taken in Italy later during the war. 

The story takes a twist 35 years later as Joseph P. Mastrangelo, a Washington Post correspondent read about the raffle and bottle in Ernie Pyle's book, Brave Men.  In 1979, Mastrangelo attempted to locate Sergeant de Schneider to see what had happened to the bottle.  After extensive searches with the Veterans Administration and American Legion, he could not locate the Sergeant.  However, Mastrangelo was able to find Sgt. Lawrence Presnell who won the miniature bottle and wrote the story about the bottles for the Washington Post in May, 1979.  At this point, The Coca-Cola Company entered the scene and launched a nationwide PR effort to find Sgt. de Schneider and the raffle bottle - all to no avail.

I did some computer searches yesterday to see if I could locate Sergeant William de Schneider after all this time and did not have any luck either.  So if anyone knows where he ended up after the war, leave a comment.  I would love to hear the rest of the story about the $ 4,000 bottle of Coke.

Great Photograph Collection

I recently had to do some photo research for a project I was working on and I wanted to share a great source for photography about and featuring Coca-Cola.  I have to admit up front that I worked for the Atlanta History Center for more that 10 years before I joined The Coca-Cola Company, so I may be a bit biased, but I think after you see some of the sample photographs I pulled from the collection that you will agree they have some pretty cool stuff.

The photograph collection can be searched via a public web site called Album.  There are hundreds of photographs that feature Coca-Cola that can be ordered or used for research.  Take a visit if you get a chance.

The photos below are: (from left to right,) fleet of trucks from the Atlanta Coca-Cola Bottling Company; The Varsity, ca. 1940; display at the Southeastern Fair at Lakewood Fairgrounds.

Everything Must Go!

The Coca-Cola page on Facebook is one of the most popular brand pages on the site with over 10,000,000 fans.  The page was created by two fans (Dusty and Michael,) not by the Company as relayed in this story.  Dusty and Michael visited Coke headquarters where we gave them a tour of the World of Coke and the Archives. Shortly after that they created a pretty funny video about their visit that was posted to the Facebook page. 

A few months ago, Dusty and Michael returned to shoot a series of videos.  The video below is the first of the ones they shot in the Archives.  We had a great time shooting it and I can safely say that no artifacts were harmed during the filming - a few egos, but no artifacts.

Fender Stratocaster Guitar

While I have blogged before about the Coca-Cola guitar created out of recycled material, I wanted to tell you about one of our more popular items in our collection.  The Coca-Cola branded Fender Stratocaster guitar to the left is always a highlight on the tours of the Archives we give to our marketing colleagues. 

This guitar came to the Archives via one of our German bottlers where it was reportedly played by Eric Clapton as part of a promotion in the mid 1990s.  I have displayed it as part of several exhibitions on Coca-Cola and pop culture and we will be using it as the centerpiece of an upcoming exhibit on Coke and music.  I will miss it when it goes on tour. 

Lorna Dallas - Talentsville U.S.A. Winner

A few months ago, I received a note on the wall of the Coca-Cola Archives facebook page from Lorna Dallas.  50 years ago, Lorna won one of the more interesting contest that we ever held.  I was excited to hear from her and to find out what she was doing.

With a singing contest that would prove to be a forerunner to today's American idol, The Coca-Cola Company created and sponsored the Talentsville, U.S.A contest.  Nationwide, each local chapter of the Coca-Cola Hi-Fi Club held talent contest to identify notable teenage amateur musicians during the first six months of 1960.  The ten regional finalist were invited to New York to perform on June 18th, 1960.  Ray Charles and Pat Boone were among the judges in the final competition.  The contest was won by Lorna Dallas of Carrier Mills, Illinois.  Lorna, who was 18 when the contest was held, performed "Love Is Where You Find It."  You can hear Lorna's winning performance clicking on the link below.

Love Is Where Your Find It

The Coca-Cola Refresher magazine wrote an article in 1964 giving the update that Lorna had used her scholarship money to attend Indiana University completing her Bachelor of Music degree.  Since she contacted us, Lorna and I have traded several notes and I thought you might want to know what she is doing today.

First, you can visit her website (the bio on her website is a must read) to get up to the minute information, but Lorna described living condition as "BiPondal" with houses in both London and New York.  She has continued to perform as a singer primarily in England.  In addition to her extensive stage career, Lorna appeared in numerous television projects and more recently the movie United 93. Lorna's recent credits include a Buckingham Palace performance with Dame Judi Dench, a current Microsoft commercial in France and upcoming performance with Dame Cleo Laine in December.  She closed one of her notes to me by saying she felt she had proved a worthy winner.  I'll second that.

 

Mexican Bottle Collection

A few months ago I did a post on the 32 commemorative bottles being produced in Mexico in honor of Mexico's Independence Bicentenary.  My colleagues in marketing just sent me the last 18 photographs and descriptions of all the bottles.  I have added this information to our facebook photograph album, so make sure to check them out.

The bottle from Jalisco is to the left.  I had to pick that one in honor of Jalisco, a local Atlanta Mexican restaurant that has been around for decades serving Coca-Cola and good food.