I was thrilled yesterday to visit a Coca-Cola bottling plant for the first time in my 6 1/2 years with the Company, and go on a "market visit" as well. What a treat it was to see the process from the onset of the pre-form bottles (in some cases) traveling down the filling line until the moment the final product is sealed for delivery, and ultimately returned, recycled and repeated (in other cases). My gracious host for the day was Coca-Cola Shanduka Beverages in Nigel, Gauteng, South Africa.

Once we left the plant, our Coca-Cola market representatives took us to a "Strategic Distribution Center", a mini-warehouse which was run by two women, where local shop owners were stopping by to pick up orders of Coca-Cola to take to their local "tuck" shops to sell to consumers. Most of the product they picked up was in red crates like the ones I am surrounded by in the picture at the top (Yes, I agree that the hairnet is a good look). Two local shop owners drove off in a car with a man sitting in the trunk riding along because of all of the Coca-Cola in the small car. He was also holding on to a crate - I should have had my camera ready to capture that moment!

Then, we went to several typical "tuck" shops probably not unlike one that those very shop owners might have been heading to. (By the way, maybe someone from South Africa can drop me a line in comments to let me know why they are called "tuck" shops??) There we met local families, individuals, neighbors, enterprising businessmen and women alike who warmly welcomed us in to see how their business is run, and what makes Coca-Cola an essential part of it. Just as this ad from Johannesburg in 1952, which states that the local Coca-Cola bottling plants are "truly local enterprises forming an integral part of the community in which they are situated. Local capital-local labour and localy produced good are fully utilised to the benefit of the community", I can truly say I witnessed this in action yesterday around Nigel, Gauteng, South Africa, even 60 years later.

Live from South Africa: Happy 126th Birthday, Coca-Cola! We had a celebration today in the office here in Parktown, Johannesburg, as we shared the history, stories and heritage of Coca-Cola in South Africa with employees. The session was packed, and we had a lot of fun! To see additional photos, check our Facebook page!

In 1958, Coca-Cola released a film entitled "Africa's Big Game". According to the orginial description of the film in our Archives, "It tells the story of South Africa's growth and then leads you practically into a lion's mouth at Kruger National Park", the famous South African game reserve. The seventeen-minute film was described as "one of the most exciting, action-packed motion pictures available. While there are many dramatic scenes featuring the animals, I also love this clip which shows Coca-Cola being enjoyed at the park entrance as well. Coca-Cola produced the film in cooperation with The National Parks Board of Trustees and The National Parks Game and Fish Preservation Board of South Africa. The film was a winner of the Monte Carlo Bronze Medal. It was also "presented by your friendly Coca-Cola Bottler", of course!

Coca-Cola is on the verge of celebrating 85 years in South Africa in 2013. To celebrate this upcoming milestone, I will be blogging live from South Africa this upcoming Founders Day (May 8) week. We will be sharing local stories from the brand's heritage in the country. Did you know that Johannesburg and Coca-Cola share the same founding year, 1886? To kick off what will be an interesting local lens on the brand, I am sharing this 60 year old "Peak of Purity" print ad from March of 1952. It reads, "Manufactured and Bottled in South Africa". Stay tuned to the blog and our Twitter feed next week for more!

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!

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.