From Mix International  : Richard is back from his trip of gathering bottles. There are too many to list here, so I have linked them instead. Go here to see the many he has available, some in limited quantities - so don't wait. There are also new bottles listed as well. >> click here <<

From Joy "Cola Lady" Woolfolk : I have several Coca-Cola 8-ounce commemorative bottles listed, as well as miniature bottles and other items. Please be sure to ~ check them out. ~

From Frederick A. Buschner : I have about 100 (milk) bottles, mostly from northeastern dairies and I am ready to sell the entire lot at a reasonable price. E-mail if interested. 
Note: I also have Frederick's postal address and phone number, if anyone would like to contact him by a means other than email.

From Blair Matthews, Editor of Soda Pop Dreams Magazine : Vol.5 of the Back Issues CD is available for sale via the website. Price for this new CD (which contains Issues #24-28) is only $9.95 (US$) for a limited time and includes postage!! Also new in our online store is a package of PRINT EDITION Back Issues!! Missed one of our editions from the past year? Our print edition package contains issues: #19, #24, #25, #26 & #27 - all for one special price. All the details can be found at: http://www.pww.on.ca/store.htm

Also if anyone else has bottles or other soda-related items to offer, E-mail and let us all know.

Be sure to send me your UP FOR GRABS item listings! E-mail to: Up For Grabs 

From Eugene Smith, Webberville, Michigan : I am looking to buy an original Ted Williams Moxie Cola tin. 

From Joseph M. Pierro, College Point, N.Y. : I would be interested in a poster, or metal sign, advertising Clicquot Club.

From Ben Wischnewski : I am looking for empty 55 gallon drums (preferably plastic) - as many as I can get my hands on. My goal is 160! I am building a paintball field and will use these as the bunkers.  If you could help or direct me to someone who could help locate drums for me I would appreciate it.

From Mike Bryant : $REWARD$ Will pay top dollar for a 30 BELOW acl soda from San Diego, California. Also want other San Diego area bottles - embossed or acl. Phone: (828) 851-2787 or by E-mail.

There are also WANTED and FOR SALE items listed <here> toward the bottom of the page.

Do you have a particular item, or items, that you have been looking for a long time to complete part of your collection, or something you want - but have not as yet been able to find? Send it so all of us can help you look. You never know where it may turn up! E-mail it to My Missing Item

GEORGIA CROWN TOP BOTTLE BOOK by Carl Barnett and Ken Nease Many color photos of early outdoor painted advertisements  and copies of 244 great old newspaper ads. 2003 Send orders to:      Georgia Bottle Book      1211 St. Andrews Dr.      Douglas, GA 31533 Book: S/H: Total: $39.95     3.95 $43.90

What's new? 
Muddled middle ground on pop sales in schools

Antiques Roadshow has two stops left on this summer's tour:  Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (August 9); and San Francisco, California (August 16). The most interesting finds from each city will be taped this summer for broadcast in 2004.

The Tri-State Cardinal Matchcover Club is hosting the 63rd annual Rathkamp Matchcover Society Convention in Cincinnati, Ohio from August 11-17, 2003 at the Holiday Inn Eastgate. Matchcover collectors are expected from across the United States, Canada, England and Australia.

From Jeff Cummins : I saw this on the AdAge.com web site today. Chevy Chase doing commercials for a Turkish cola. According to the news story, anti-American sentiment is running high in Turkey and Cola Turka is trying to capture market share against Coke and Pepsi. The commercial clips are kinda interesting. Read the story here...

New bottles or cans, or anything soda, in your area ?
Please send the info so all of us can know @ Whats New

AUGUST 9  -  PORTLAND, OREGON  
Greater Portland 7th Annual Insulator Swap (Sat. 1 PM - early evening) at 9999 S.E. Frenchacres Dr., Portland, Oregon. INFO: DAN HOWARD, PH: (503) 761-7799, E-mail: strains@email.msn.com. 

AUGUST 8-10  -  SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA
National Insulator Association’s Western Regional Show & Sale (Fri. 12:30 PM – 3 PM, early admission 10 AM, Sat. 9 AM – 4 PM, Sun. 9 AM – 2 PM) at the Doubletree Hotel, 2050 Gateway Place (Highway 101 & First St. 1/2 mile from the airport), San Jose, California. INFO: BILL ROHDE, PH: (530) 473-2461, E-mail: mudman@colusanet.com, Website: http://www.peninsulators.org/2003.html.

AUGUST 9  -  VICKSBURG, MISSISSIPPI
The 6^th Annual Vicksburg Antique Bottle Show & Sale (Sat. 8 AM – 4 PM) at the Battlefield Inn, 4137 N. Frontage Rd. (I-20 exit 4B), Vicksburg, Mississippi. INFO: CASON SCHAFFER, 107 East View Dr., Vicksburg, MS  39183, PH: (601) 638-1195.

AUGUST 9  -  KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI
Midwestern Bottle & Insulator Show & Sale (Sat. 9 AM – 2 PM) at the Holiday Inn Northeast, 7333 N. E. Parvin Rd., Kansas City, Missouri. INFO: GENE DE VAUX, 374 Jenna Ave., Belton, MO  64012-4536, PH: (816) 322-1862.

AUGUST 10  -  BETHESDA, MARYLAND
Potomac Bottle Collector’s Annual Show & Sale (Sun. 9 AM – 3 PM, Admission $2) at the Washington Waldorf School, 4800 Langamore Rd. (off Massachusetts Ave. inside the Washington Beltway, I-495), Bethesda, Maryland. INFO: JIM SEARS, PH: (703) 243-2409, E-mail: searsjim@usa.net, Website: http://hometown.aol.com/potomacbtl/bottle2.htm.

A vintage advertising show will be hosted by the Space City Chapter of the Coca-Cola Collectors Club on August 22 from 6PM to 10PM and on August 23 from 9AM to 5PM. The show will be held at the Radisson Hotel Astrodome Convention Center, 8686 Kirby Drive @ 610 Loop South, Houston, Texas. For information contact Charlotte Edwards at +1-713-464-6911.

If you would like to view the full 'events calendar,' I now maintain  < click here>.
Any new events  in your area? E-mail it so all of us can know, to: Upcoming Events

I still have to work out some details regarding the ACL meeting that you've requested at the FOHBC EXPO next year in August. From the emails I have gotten, it seems interest is good, and it will work out to be a fun time as well. As soon as I know the exact details, I'll let you know - and in the meantime, do keep E-mailing me with your interest, so I will know how large a room to reserve for it.

I suppose those of you who are subscribed to the printed publication of the Soda Fizz Magazine have gotten your latest copies by now and read what is upcoming for the issues ahead. A few things may change, but it will continue to be the magazine you are used to - full of stories, photos and articles of interest. If you are not already a subscriber, now is a good time to get in on the action. >> Click here << for more information. Also, keep your interesting articles, emails, letters, photos and more coming - just to a different address. :)

Also, don't forget about the collector's database. I haven't heard from Chris in this past week, but suspect he'll be along any day, letting me know it is ready. And I'll pass that information along to you. Chris is a member of the FOHBC, and I truly appreciate his time and effort of doing this for all collectors. 

Another thing to remember is the 7Up Club that many of you have emailed regarding - to keep in mind what can be accomplished with it - to benefit everyone.

Until next time, Happy Collecting! CokeGirl

The Villa Rica Coca-Cola Bottling Company operated under the name Villa Rica Electric Light and Power Company. It had a twenty-year contract and operated from 1903 to 1923, when its territory  was divided between the Carrolton and Rome Bottling companies. The original territory was Villa Rica, Douglasville, Winston and Tallapoosa, Georgia and Fruithurst and Muscadine, Alabama. (The Carrolton Coca-Cola plant served Bremen.) The delivery of "coke" to Tallapoosa and the Alabama towns was accompanied by rail shipment to Tallapoosa, where it was stored until route men disbursed it with a wagon and four mules. These deliveries often required a week or more.

The bottling operation in Villa Rica was very small, with an average of 50 to 100 cases being produced per week. A foot-operated pedal accomplished the crowning operation. Later, a semi-automatic operation was installed. The machine dispensed the syrup; the carbonated water was put in by hand, and the crowning was done automatically.

In addition to bottling, the company also in earlier years operated a 500-volt D.C. generator, which was the only electric power the city had. Several of the older homes in Villa Rica were wired for direct current. The streetlights were also D.C. The company also had an ice manufacturing plant, with the ice being delivered by mule and wagon, and later by truck.

W. B. Powell, Sr. was manager of the whole Villa Rica Light and Power Company with its various operational interests. Mr. Powell's son, W. B., Jr., said that when he was in high school, he and other high school boys worked in the bottling plant after school. During the winter, when sales were down, they operated from 3 p.m. until dark. When sales were up during the summer, they worked full-time. An interesting aside to this Coca-Cola Bottling history is the fact that the same company bottled Orange Crush, Strawberry Soda, Blossom Soda, Lemon and Lime Soda and Nu-Grape.

The brief history of the Villa Rica Coca-Cola operation comes from "The History of Villa Rica (City of Gold)", researched and written by Mary Talley Anderson of Villa Rica. 

And this article is on page 136 of Georgia Early Embossed Crown Top Soda Bottles, Abbeville to Wrightsville, by Carl Barnett and Ken Nease. This book is full of information like this, about various bottling companies - 264 pages of awesome photos of every bottle and brand imaginable, along with ads, other types of photos and more...

If you have a soda-related subject that you would like to see here as an "FYI" article, or have information you yourself would like to contribute, don't be shy, send it to: FYI Idea