From CG : I have acquired one of the 1908 "topless" Vienna art plates from the Western Coca-Cola Bottling Company. For assessing value, it can be found on page 330 of Petretti's 11th Edition Guide, top left, except mine has the original elaborate gold frame and is still mounted to the black box. It is just as I found it, but needs to be cleaned. I do not plan to keep this for my personal collection, and am making this item available to the readers of my Fizz first, so - please do << click here >> to see its photo and  E-mail me with any questions, or to make an offer. This will not last long!

From Richard Mix : We are cleaning up some recent ebay "leftovers" (no-sales, did not meet reserve and unclaimed items) I will be reposting these along with our regular slate of bottles. Take advantage of the opportunity to buy multiple bottles and combine shipping.

I have several NEW BOTTLES available at $3 each:
- Carolina Courage WUSA Women's Soccer 
- Paducah, KY Coca-Cola 100th Anniversary
- Oklahoma Coca-Cola 100th Anniversary

We still have a few scattered bottles left from our recent bottle offers - (Please inquire about availability first, as we only have a bottle or two of each left.)

- Ford Motor Company 100th - $3 each
- Cumberland, MD Coca-Cola 100th - $3 each
- York, PA Coca-Cola 100th - $3 each
- New York Yankees 100th Anniversary (ACL bottle) - $3 each
- Class of 2003 - $3 each
- NCAA New Orleans in tube with pin - $10 each
- World of Coke Atlanta 2003 in tube - $20 each
- World of Coke Las Vegas 2003 in tube - $20 each

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 Mike : I am interested in buying all wide-mouth, glass, 1 and 2-liter soda bottles from '70s and '80s: Coke, Dr. Pepper, 7Up, Squirt, Pepsi, etc. I am also interested in information that will lead me to these bottles.

There are also WANTED items listed <here> at 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

A moveable stage will teach kids about the history of Singapore in W!LD ON WHEELS!! F&N FizzKidz partners Project Chilli Padi, the Education and Outreach Division of W!LD RICE, in an exciting spellbinding journey across Singapore. In an interactive classroom bus, children will engage in a three-hour drama specially written by home-grown thespian and Project Chilli Padi Artistic Director - Ms Selena Tan. This fun, highly interactive exploration of Singapore's past is designed to challenge the children's creativity, initiative and communication skills as they discover new insights into life in the Lion City.
Ah, but I was the first "Fizz Kid" in Singapore.

The Marcus Foundation and The Coca-Cola Company broke ground on May 30th for the Georgia Aquarium and the new World of Coca- Cola, marking the first phase in the development of a 20-acre complex located just north of Centennial Olympic Park. The completed project will include the new attractions and community place, creating a major cultural, educational and entertainment destination for the people of Atlanta and visitors from around the world.

During the ceremony, Bernie Marcus, co-founder of The Home Depot and chairman of The Marcus Foundation, revealed plans for the new Georgia Aquarium -- developed by Thompson, Ventulett, Stainback and Associates. The Aquarium, a gift to the city from Marcus, will contain approximately 400,000- square feet of aquatic exhibits, including more than 5 million gallons of fresh and saltwater. The Aquarium also revealed "Deepo," its colorful mascot that will be the face of the new aquarium.

Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd (Australia) has waded further into the bottled water market with its acquisition of Peats Ridge Springs' assets. The move is on top of CC-Amatil's $280 million hostile takeover offer for Neverfail Springwater, with some speculation that the group could be eyeing Palm Springs Ltd. CC-Amatil has entered into an agreement to acquire Peats Ridge's packaged water assets, including significant land area at the water source in NSW enabling future production expansion.

Several hundred drivers, truck loaders and merchandisers for The Coca-Cola Bottling Company of New York went on strike May 31st. The bottling company operates distribution centers in Parsippany, North Brunswick, Carlstadt and Asbury Park. The union, Local 125, rejected the company's latest contract and is the second time the workers have gone on strike in three years. A strike in 2000 lasted about a week and left managers to deliver Coca-Cola products in northern New Jersey. The bottling company, based in Hawthorne, New York is one of about 30 regional divisions of Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Enterprises, which bottles and distributes Coca-Cola products.

Pepsi Bottling Group has announced that it will acquire Olean Bottling Works Inc., a small bottler based in Olean, New York. The value of the deal was not disclosed. 

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

June 13-14 (Friday-Saturday) Knoxville, Tennessee
East Tennessee Antique Bottle & Collectibles Society’s 15th Annual Show & Sale
(Sat. 8AM–5PM, early admission Fri. 2–7 PM)
at the Knoxville Expo Center, Merchants Dr. & Clinton Hwy
(I-75 exit 108), Knoxville, Tennessee
INFO: LARRY ACUFF, 220 N. Carter School Rd., Strawberry Plains, TN 37871; PH: (865) 933-2333

June 14 (Saturday) Perkiomenville, Pennsylvania 
Annual Pennsylvania Insulator & Bottle Show & Sale (Sat. 9AM-?)
in the backyard at 1837 Perkiomenville Rd., Perkiomenville, Pennsylvania
INFO: STEVER BOBB, PH: (610) 539-6533, E-mail: stephenbobb@aol.com 
or CLAUDE WAMBOLD, PH: (215) 234-8197, E-mail: arlene@netcarrier.com 

June 21, 2003 - Houston, Texas (9am - 4pm)
Gulf Coast Bottle & Jar Club presents their 34th Annual Antique Bottle, Advertising and Collectibles Show and Sale - at the Marriott (formerly Radisson Hotel) 9100 Gulf Freeway, Houston, Texas 77017 (713)943-7979. Admission $2. Early admission Friday night June 20th - 7-10:30 pm - $10. per person. Wide variety of bottles, cans, fruit jars, inks, milk bottles, drug store collectibles - Coca Cola - Dr. Pepper - 7 UP - Orange Crush, Texas memorabilia, oil company items, and lots lots more! For Sales Table and Show Information, please contact Barbara Puckett, 907 W. Temple, Houston, TX 77009, (713) 862-1690 or e-mail for information - bjcoll@hotmail.com or red1@wt.net.

The Coca-Cola Collectors Club National Convention will be held June 29 through July 5, 2003 in Chicago Illinois. This will be the 29th national convention for the largest Coca-Cola collectors club in the world. Events will include swap meet, convention store, brunch, Twins vs White Sox baseball game, trading center, silent and regular auctions, fun night, seminars, displays, swap meet and room hopping. The convention hotel is the Hyatt Regency O'Hare at the O'Hare International Airport. For hotel reservations, please call 800-233-1234 or 847-696-1234. Convention rate for the room is $95/night for 1-4 people. Parking is $5 per day. For information about the convention, please contact Beth Markowitz at 717-848-3282, fax 717-848-5582, or e-mail markowitz@cyberia.com.

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 a few of the last issues of  the printed edition* of the Soda Fizz Magazine, as well as sample issues of Soda Pop Dreams Magazine. There are also a few copies of the Spring issue of Bottles & Extras around, if anyone wants to request a sample, please do >>email<< me and let me know which publication(s) you are requesting, along with your full mailing address.
*NOTE: The printed edition of the Soda Fizz Magazine is entirely different than this ezine version.

The proofs for the Summer Issue of B&E were sent yesterday. Everything looked great. Now if the publisher just does as good a job on the magazine itself as they did on the proofs. Whew! A short "breather" until the next one. Doing this magazine has definitely been a learning experience - but a good one.

It may end up that I am unable to attend the Knoxville show, but if possible, I will try and be there. The Louisville (KY) National Show show is a definite, and I am looking forward to it. 

Until next week, Happy Collecting! CokeGirl

When asked if he could think of any funny stories from his many years in the bottling business, J. C. Beaulieu replied that he had always been too busy "just trying to put words together in English" to ever give much thought to whether it was funny, or not. This was a quick answer from a man born and raised in Riviere du Loop, Quebec, who did not come to Maine, and English-speaking people, until he was 22.

"J.C." stands for Joseph Cyril. In Quebec, he was always called "Cyril," but, as his wife explained, everyone "murdered" the pronunciation of his name. English-speaking Americans would pronounce it one way; French-speaking Canadians another, but everyone pronounced it wrongly. So, it became easier to just be "J.C."

J.C. came to Grand Isle, Maine in 1939 to set up a creamery. Known first as the Grand Isle Creamery, J.C.'s operation grew year by year into a successful enterprise. The only fall-back was that processing milk was seasonal.

Wanting something to keep his employees busy the whole year, J.C. decided in 1948 that the soft drink business would be a good addition to his creamery business. It was. In fact, business was so good that the entire operation was moved to larger quarters in Madawaska in late 1951. 

The name that J.C. selected for his soda was "Brunswick Beverages" because his brother had been bottling a beverage by this name in New Brunswick since 1937. J.C. simply "borrowed" the name for use of his soft drinks south of the border.

Of his beverages, J.C. was proudest of some of the flavors that he developed himself. "If you could see what I did in the lab before I put out a flavor, you would not believe it," he explains. His own specially-blended orange was his best seller, with the cream flavor following next. He is adamant to explain that it was a "clear cream, no cheap coloring added."

J.C. also developed what he considered a fine cola, which he named "Globe Cola", but because of the popularity of Coke and Pepsi, he added that many stores would not carry it.

Beaulieu closed Brunswick Beverages in 1983 due to intense competition from the national brands and the hassles of the bottle deposit bill. But J.C. put it that he quit because he was "getting old." None of J.C.'s sons showed any interest in taking over the bottling business, and J.C. did not pursue them into it.

Much of Brunswick Beverages' machinery was sold to S & O'K Beverages in 1987, and the former bottling facility at 214 East Main Street in Madawaska (Maine) is still idle.

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