From JerryW : I have some Coca-Cola "Christmas Wish" mail-boxes, a promotion in Mexico. They are approximately 16-18" high and come with an AC adapter. The little figures inside move, speak, and music plays by means of some chips you insert in slots in the chimney. There are figures of Santa, the Polar bear, a seal, penguin, and Rudolph whose nose flashes red. Besides the figures there is a tree, table, bag of gifts and several bottles of Coke around. As each figure moves, a light shines on them. It is really cute, and as I only have a limited number of them, if this interests you, please let me know right away. They are $25 each plus $7.50 to ship. E-mail: jerry@sodatraderz.com

From Dennis : I have two 7 oz. Zill's Best bottles that I would like to sell. Both have the Indian maiden painted logo, both are in very good condition with some cloudiness on the inside. I am asking $4.50 each plus shipping.

From JimHarrison.com : We have a special offer for the holiday season. Through December 20th, all online orders of more than $100 will receive a free 2003 Coca-Cola calendar. All online orders of more than $500 will receive a free 2003 Coca-Cola calendar and a box of notecards. All online orders of more than $1000 will receive a free 2003 Coca-Cola calendar, box of notecards and a $45 open edition print.

From Tom Smith : The SodaMuseum.com is having their 3rd Annual Christmas Sale. All items are first-come-first-served, as always. With over 125 items sold last month alone, don't wait to check it out! Special discounts until the 15th. In order to be sure that you have delivery before Christmas, payment must be received by December 15. 

Coca-Cola Ireland announces preliminary plans for the 2003 Special Olympics World Games, which will be held in Dublin , from June 20-29, 2003. Coca-Cola will be providing refreshment stations throughout the games for athletes, officials and volunteers. Coca-Cola pin trading kiosks will be set up at the Festival Village and Olympic Town to sell specially designed Coca-Cola/Special Olympics pins. Coca-Cola Ireland will be issuing special commemorative packs leading up to the World Games.

Cadbury Schweppes announced that John Sunderland, CEO, will become Chairman May 8th, 2003, when the current Chairman, Derek Bonham, will stand down at the end of his three-year term. Roger Carr, Cadbury Schweppes' senior independent director, will become Deputy Chairman. At the same time Todd Stitzer, currently Executive Director and Chief Strategy Officer, previously President of Dr Pepper/Seven Up in the USA, will become Chief Executive Officer. John Sunderland's appointment will be full-time until August 2005, and subsequently, part-time.

In a bid to cut costs and improve efficiency, bottlers of Coca-Cola products in North America, have formed a new company which will centralize procurement and assist in the launch and development of new products. 
Coca-Cola Bottlers Sales & Service Co. will be owned by Coca-Cola's 80 North American bottlers, with the shares in the company determined by the bottlers' contribution to sales. Therefore, the principal shareholder will be Coca-Cola Enterprises. The formation of Coca-Cola Bottlers Sales & Service Co. was announced by Coca-Cola Enterprises at a meeting with analysts and investors. CCE, which accounts for around 80% of Coke volumes in North America, said it was forming a similar joint company with Coca-Cola's eight largest bottlers worldwide.

Coca-Cola will invest some US$100m in India next year, in the next stage of an expansion in the country which has already cost US$800m. The investments will apparently be used on all Coca-Cola India's key brands, including, Coca-Cola, Thums Up, Limca, Maaza and Kinley water brand. 

In the meantime, PepsiCo India, has announced its promotional plans for the cricket World Cup 2003, which will include "four international cricket super stars", Shane Warne, Nasser Hussain, Jonty Rhodes and Carl Hooper. Mr Rajeev Bakshi, chairman, PepsiCo India Holdings Pvt Ltd, said: "In addition to the eight Indian cricketers, we have signed up four international cricket super stars. All this is to leverage our exclusive rights with the ICC for the World Cup." PepsiCo India is already running its `cup fever' and `Men in Blue' ad campaigns. 

The NBA's Boston Celtics has signed a three-year deal with The Pepsi Bottling Group, making Pepsi the official soft drink of the team. The deal ends a 20-year association the Celtics have had with Coca-Cola. The agreement features category exclusivity with the Celtics for all soft drink products including Pepsi-Cola, Diet Pepsi, Sierra Mist and Mountain Dew. Pepsi's water brand Aquafina was also designated as an official product of the Boston Celtics. Coca-Cola still has pouring rights at the FleetCenter, the Celtics' home arena.

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The Dexter Bottling Works had its roots in a small operation begun by Leslie Curtis circa 1900. In July of 1921, 24-year-old Perley Pynes, along with partner Albert Bentley, purchased the concern.  A year and a half later, Perley bought out Bentley and became sole proprietor. In 1943, the name changed to Dexter Bottling Company.

Dexter Bottling enjoyed a number of different locations. Home until 1945 was 111 Free Street. Perley then constructed a larger plant on Lincoln Street, but before it was fully operational, it was destroyed by fire in 1947. The company then moved back to Free Street until 1960, when Perley again moved to larger quarters, this time on Water Street, where he remained until the business closed in 1972.

Why "Mount Kineo"? Perley Pyle was an avid hunter and fisherman all of his life, and was especially fond of fishing near Rockwood Lake, in the shadow of Mount Kineo. "Why not name my soda after the mountain?" he thought. Indeed, why not? And so he did.

By all accounts, Perley Pynes was proudest of his ginger ale. His son, and later partner, Phil recalls Mount Kineo Ginger Ale as being sweeter and having more flavor, "made to be more palatable." That was because it was created to be enjoyed for its own taste, not as a mixer. Phil added, "It cost a little more to make, but we made it back in volume."

Long-time employee Bert Beatie recalls that the bottling company hit its peak in a decade-and-a-half period that stretched from the late 1940s through the early 1960s. Those were the years when Dexter Bottling had four delivery trucks on the road during the summer. Bert states, "We had the majority of the (non-cola) flavor business in the area - Waterville to Jackman to Carmel to Greenville - that we covered.

Perley Pynes standing in front of Dexter Bottling's truck fleet circa 1938.

Also, through the years, Dexter Bottling held the area's franchises for a number of nationally distributed brands. Included were: Orange Crush, Moxie, Bubble Up, Dr. Pepper, Uptown, Frostie Root Beer and Dr. Swett's Root Beer.

From L - R: Pynes, the Dr. Sweet salesman and plant foreman, Stillman Hatch, with bottles of Dr. Swett's Root Beer in front, circa 1955.

The end for Dexter Bottling came in 1972, when cut-throat pricing from Coke and Pepsi and the expense of installing screw-cap bottling equipment caused the Pynes' to pack it in. 

Perley Pynes was also quite a musician as well as quite a bottler. He played violin as first violinist in the Bangor Symphony Orchestra for eight years. He also played the saxophone for both the local Shrine and the Fay and Scott bands. Perley died in February, 1983. His original plant at 111 Free Street still stands, intact, although empty and unutilized.

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Until next week, Happy Collecting! CokeGirl