A Coke and a Wedding

A few weeks ago, I was delighted to greet two collectors from China to our Atlanta Headquarters. Without question, these collectors were among the most enthusiastic fans of the brand that I have ever encountered. Their passion was to collect packaging for Coca-Cola from all over the world, particularly bottles and cans that were associated with unique events like the Olympics, the World Cup and the Shanghai Expo.

One of the collectors, a man named Cheng Zhang, made his brand love part of his wedding celebration this past Fall. Guests who attended his wedding reception received special commemorative cans of Coca-Cola. A photo of the happy couple had been produced as a decal and attached to the can. The result was a truly special, unique package that will serve as a wonderful souvenir of their special day.

Mr. Zhang presented me with one of these special cans that I have added to our packaging collection. Our team wishes Mr. and Mrs. Zhang many bountiful years together. Sharing a Coke with their friends and family certainly got them off to a good start.

Coke Adds Life To... Profile Pictures!

I caught Justine trying to take a new profile picture with this sweet new (old) camera we just got in. I guess she is "old school" and her digital camera just works too fast for her. The "Coke Adds Life" slogan came out in 1976, so this promotional, self-described "instant camera" is from the late 1970s. Well, I guess now we'll try the hand crank on the camera and see if the picture develops within a day or two! I won't hold my breath. Thank you, technology.

Sitting On A Bench With You - 1928 Style

The Coca-Cola Company has always tried to help our service sales staff decorate their customer's stores and fountains to attract more foot traffic. We sent out a number or pamphlets with ideas and instructions.  I ran across this 1928 dealer sales aid showing several options to set up a window display using this 1928 three dimensional bench.  We had this bench on display at the old World of Coca-Cola for over a decade and it is a beautiful item. 

The one photograph I had of the bench as it was displayed at Irwin's Confectionery in Columbus, Ohio.It looks a bit more cluttered than the simple approach shown in the dealer sales aid pamphlet which I attached at the bottom of the post.  While the pamphlet featured eight, I only scanned three of them.

Last week I blogged about the Red Barrel Magazine and how I use them for research.  This is a good example.  I have attached the April 1928 Red Barrel.  This issue had a special article on how the bench window display, fence festoon and bathing girl poster were all to be used for different location between May and August 1928.  Download RB1928-Apr

While we have the bench, I sure would love to have some of the crepe paper shown in these displays!

ABBA and Coca-Cola - Slipping Through My Fingers

I spent the afternoon re-filing items that had begun to stack up around my desk in the Archives.  One of the items that gave me a chuckle was the ABBA record, "Slipping Through my Fingers" from 1981.  This 45 rpm was a promotional created for Coca-Cola Japan by Discomate Records.  The cover of the record features an illustration of the ABBA band members Benny Andersson Bjoun Ulvaeus, Agnetha Faltslog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad and the back has the lyrics to the song and the advertising slogan used at the time in Japan, Yes Coke Yes. The record itself has the song on one side and an autographed photograph of the band.  While the song was not one of the bands biggest hits, it was used in the musical and movie versions of Mamma Mia.  As a collectible, you can find several copies on e-Bay for $ 40.00 to $ 60.00.

 

 

This is Albie Louw - Part Two

This is part two of the story of Albie Louw, who made an album on the “His Master’s Voice” record label in 1969 which featured a Coke ad on the cover. Click here to read part one.

The Story of the Coca-Cola Album Cover

Mr. Louw did not know that the Coke advert was going to be featured as the cover art for “Wonderful One” when he submitted the music to the label. He recounted to me that when he received the record by post mail from the record company in Johannesburg and opened it, he was "shocked!” He had no idea what the cover image was going to be, and was surprised to see the Coke ad. He eventually dealt with it and got over it! Luckily, Mr. Louw had been a Coke fan as long as he could remember, and I asked him if he could re-live his memories of Coca-Cola growing up for our blog readers.

Albie’s Coke Stories

A few quotes sum up the memories Mr. Louw ran through about his fondest times with Coca-Cola. They include, “When we were in school, that was our favorite drink. We used to go mad for Coca-Cola. Some kids used to make an ice cream drink with it, and we thought it was quite delicious.” About later times, he said, “During the [World War II] years, it was so popular that everybody drank Coca-Cola.”

Albie’s Favorites

One of the highlights of my conversation with Mr. Louw was his taking a minute to play me a tune on his piano. He put me on speakerphone, and began to play – I could immediately hear the influence of one of his favorite artists, piano great Art Tatum, in his playing. In addition to Art Tatum (who I also enjoy), Mr. Louw notes Carmen Cavallaro, Count Basie and Peter Nero among his favorites.

Thanks so much, Mr. Louw for sharing your Coke story with our readers! Also, a special shout out to Coke Conversations blog reader Jacob Clarence, who connected us with Mr. Louw! Cheers!

This is Albie Louw - Part One

About a month ago, when we found a 1959 record album with Coca-Cola artwork on the cover, we asked the question, “Who is Albie Louw (the recording artist)?” I wasn’t sure we’d get an answer. Lo and behold not only did we find out who he was, but a blog reader actually put us in touch with him! Mr. Louw is now 85 years old, living in South Africa and still playing piano gigs weekly! We’ll share the complete story of Mr. Louw, the Coca-Cola album cover, and even his memories of Coke growing up in two parts. Here’s part one:

The Beginnings

Mr. Louw started playing the piano as early as age 6, and began taking lessons at age 9. He became a very popular player while in college and he was unofficially dubbed “Cape Town’s Keyboard King.” Eventually, Mr. Louw landed a record deal to make somewhere in the neighborhood of ten albums for his recording label. His first album was entitled, “In Tune with South Africa”, and he continued each year with a new volume of the “In Tune” series.

The album with the Coca-Cola cover – “Wonderful One”

 “Wonderful One” was Volume 9 of the “In Tune” series, distributed internationally on the EMI label “His Master’s Voice” beginning in 1959. We have letters in our files from the Coke offices in both Argentina and South Africa about the record’s release in each respective country. The letter dated December 30, 1959 was sent to the international marketing department and it reads, “Enclosed herewith, I am sending you a jacket of a phonograph record recently released by Columbia Records in Argentina. You will notice that the illustration on the front of the jacket is a reproduction of a color photograph from our 1958 Pattern Campaign.”

Another letter written from our Johannesburg office on April 7, 1960 reads, “I thought you might be interested in seeing how we capitalized in conjunction with a local recording company, on the wonderful New York produced calendar material.” [The original Coke ad featured on the cover was produced by our office in New York and featured in calendars]. These letters in our Archives and a photocopy of the album were the only evidence we had that this record even existed. From there, we scoured the web to see if we could find it, and finally tracked it down from an obscure record collector’s website out of South Africa.

Mr. Louw went on to tell me that the songs on the album were all played in two sittings, roughly 20 minutes per side with a small pause in between each selection. They were recorded in this manner without any breaks for sound quality and consistency.

Stay tuned for part two which includes Mr. Louw’s story of seeing the Coca-Cola album cover art for the first time, as well as his memories of Coke from his childhood.

Merry Christmas Virtual Museum Treasure Hunt!

With Christmas just a few days away, our gift to you is this fun (and most challenging) Virtual Museum Treasure Hunt. We warmed you up with an easy Santa Claus Treasure Hunt on Tuesday, and our Coke Archives Twitter followers got another warm up with this Polar Bear Always Treasure Hunt on Wednesday. Now, let's see who can find where this 1941 Santa Claus "Thirst Asks Nothing More" cutout lives in the Archives. Hopefully, you'll find it before Christmas. Go!: http://theverybestofcoca-cola.com

Christmas Virtual Museum Treasure Hunt!

With the holiday week upon us, we launch a new round of Coca-Cola Virtual Museum Treasure Hunts. The treasure hunt we will post on Thursday will be the most challenging one yet, so I thought we'd warm you up with an easier one first. Same rules apply as with our Polar Bear Treasure Hunt: If you can be the first to tell us where this 1946 Santa Claus cutout is in the Archives, let us know where you found it via a comment! Ready, set, go: http://theverybestofcoca-cola.com

Red Collectible Arctic Home Cans!

Coke Collectors, be on the lookout once again! We told you last month about the limited-edition collectible Coke Cans in Arctic White. This week, Arctic Home Phase II begins with the introduction of the next collectible can featuring the white polar bears on the iconic Coca-Cola red backdrop. Consider these red cans an early holiday gift for collectors!

 

Who is Albie Louw?

While processing our International Collection a few months back, we came across a photocopy of a record album cover that featured a classic Coca-Cola ad that we have in our collection. The album is entitled "Wonderful One", by Albie Louw "The Keyboard King". Does anyone have any information on Albie Louw? We are really interested in hearing the story of why he selected this Coca-Cola image for the cover of his album - maybe he was a Coke fan?? If you have any insights, please share it with us! In the meantime, you can see below the original ad from our collection. This version of the ad is a 1960 poster from The Netherlands. Verfrist U Het Best translates to "Refreshes You The Best" in English.