From Mix International  : There are no new bottle offers this week because Kelli is in the hospital to give birth to their second child!  Please join me in keeping Richard, Kelli, Katie and their new baby in your thoughts and prayers for a smooth delivery of a healthy baby girl! Stay tuned for an update on the new baby next week! If you don't see a bottle you are looking for in our auctions, email us - maybe we can help you out! ...Gail - for Richard  --click here to see Richard Mix's auctions--

From Blair Matthews, Editor of Soda Pop Dreams Magazine : Finally, all the details about our special spin-off publication called
'The Soda Spectrum Series' - The first edition is due out in mid-September and is dedicated solely to Coca-Cola bottles & Coke bottle collectors. Details about how to purchase this special magazine will be included with the SPD Issue #29 mailing. If you'd like to check it out online, you can click on over to: http://www.pww.on.ca/soda-mag.htm - where you can also pre-order your copy for a special price!!

From Bill Borenstein : I have approximately 250 unopened commemorative bottles with various themes, such as: Coke Racing, fights, holiday bottles, sports teams, etc. I am located in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Please contact me if interested.

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 Rick Armes : I am looking for a Faygo Pam clock. I'm not even sure if they ever made one, but would like one if they did. Thanks.

From Colin : WANTED: Soda Bottles embossed "McL" on the bottom. Collector looking for 1925-1940 era soda bottles embossed McL on the bottom. Likely locations-- Southern California, Illinois, and Colorado. Looking for good colored insulators as well. Thanks.

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. Contact by phone: (858) 581-2787 or by E-mail.
[Note: previous ad had wrong phone number, which is correct here.]

From Doyle Bailey : Looking for 7 oz. green, blue, and clear "Dr Pepper King of Beverage" bottles, and a "King of Beverage" marked 8 oz., any color. Thanx. 

From Kim Morris : I would be interested in any bottles from the "Lamar Bottling Company" in Lamar, Missouri. There are several varieties. Please email me with a description and price.

From Jason : I have been collecting Coca-Cola items for about three years now and am having a hard time finding certain items I really want in my collection. The one item that I am looking for the most would be the 1936 "Bathing Beauties" sign that is 29 x 50 inches. I also would be looking for the clocks from the late 30s that are square - neon and non-neon. If anyone can help me locate items like this please email me! But no repros please!

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

Coca-Cola has signed up the rookie National Basketball Association player, LeBron James, in a six-year sponsorship deal. The teenage prodigy will endorse the Sprite and Powerade brands for the company. James is very new to the game but has already caused quite a stir. Earlier this year, he signed an endorsement deal worth around US$90m with Nike. The financial terms of the Coke deal were not disclosed but the soft drinks producer said it would involve "extensive marketing activities for both brands, including advertising, promotions, appearances and other initiatives." James was also reported to be in negotiations with PepsiCo regarding a similar endorsement deal for its energy drink brand, Gatorade, which outsells Powerade. But Pepsi reportedly withdrew from the negotiations, having failed to agree on financial terms. Sprite has been the Official Soft Drink of the National Basketball Association (NBA) since 1994. Powerade is the title sponsor of the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA), the Official Sports Drink of the Olympic Games, NASCAR and the National Hockey League (NHL). 

Coca-Cola has agreed to pay Burger King $22 million to settle the fiasco stemmed from a 2000 promotion of the frozen Coke at Burger King. The Coca-Cola Company admitted that some of its employees had rigged the promotion to increase the popularity of the new beverage. Burger King also agreed as part of the settlement to continue to sell frozen Coke in its US restaurants.

Coca-Cola announced its plan yesterday to begin phasing out most of its Fruitopia brand juice products in the United States and rebranding them under its faster growing Minute Maid brand juice drinks. According to Beverage Digest, Fruitopia had volumes of 19 million cases in the US in 2002 vs. 44 million cases in 1999. The decline in volume sales has likely contributed to the phase-out plan. But in the meantime, in Canada, in a search for two new Fruitopia flavors, Coca-Cola decided to go straight to the source and asked its Canadian consumers, "What kind of beverage do you want?" The answer? Raspberry Kiwi Karma and Blueberry Watermelon Wisdom. [So, we can assume Coke is not phasing Fruitopia out in Canada?]

Coca-Cola is in talks with AgriPure, the largest canned sweet corn exporter, to market a sweet corn milk beverage for China. Research and development is under way and is expected to be completed in three months. Sweet corn milk has a similar taste to soy milk, which Chinese consumers already enjoy. AgriPure currently supplies Coca-Cola Asia with concentrated fruit juice imported from Israel.

Dr Pepper, title sponsor and the official soft drink of the SEC and Big 12 Championship Games, teams up with college football fans this fall to give two lucky consumers the chance to win up to $1 million each in the company's ‘Throw for Dough' promotion. Consumers can also win cash by tuning in from home to see if they've won up to $50,000 with the on-pack ‘Match & Win' game. The randomly selected grand prize winners will receive an all-expense paid trip for two to either the SEC or Big 12 championship game. There they will have the opportunity to throw a football through a hole in the center of a giant, 8-foot-tall Dr Pepper can for prize money during halftime. Each promotional package will also feature a special code and a dollar amount - up to $50,000 – under the cap or inside the package. Consumers can save this code and watch the network broadcasts of the games to hear the winning codes announced. The two games will be televised on Dec. 6. The Big 12 championship game will be broadcast on ABC from Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., and the SEC championship game will be broadcast on CBS from the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Ga.

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

AUGUST 24  -  DAVENPORT, IOWA
Mississippi Valley Antique Bottle & Advertising Collectors Show & Sale (Sun. 9 AM – 3 PM) at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 1111 W. 35^th St., Davenport, Iowa. INFO: Mike Theil, 1418 W. 36^th St., Davenport, IA  52806, PH: (563) 445-1372, E-mail: miketheil@earthlink.com.

AUGUST 24  -  MOOREFIELD, WEST VIRGINIA 
Potomac Highlands Antique Bottle & Glass Collectors Club’s 5^th Annual Show & Sale (Sun. 9 AM – 3 PM) at the Moorefield Fire Co. Auxiliary Bldg. (green building by the RR), Jefferson St., Moorefield, West Virginia. INFO: Rodney Funkhouser, Rt. 1 Box 132, Baker, WV  26801, PH: (304) 897-6910, E-mail: rfmfg@hardynet.com.

AUGUST 24*  -  ROSS, OHIO
The 8th Annual Tristate Insulator Show (Sun. 8 AM – 7 PM) at the home of Alan Hornhorst. 1476 Hine Rd., Hamilton, Ohio  45013 (outside Cincinnati). INFO: Alan Hornhorst, PH: (513) 892-3720, E-mail: porcinscol33@yahoo.com

AUGUST 24  -  TAUNTON, ENGLAND
Somerset & Devon Bottle Collectors Club's 5th Annual Show & Sale (Sun. 10 AM - 2 PM, early admission 9 AM) at the St. Augustine of Canterbury School, Lyngford Rd., Taunton, England. INFO: D. Martin, 171 Greenway Rd., Taunton TA2 6LQ, England.

The Mid-South Chapter of the Coca-Cola Collectors Club is holding their annual Septemberfest in Elizabethtown, Kentucky September 17 through 20, 2003. Events will include brunch, silent auction, swap meet, and room hopping. For more information, please contact Earlene Mitchell, 6250 New Hope Church Road, Paducah, KY 42001. Septemberfest will be held at the Holiday Inn, Exit 94, Hwy 62 & I-65 in Elizabethtown. 

This year's theme for the Coca-Cola Days in Atlantic, Iowa is "Still Delivering the Real Thing!" The events planned for September 25 through 26 will include a BBQ, silent auction, swap meet, children's parade, golf tournament, social hour and banquet. Recommended hotels are Super 8 Motel, Hwy 71 & Hwy 6, 712-243-4723; Econo Lodge, I-80 & Hwy 71, 712-243-4067; and AmericInn, Hwy 173 Exit 54 in Elk Horn, IA, 712-764-4000 or 800-634-3444. For more information, please contact Kathy Holden, 207 SE Diehl, Des Moines, IA 50315-5227.

8th Annual HOOISER CHAPTER Soft Drink Swap Meet will take place Sunday, October 5, 2003 at the Tippecanoe County Fairgrounds, 1401 Teal Road (State Road 25), Lafayette, Indiana from 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Admission will be: $1 adults, Children 12 and under free. This show will be held in conjunction with a large outdoor flea market. Contact: Don Burkhalter, 1137 E Main, Delphi, IN 46923; Phone: (765) 564-2402; or Jeff Cummins, PO Box 387, Clear Creek, IN 47426; Phone: (812) 876-9076. For table rentals, please send to: The Hoosier Chapter, PO Box 387, Clear Creek, IN 47426. Sponsored by Hoosier Chapter of the Coca Cola Collectors Club.

The Arkansas & Oklahoma Chapters of the Coca-Cola Collectors Club are hosting a Swap Meet at the Settle Inn (800-677-6906) in Branson, Missouri October 23rd through 25th. For information, E-mail Ken Cottrell at: beartul@earthlink.net, or call (918) 357-3067. Mention the Coca-Cola event when making reservations to get the special room rate of $65.

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 received some comments to last issue's Fizz regarding "What is an antique?" I will share those with you next week, as well as some other things that have come my way.

I haven't heard from Chris - but of course, a big black-out may have affected his area in the past week - so I am being patient. As soon as he has the Collector Database ready, he'll be sure to let me know, and when he does, I'll let you know as well.

I also have some answers to some of the recent questions. I'll get those organized soon as well. With the last day or two of putting the finishing touches on the next issue of B&E, time is even more scarce - what with my phone being out for almost a week and then the storms taking out my electricity for hours here and there - it has been a hassle. I am hanging in there - and know it has to be as bad for others having the same problems. Things happen, I suppose.

Below is a newspaper article that I found in some folders of information that I received recently. I have no idea of what date the article appeared, but thought it would make interesting reading. The newspaper article was with another from The Topeka Capital-Journal, but this particular one did not have the title of the publication with it. Neither do I know who submitted it. Enjoy!

Until next time, Happy Collecting! CokeGirl

A mixture of sarsaparilla, wild cherry bark and dandelion roots might seem like an acquired taste, but two Kansas City area retailers say their home-made root beer is pure American. At a cider mill near Louisburg, a town of 1,700 located about 15 miles south of Kansas City, making root beer has been a rewarding experience for owners Tom and Shelly Schierman.

Little John's Root Beer, made in Patricia Mertz's Kansas City, Kansas basement, is sold only at theme shows around the country and a drugstore in Independence, Missouri. "I can honestly say root beer is pure America. It's virtually unknown in Europe," said Tom Schierman, co-owner of the Louisburg Cider Mill, where Lost Trail Root Beer is made. "We have a good recipe and a good story behind it."

Family tradition has it that the Schierman root beer recipe dates to the 19th century, when settlers headed west along the Santa Fe Trail. The Lost Trail taste comes from traditional ingredients, including a combination of roots, herbs and berries. Traditional root beer flavors include sarsaparilla, wild cherry bark, lemons, ginger, molasses, sorrell leaves, wintergreen, spikenard, hops and juniper. The Schiermans said their primary ingredients are filtered water, sugar and a secret blend of extracts, roots and spices. 

Meanwhile, Little John's Root Beer also is experiencing growth. "We're told day after day that we have the best tasting root beer," said co-owner John Brosam, who sells the brew n an 1850s style bottle. "People love it."

Brosam came up with the idea about ten years ago, when he was a Boy Scout leader. "We made 15 gallons and it went real fast," he said. Mertz and Brosam said they sell Little John's Root Beer at Civil War re-enactments, festivals and national craft shows. "Our market is expanding every day," Mertz said. "We have more shows than we can handle. Right now, we're looking to expand out of my basement. The product has become too big."

Because no beverage association tracks root beer markets, it's important to say how many there are around the country. But the Schiermans, Brosam and Mertz agree that their operations are the only ones in Kansas.

[A search on the web did reveal that Lost Trail Root Beer is still alive and well, and still being produced at the Louisburg Cider Mill by the Schiermans. Also, Little John's Root Beer can still be found at shows and festivals, it seems. If you want a peek at the unique bottle Mertz uses for the Root Beer, >> click here <<.]

It is nice to know that some things can still be done the old-fashioned way. CG...

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