From Richard Mix, Mix International : NEW BOTTLE OFFERS THIS WEEK:

Featured item - $22.50 each IN BOX  1359928 Collector's Showcase - Las Vegas - October 25, 2003

$3 EACH (or 6+ for $2.50 each - MIX and Match) --Golden Egg - 100th Game MS State vs. Ole Miss-- --Rice Owls Baseball--  --University of Arkansas 75th Anniversary-- --San Antonio 100th Anniversary--	--Message in a bottle - China TUBE - $35 each-- --Message in a bottle - Soviet Georgia TUBE - $35 each-- --Message in a bottle - Thailand TUBE - $35 each--  a few more remaining sets are available for ONLY $59.95 a set!!
MORE $2.50 each (6+) MIX and Match  --Boston Red Sox 2003 wrapped bottle-- $10 ea --Collectors Classic 2003 in BOX-- $19 ea --San Antonio Spurs Sprite wrapped bottle!!!!-- $5 ea --Holiday High Lights 2003-- $9 ea	--Sunbelt Ag Expo 2003-- $5 ea --Hot August Nights 2003-- $5 ea --McDonalds - Ray Kroc 100th-- $25 ea --Pier 39-- $5 ea
THE FOLLOWING BOTTLES ARE $3 EACH (MIX and Match) --Saratoga Racecourse--  --Indianapolis 100th--   --Phillies [Baseball] Veteran Stadium-- --Circle City Classic 2003-- --Soldier Field 2003--	--Pensacola 100th-- --Florida A&M 25th Football bottle-- --Tulsa Zoo 75th-- --Tulsa Fair 100th-- --University of Florida 150th--
All prices above PLUS shipping ($6 first bottle and $2 each additional) - discounts for shipping for 10+ bottles - we will also hold to combine with your ebay purchases, etc. --ebay--click here to see Mix International auctions--

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

From Larry Wilson : I am looking for a university city embossed out of Norman, Oklahoma. Also, Coca-Cola copycats, a Hutch Coke, Oxley's Big Chief ACL - 38, not 39. Rare or scarse ACLs that are in pretty bad shape. I have a few extra bottles - rare ones - to trade, such as: Betty Lee, High Dive, Topsy, Big Tot and more.

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 Amatil and Momentum Worldwide have created as part of a marketing campaign a specially designed Coke bottle with a Benefon GPS mobile phone inside. The bottle is filled with caramel colored liquid to hide the unit and the consumer will only find out that it's a winning bottle when it is opened. The bottle is designed to withstand refrigeration and handling in vending machine and home refrigerators. Once the bottle is opened, contest winners are instructed to contact the operator by pushing a button on the hidden GPS phone inside.

Apple and Pepsi-Cola North America have announced a historic promotion to legally give Pepsi consumers 100 million free songs from Apple's iTunes Music Store, available to Mac and Windows PC users. Beginning February 1st, 100 million winning codes will be randomly seeded in 20-ounce and 1-liter bottles of Pepsi, Diet Pepsi and Sierra Mist. The winning codes will be redeemable for a free song from the iTunes Music Store. Winners will simply go to Apple's iTunes Music Store (www.iTunes.com), enter the code found under the bottle cap and choose any $0.99 song from the online store's vast catalog of over 400,000 songs. The Pepsi iTunes promotion will run until March 31, 2004.

The Pepsi-Cola Company has said that it would replace "The joy of Pepsi," its advertising theme since 2000, with "Pepsi. It's the cola," beginning with commercials set to appear around Thanksgiving. Pepsi has also registered "How 'bout a little Pepsi?" with the US Patent and Trademark Office, also expected to appear in some form in the new campaign. The new ads that will accompany the slogan are apparently to focus on promoting how well Pepsi-Cola goes with food. 

The Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt., Ltd. is planning to launch non-alcoholic coconut beverages as a joint venture with the National Farmers' Protection Committee (NFPC).

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

NOVEMBER 15  -  STOCKBRIDGE, GEORGIA
Dixie Jewels Insulator Club's Fall Swap Meet (Sat. 9:30 AM – late afternoon) at the home of Dudley & Sandy Ellis, 131 Plantation Way, Stockbridge, Georgia. INFO: DUDLEY & SANDY ELLIS, 131 Plantation Way, Stockbridge, GA  30281, PH: (770) 957-9928.
**Listing Courtesy of Crown Jewels of the Wire**

NOVEMBER 16 -  SPRINGFIELD, OHIO 
The annual Heart of Ohio Bottle & Jar Show (Sun. 9:30 AM – 3 PM, Free Admission) at the Heart of Ohio Antique Center, U. S. 40 at I-70 exit 62, Springfield, Ohio. INFO: JOHN BARTLEY, P. O. Box 53, North Hampton, OH  45349, PH: (937) 964-8080, E-mail: jbartley@woh.rr.com.

NOVEMBER 30  -  BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA 
Forks of the Delaware Bottle Collectors Association’s 30^th Annual Show & Sale (Sun. 9 AM – 3 PM, early admission 7:30 AM) at Bethlehem Catholic High School, Madison & Dewberry Ave., Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. INFO: BILL HEGEDUS, 20 Cambridge Pl., Catasauqua, PA  18032, PH: (610) 264-5945.

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

This has been an exciting past week. Thank heavens for the guy who hosts sodafizz.com, who sometimes gets my email by mistake when someone forgets to put "the" in front of "sodafizz" in the address - who forwarded me a mail he'd gotten, with the comment, "I thought you might want to see this." When I opened it, at first I thought it was a joke, but thought 'why not?' and replied anyway with my name and phone number. Yesterday, I received a call from the person who had originally sent the email. When everything is finalized, I will give all the details. Curious? Good!

If nothing unforeseen happens, I will be at the Greensboro, N.C. show tomorrow. Again, I ask - will I see you there?

Do remember the EXPO in Memphis next August (by then, you'll be sick of hearing about it and will come just to shut me up. hehe). But, this thing only happens every four years - and it will be my first one - so I am a bit excited about it. Mail me if you are interested in participating in ANY way.

Until next time, Happy Collecting!

By Michael M. Elling, Sharon, Tenn.

Collinsville, Illinois. The 32nd Annual Antique Bottle and Relic Show & Sale was another success, according to show chairman, Terry Mueller. Sponsored by the Metro-East Bottle and Jar Association for the mid-south St. Louis area, more than 400 visitors paid the $2.00 admission at the Collinsville Convention Center. Located at the junction of 3 major interstate highways, the show date of Sunday, November 2, 2003 brought with it perfect sunshine and mild temperatures among the fall foliage.

Crowds remained consistent throughout the day

There were more than 135 dealer tables sold this year. Terry said, "The general quality of collectable material has gone up over the years. Thirty years ago, when many of the gray-haired dealers you see were young. Bottles and jars came in fresh from the digging pits and table top items were marked 50 cents or 1 dollar each. Now, these same people have cleaned and polished glass with some prices per item of several hundred dollars." He also added many of those early members are now knowledgeable dealers and noted experts over several specialties.

One show visitor was not a glass collector at all, he studies early store merchandising and came to the show to find paper items. "Labels, store records, ledgers, order blanks, all of that!" Fritz Carter, of Chicago, explained. He comes to bottle shows for the associated documentation, and he was successful; he found some early store ads used in St. Louis trolley cars back in the 1920's.

Delbert Roley, (L) and Bruce Wood compare soda finds at Collinsville Show

Several painted label soda people were there. Among them were pharmacist Bruce Wood, of Arthur, Ill., who found a Myopia Club Beverages 28-ounce clear glass with a glossy white/red label featuring an Indian Chief before an encampment of teepee's. The family-sized bottle is from Islington, Mass., and is dated 1952. Another soda found was Torah, a 10-ounce clear glass with a uncommon likeness of George Washington in orange/black colors. But the bargain find of the day was a complete full carton of glass chemistry bottles and graduates, "Calibrated glass was always high priced," he said, "and to get a box of some 20 items still in useable condition for only $5.00 is a lucky find!"

Show regular Delbert Roley, of Sterwardson, Ill., found a Schroeders Tops Root Beer in 12-ounce clear glass showing a brilliant red and white spinning top on the label with embossed tops rolling about the shoulder of the bottle. The scarce root beer label is from Waterloo, Iowa, and is dated 1963. He also found a scarce 10-ounce Whistle with the terms "THIRSTY? YES!" on the label, which is protected by a bulbous shoulder and heel. The glass maker is Reed of Rochester, N.Y., and is mould dated 1946.

Dean Faust, of Des Moines, Iowa, a first-time arrival to the show found several soda bottles to upgrade his collection. "I've only recently started," he explained, "and have not yet settled on any specific kind of bottles."

Table dealers Randy and Sue Kaiser, of Holts Summit, Missouri, said they had a much better sales level than last year, and Sue found a St. Louis Liberty soda embossed with four bells on the shoulder. The label shows the Statue of Liberty head and is an uncommon family size of 23-ounce, clear glass, and is mould dated 1940.

Quart soda specialist Fred Arwood, of Gate City, Va., found a Milford Springs featuring a water skier. It is clear glass with a white/red label and is mould dated 1948. Another scarce item found was a Barney Google, named for a cartoon character of early funny papers, in 7-ounce clear glass with yellow/red label. It is Glenshaw Glass Company coded 1938. This early ACL is protected by an embossed paneled shoulder and has the bottler initials "J.M.D." embossed on the bottom.

Tim Miller's best discovery was a Dallas, Tex., Woosies (plural) found in 12-ounce green glass with a white/red label with an abstract art design of unfocussed geometric figures mixing with one another. This early ACL example for this brand is mould dated 1941 by Reed Glass of Rochester, N.Y. 

I was able to find a sparkling mint 9 oz NEHI silk stocking bottle made for nearby Belleview, Ill., by the Streator, Ill., O-I Plant 9, tagged at $4.00! It is mould dated 1932. Other bargains of the day seen were a case of Coca-Cola Patent-D bottles from nearby towns for $3.00 each.

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