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.

 

 

The Red Barrel

I was recently invited to join a facebook group devoted to collectors of the Red Barrel, one of our internal publications focused on the fountain trade.  We have a complete run of the publication and I frequently use it for research, but I was not aware how much interest there was about the publication among the collecting community. 

One of the questions I was asked was about the origin of the magazine.  It is interesting because the first volume published in January, 1924 actually has VOL III, Issue 1 in the masthead.  How was that first magazine part of the third volume?  This was due to the fact they honored an earlier in-house publication called the Friendly Hand which was published from 1921 to 1923.  Our first in-house publication was called The Coca-Cola News and began publication in 1896. 

Another interesting note for collectors is that two versions of the magazine were actually produced.  A special "Serviceman's" edition was also published.  This version contained more specific information on how to advertise and merchandise the Coca-Cola at the fountain.  The earliest of these special editions we have in our collection is from October, 1925.

If you are a fan of the publication, make sure to check out the facebook group to see if you can buy or trade any issues.  You can download and read the October 1925 Serviceman's Edition Red Barrel clicking on the following link. Download RB1925-Oct

 

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.

125 Years Ago... Life without Coca-Cola - Letter Six

As a thank you for sharing our 125th Anniversary Year with us here on the blog, we close out one last time from the voice of someone who knew life before Coca-Cola was invented, in his own words. J.H. Bobbitt of Raleigh, North Carolina, declared in 1892 that "Coca-Cola has come to stay." He turned out to be right. This letter is also on display in the Milestones of Refreshment Gallery at World of Coca-Cola, and I'll let you read his first hand letter below. Cheers, and here's to another 125-plus years for Coca-Cola!

125 Years Ago... Life without Coca-Cola - Letter Five

In this last week of our 125th Anniversary, it is only right that we close it out with the final two letters in our "125 Years Ago... Life Without Coca-Cola" series. Today's letter comes from an Ocala, Florida store with a fantastic name: The Anti-Monopoly Drug Store. The letter is from 1891, and simply reads as follows:

Sir,

Coca-Cola is now the most popular drink sold in this vicinity, every body wants it. Have sold sixty [gallons] in two months.

Yours,

H.C. Grom, Proprietor

125 Years Ago... Life without Coca-Cola - Letter Four

The next letter in our "125 Years Ago... Life without Coca-Cola" series is a February 17, 1891 letter written to Asa Candler from a drug company in Griffin, Georgia. The soda fountain at this location had been serving Coke since 1886, and they shared this letter just two weeks prior to letter three in the series. It reads, "It gives us pleasure to attest the merits of Coca-Cola... It is now the most popular drink that we dispense.

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

125 Years Ago... Life without Coca-Cola - Letter Three

The third letter in our "125 Years Ago... Life without Coca-Cola" series comes from a soda fountain operator named J.B. Davenport in Augusta, Georgia. Writing on March 4, 1891, just shy of the fifth anniversary of Coca-Cola, he shares, "My customers were so delighted with Coca-Cola last year I have determined to make it my leader this year." He continued later, "I have been running soda founts for the last 15 years, during that time I have bit at nearly every new drink offered. My experience has been they run for a season, then die - not so with Coca-Cola. I am pleased with it. In my opinion Coca-Cola has come to stay." At the end of the testimonial letter, he gives advice to southern fountain operators to "let alone" beverages that come from the North, and "adopt Coca-Cola". While I, a Yankee, take offense at the regionalization, I can't argue the point about adopting Coca-Cola! While letter two in the series reported that "New converts are coming in everyday" for Coca-Cola, this letter proclaimed Coke "a pleasure to dispense".