From Steven Dean : On your commemorative bottle list, under Dr. Pepper, there is a bottle listed for John Kincaid - Chattanooga Glass. The bottle should be "Jack" Kincaid, my uncle. I have the 'original' Jack Kincaid bottle that was presented to him, under a glass dome, mounted on a wooden base - which has a brass plaque inscribed with the details of the presentation. I received this item as part of his estate, along with many other Dr. Pepper memorabilia. Is anyone interested in this bottle, or any of the other memorabilia? Please let me know. E-mail to: Steven Dean. 

From Sheryl, Florida : I used to collect Coke trays, but am now into other types of collecting and have some original Coke trays for offer. Serious inquiries - please contact me.

From Rick Currens : I have 37 Valu-Jet Coke bottles that I would be interested in selling. E-mail if interested.

From Mix International : No new bottle offers this week (Gail is on vacation). There are still a few of last week's offers available:

--Pier 39-- - $5 each
--McDonalds - Ray Kroc 100th-- - $20 each -- hurry just a few remaining!!!
--Ft. Smith 100th--  - $3 each
--Indianapolis 100th-- - $3 each
--Saratoga Racecourse-- - $3 each

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

From Keith Galle : I am looking for a Barq's Barq-Ola painted-label bottle.

From Elliot Eliades: Looking for Chero-Cola bottles because my grandfather bottled the product in Hopewell, Virginia, and I would like to give them to all the grandchildren as a part of his history. - Any Help Appreciated!

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

From Chris Woods: 

I am pleased to announce that I have completed the Bottle Collectors database.  
Access it from:
http://antiquesdiscovery.com/cgi-bin/start.cgi/bottles/collectors/start.htm

To add your information to the database, follow the link on the left of the above webpage for "Add / Edit Your Listing." If you have any problems, please do email me and I will be happy to get you listed. A big THANK YOU to Chris for putting this together for us!

New Coca-Cola ad features Salma Hayek:
Academy Award-nominated actress Salma Hayek stars in a new Coca-Cola 'Real' TV spot ad as she shows that crossover fame has not overshadowed her Latin roots. The new spot, titled "Hollywood Restaurant," was produced in both English and Spanish and will run on national general market and Spanish-language television. In the spot, Hayek sneaks away from a dinner meeting at a swanky Hollywood restaurant to the kitchen, where she treats her taste buds to a taco and ice-cold Coca-Cola while laughing with the chef and wait staff. 

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

OCTOBER 4 – 5  -  POINT PLEASANT, WEST VIRGINIA 
West Virginia Bottle Club’s Antique Bottle Show (Sat. 9 AM – 5 PM, Sun. 10 AM – 3 PM) at the West Virginia State Farm Museum near Point Pleasant, West Virginia (take Fairgrounds Rd. off Rt. 62 North). INFO: CHARLIE PERRY, 39304 Bradbury Rd., Middleport, OH  45760, PH: (740) 992-5088 or 992-3730, E-mail: perrycola@eurekanet.com.

OCTOBER 4  -  RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
Richmond Area Bottle Collectors Association’s 32^nd Annual Show & Sale (Sat. 9 AM – 3 PM, early admission 7:30 AM) at the Showplace Annex, 3002 Mechanicsville Trnpk., Richmond, Virginia. INFO: JUDY FOLES, 12275 Cedar Ln., Ashland, VA  23005, PH: (804) 798-7502, E-mail: judyfoles@mail.com.

OCTOBER 5  -  ELSECAR, ENGLAND
Autumn Extravaganza Antique Bottle Show & Sale (Sun. 10 AM – 3 PM, early admission 8:30 AM) at the Elsecar Heritage Center, Nr. Barnsley (M-1 jct. 36), S. Yorkshire, England. INFO: ALAN BLAKEMAN, BBR, Elsecar Heritage Centre, Nr. Barnsley S74 8HJ, England, PH: 011 44 122 674 5156.

OCTOBER 5  -   ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN
Huron Valley Bottle & Insulator Club’s Annual Show & Sale (Sun. 9 AM – 2 PM) at the Washtenaw Community College Morris J. Lawrence Building, Ann Arbor, Michigan. INFO: EARNEST GRIFFIN, 1200 S. Harris, Ypsilanti, MI  48198-6513, PH: (734) 482-8029, E-mail: CLGriffinY@aol.com.

OCTOBER 5  -  DELAWARE, ONTARIO, CANADA 
The 2^nd Annual Delaware Bottle & Collectibles Show & Sale (Sun. 9 AM – 1 PM) at the Delaware Community Center, 2652 Gideon Dr., Delaware, Ontario, Canada. INFO: BOB DULONG, PH: (519) 676-5819 or JIM BUTLER, PH: (519) 245-3102.

OCTOBER 5  -  DRYDEN, NEW YORK  
Finger Lakes Bottle Collectors Association’s 34th Annual Show & Sale (Sun. 9 AM – 3 PM, early admission 8 AM) at the Dryden Fire Hall, Rte. 13, Dryden, New York. INFO: JOE HALL, E-mail: chall83@infoblvd.net or DAVE GUNTREN, PH: (607) 734-6300, E-mail: bottlecrzy@aol.com.

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 Annual Beach Party sponsored by the Old Dominion Chapter of the Coca-Cola Collectors Club will be held October 16-18, 2003 at the Sandcastle Oceanfront Resort Hotel in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Events will include a welcome party, auction, swap meet, social hour, banquet and room hopping. For more information, please contact Greg Dail, 1204 Masters Row, Chesapeake, VA 23320, Phone: (757) 547-4918 or coke1sthe1@aol.com. The hotel number is 1-800-233-131 and its website: www.sandcastle-vabeach.com. 

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 still haven't gotten the sample articles added yet to the Table of Contents page yet, but did include most of one of the articles below, as this week's FYI. Also, I do still have some extra issues, email me to get one. Also, for those of you in my area (East Tennessee) - do plan to get by the Morristown, Tennessee show on October 10-11th - it is shaping up to be a VERY good show for bottles and of course, I will be there. I will have some of the 3rd Edition ACL books with me, so be sure to stop by and say "HI" if you make it there. I'd love to see you!

Re: last week's phone call from Jimmie Wood about the Expo and motel in Memphis (August, 2004) - I did manage to get some info from the motel (after two calls, and endless minutes on hold). It seems they will not reserve rooms specifically for us (as a block), BUT they have noted the request, and if anyone reserves a room, and mentions the PSBCA, they will situate us together. They informed me that all the rooms reserved for the Expo were together anyway, so hopefully this will work out well. If anyone has any other ideas of how to work this out in a better way, please do let me know. Next on the agenda is to get the exact timing of our meeting. Again, anyone who wishes to offer their help/assistance/comments/suggestions - it will be welcome and greatly appreciated. Let's make this a great time for all of us!

Some have mentioned setting up a display for the Expo of ACLs, as well as some suggestions for speakers for our meeting. Please let me know if you would be interested in doing either, or both. I am looking forward to this, as I see it as a great opportunity for a great, informative get-together, as well as a great chance to meet many of you!

I suppose you noticed from the "news" above that our database is up-and-running. Please take the chance to add your name to the list, so those who share your collecting  interests can easily find you. You never know what good things can come from it. My name is there - add yours too!

Until next time, Happy Collecting!

“Bottled in the land of swift-moving rivers,” boasts the label on a brown bottle of old-fashioned Hosmer Mountain root beer. Indeed, Hosmer Mountain Bottling Co., Inc. - and its predecessor, Hosmer Mountain Spring Bottling Works - has been a part of the “land of swift-moving rivers,” for quite a long time, says Bill Potvin. Bill, along with brothers Andy, Chuck and John, run the family business.

The Hosmer name derives from Stephen Hosmer of Columbia, Connecticut, who 
purchased a farm in Willimantic containing the “mountain” in 1800. In 1912, spring water emanating from the base of Hosmer Mountain was used to establish the Hosmer Mountain Spring Bottling Works. Water was sold to area mills from horse-drawn wagons.

The first ad for the bottling works appeared in the 1916 Willimantic City 
Directory, the same year soda entered their line. Original flavors included pale dry ginger ale, golden ginger ale, orangeade and limeade.

Arthur Potvin acquired the company in 1957, and began the Potvin family business, which continues to this day. When the plentiful spring water became much less abundant in the drought years of the early 1960s, Mr. Potvin and his sons looked for an alternate source of water. Relocating to Cards Mill Road, they found what they wanted.

“Deep well water, nice and clean with no cloudiness,” according to Bill. And so the operation shifted to Columbia in 1966. Bill says there used to be many small, independent soda producers around, including a few right in the area. Now, a total of only four remain in Connecticut.

Old-fashioned taste, quality and service (which includes home delivery) characterize Hosmer Mountain, explains Bill proudly. “We’re such an alternative to what’s out there for soft drinks - all plastic, all cans, all multi-national. What are we? We’re just the opposite - refillable glass bottles, variety and quality.”

Besides the fact that their reusable 12- and 28-ounce glass bottles are environmentally friendly, glass apparently also gives a fizzier drink than plastic. Hosmer Mountain offers 39 flavors - including 12 flavors of diet soda - 29 of which are caffeine-free. Predominantly natural flavors are used, along with less sodium. “The soda is very retro, just like we were back in the ‘50s. Bold flavors, all of them. Old-fashioned,” Bill enthuses about their soda. He says that their old-fashioned brown bottles of root beer, white birch beer and cream soda together, are referred to as “The Taste of New England.”

Introduced in 1999, this gourmet line, with its old-fashioned label, is served in upscale restaurants. The root beer competes well nationally. When the Minnesota Museum of the Mississippi held their Great American Root Beer Showdown in January of 2003, Hosmer Mountain root beer ranked #4 out of 80 
entries. Needless to say, the Potvins are proud of their products successful competition.

In fact, Bill, who is in charge of flavors, is proud of all their products, and warms to the task of explaining them. He says Hosmer Mountain regularly 
offers a “Flavor of the Month.” For July, it is always Lime Rickey. Like other citrus sodas they offer, the soda contains some real juice.

Lime Rickey, says Bill, “has a good slug of lime juice in it.” Coca Creme, a chocolate soda and former Flavor of the Month, was a big hit at a recent Third Thursday celebration in Willimantic. Made into a float, with the addition of vanilla ice cream, it gave other root beer floats some stiff competition.

Apparently only the brave dare drink Hosmer Mountain “Dangerous Ginger Beer.” Why dangerous? “It’s Jamaican-style Ginger Beer, made with real cane sugar - very spicy,” warns Bill.

The beverage, Moxie, “the only drink we sell that we don’t make,” is a bitter-sweet soda, “a New England thing, not sold anywhere else in the country,” Bill explains. Hosmer Mountain’s equivalent to Moxie is “Buddie,” also a gentian root drink. Not all of Hosmer Mountain’s offerings are carbonated. For tea drinkers, there is a caffeine-free iced tea with real honey, and for sports-oriented individuals, a Gatorade taste-alike, known as “Lemon-Lime Thirst Quencher,” with added Vitamin C.

Their soda has a loyal and growing local following in Eastern Connecticut, where it is sold not only by home delivery and customer pick-up, but also via vending machines and in numerous restaurants.

Several establishments, including the Dog House in Chaplin and the Husky Bean Cafe in Storrs, sell Hosmer Mountain soda exclusively. It is also sold in six Hartford and West Hartford eateries.

The folks at Hosmer Mountain can be reached at (860) 423-1555. Their very interesting website can be found at: http://hosmer/pds2k.com. 

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