From Richard Mix, Mix International : I am selling off about 100+ ACL old soda bottles   Many with Indians, multi colored logos - some unique ones... Watch my spot on eBay for the listings in the future weeks. --ebay--click here to see Mix International auctions--

From Mark Rouley : I have a 7Up Salutes bottle collection - around 30 bottles, some full, some empty - that I am interested in selling. E-mail or call 815-519-5676.

From Matt Dempsey : FOR TRADE - Jayhawk l/w, Smile o/w/l, Torah o/b quart, rare yellow and black Squeeze 7oz., Swan l/w condition 2/2+, Pepsi Grand Pop 1-/2+, Pepsi r/w/l single dot 1-, Desert Cooler, Barron's, Blue Ribbon, Duffy's Diet Delite. Contact Matt Dempsey by E-mail or Phone: 615-297-7732.

From C. A. Weide : I have a large ACL trader list (nearly 1000 items) available on-line at: http://home.alltel.net/cweide/textfiles/sodatrad.TXT. Or send two stamps for hard copy to: C. A. Weide, 1590 Gately Rd., Jacksonville, FL 32225.

From Dexter Combs : FOR SALE collection of ACL and embossed bottles. Contact by E-mail for list.

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

From Matt Dempsey: WANTED: I love Lemmy and Squeeze ACL soda bottles and would like to purchase or find information about, or get photos of, rare versions of these two brands. Also wanted green glass Nehi ACLs. Contact by E-mail or Phone: 615-297-7732.

From M. Weissman : I am looking for a (12-ounce) Pepsi 1991 Georgia Southern I-AA National Football Champions, 1985, 1986, 1989 bottle. 

From Rick Humphreys : WANTED - Any FAN TAZ info or items. Looking for anything on dispensers, fobs, bottle openers, pumps, serving trays OR anything else. 

From Rob Epstein : WANTED - bottle of FLASH, manufactured /distributed by a small soft drink company that went out of business in New York in the late 1930s. The bottle is slim, dark green, with a lightning bolt emblem on the label. Contact: Rob Epstein PH: (301) 770-5060 or by E-mail. 

From Liss Michini : WANTED - straight-sided Coca-Cola bottles from: Atlantic City and Newark, N.J.; Kansas City and Clinton, Mo.; Albertville, Guntersville, Sheffield, Bessemer, Breweton, Dadeville, Demopolis, Frisco City, Gadsden, Jasper, Lineville, Nostasulga, Sylacauga, Tuskegee and West Blocton, Ala.; Amory, Belzoni, Biloxi, Houston, Leland, Clarksdale, Corinth, Sardis, Holly Springs or Tupelo, Miss. Also wanted to buy seltzer Coca-Cola bottle from any city in Miss. or Ala., except Montgomery, and any city in La. except Monroe.

From Aaron Kendrick : WANTED - 3 to 3 1/2-foot Frostie Root Beer round sign. I did find a 24-inch one, but it is far from the one I want. If anyone finds one, please let me know.

From Doug McCoy : WANTED - a 16-ounce Coca-Cola hobbleskirt from 1955 or 1956. Contact: Doug McCoy, 2851 Milford View, Marietta, GA 30008; Phone: (770) 435-9138 or by E-mail.

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 Mike Elling, Sharon, Tenn. : In an exciting last minute spurt of bidding a very near mint 1930 Chero-Cola family- sized bottle sold for $72.86 on eBay.  Classed in modern terms as a "quart", the bottle was marketed as "family sized" when issued, but is actually 24-ounce (four servings).  This item was noteworthy for two reasons: it is the most distant Chero-Cola bottling franchise from Columbus, Georgia, and issued a series of bottles both in the Chero and NEHI brands that appeal to collectors.  Only two other known bottlers issued family-sized Chero bottles: Baltimore, Maryland and Youngstown, Ohio. For the next days, you may continue seeing some nice pictures of this bottle under eBay Item Number 3259917544 (or if that link no longer works, you may see the photos >>here<<.

The Coca-Cola Company is planning to launch an internet music download site in January 2004. mycokemusic.com will provide 250,000 music tracks for download. A number of artists have pledged to provide exclusive tracks during the first 12 months of the service. (Log on to the site and enter your email address to be notified when the site goes "live.")

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

JANUARY 4  -  ELSECAR, ENGLAND
BBR Winter Bottle & Collectibles Show (Sun. 10 AM – 2 PM, early admission 8:30 AM) at the Elsecar Heritage Center Building 21, off M1 junction 36, Elsecar, England. INFO: ALAN BLAKEMAN, BBR, Elsecar Heritage Centre, Nr Barnsley, S74 8HJ, England, PH: 011 44 1226 745156.  

JANUARY 11  -  MUNCIE, INDIANA 
The Midwest Antique Fruit Jar & Bottle Club presents their famous Show & Sale (Sun. 9 AM - 3 PM) at the Horizon Convention Center, 401 S. High Street, Muncie, IN 47305. Hotel: Radisson Hotel Roberts, 420 S. High St. Muncie, IN 47305. Phone: 1-800-359-4827 or (765) 741-7777. INFO: NORM BARNETT, P.O. Box 38, Flat Rock, IN 47234; Phone: (812) 587-5560 or DICK COLE, Minnetrista, 1-800-428-5887. Website: www.fruitjar.org.
** FEDERATION MEMBER CLUB **

JANUARY 11  -  SOUTH ATTLEBORO, MASSACHUSETTS
Little Rhody Bottle Club’s Annual Show & Sale (Sun. 10 AM – 2 PM, early admission 9 AM) at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 304 Highland Ave. (I-95 exit 2B), South Attleboro, Massachusetts. INFO: ART PAWLOWSKI, P. O. Box 314, Hope, RI  02831-0314, PH: (401) 647-3585, E-mail: blobtops@aol.com, Website: http://www.littlerhodybottleclub.org/.  

The Great Get Together is the largest annual Coca-Cola Collectors gathering on the west coast. The next convention will be held at the Piccadilly Inn, University in Fresno, California from February 12-15, 2004. Events will include regular and silent auctions, swap meet, banquet, breakfast and room hopping. For registration, please contact Patti McKernan, 7581 N 6th Street, Fresno, CA 93720. The Piccadilly Inn, University is located at 4961 N. Cedar Avenue, Fresno, CA 93710. Phone number: 1-559-224-4200. 

The 13th annual Tex-Fest will be held at the Radisson Hotel in Richardson, Texas from Feb 12-14, 2004. Events will include welcome banquet, bingo, auction, swap meet and room hopping. For registration, please contact the Lone Star Chapter, PO Box 631097, Irving, TX 75063. The hotel is located on Central Expressway (I-75) at Campbell Road in Richardson, Texas. Phone number: 1-972-644-4000. For more information about the Tex-Fest, please contact: 1-972-475-7428.

The 21st annual Ohio Winterfest will be held at the Holiday Inn in Zanesville, Ohio from February 25-28, 2004. Events will include Longaberger tour, Coke Bingo, silent and regular auctions, scavenger hunt and room hopping. For registration, please contact Juanita Merritt, 1601 Shrine Road, Springfield, Ohio 45504. The Holiday Inn is located at I-70 at exit #160, 4645 East Pike, Zanesville, OH 45701. Phone number: 1-937-324-8586.

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

I hope everyone's holidays were the GREATEST!  I didn't add any significant items to my collection as a result of Santa, but did get some neat stuff under my tree. By far the neatest gift I received was the covers of my first year of Bottles & Extras matted in a custom frame. It was awesome and a very thoughtful way for two of my best friends in the world to commemorate a year of hard, and often frustrating, work. 

I have tons of notes to go through and organize into information in upcoming Fizz's, and look forward to sharing that information. Be patient with me as I do this, and also - most important - keep the information coming. Also, I have many questions - if anyone would like to give me a hand in answering them (for both the magazine and the e-zine), please drop me a line. I need all the help I can get. (Remember, I am only one person and receive no $$ compensation for the Fizz e-zine.)

Do remember the EXPO in Memphis in August. It will be here before we know it. I am excited about it and want you to be too! Do mail me if you are interested in participating in ANY way.

My request is: if any of you have information to share - even if it is only a few lines, or some short notes - photos - dated advertisements - ANYTHING - then please share it with all of us. You may have a few notes, someone else has a few more, and in the process, enough pieces could be combined to make a good tidbit of history on a brand, bottling plant, soda, etc., that we'd otherwise not have. After all - isn't that what the Fizz is all about?  Also, anyone who submits a story that is published in The Soda Fizz Magazine will receive a year's membership to the PSBCA.

Until next time, Happy Holidays and Happy Collecting!

Recently I received an e-mail regarding my info page on A&W Root Beer, with a question if there were still A&W Restaurants around. I had to reply that I did not know, as I'd never seen one. Then just last week, while driving through Sevierville, Tennessee, what did I pass but a brand-new, shiny A&W drive-in. The first thing that popped into my mind was that it was a shame I hadn't brought the camera, and made a mental note to try and remember never leave home without it. 

Below is the history of A&W as it appears on my brand information page of the SodaTraderZ website. Enjoy!

One hot day in June of 1919, in Lodi, California, an entrepreneur named Roy Allen mixed up a batch of creamy root beer and sold the first frosty mug of this delightful beverage for one nickel. Now, many years later, A&W Root Beer is still made fresh daily and sold at hundreds of A&W Restaurants in USA as well as other countries, with international headquarters in Malaysia.

Allen purchased the formula for his root beer from a pharmacist in Arizona. To this day, the unique blend of herbs, spices, barks and berries remains a proprietary secret. With the success of his first root beer stand in Lodi, Allen soon opened a second stand in nearby Sacramento. It was there that what is thought to be the country's first "drive-in" featuring "tray-boys" for curb side service, opened up.

In 1922, Allen took on a partner, Frank Wright, an employee from his original Lodi location. The two partners combined their initials - "A" for Allen and "W" for Wright and formally named the beverage, A&W Root Beer, Three units were opened in Sacramento, then on to other northern and central California locations and to the states of Texas and Utah.

In 1924, Allen bought Wright's share of the business to actively pursue a franchise sales program. He had the name, A&W Root Beer and the A&W logo legally trademarked with the U.S. Patent and Trademark office.

By 1933, the creamy beverage was such a success that Allen had over 170 franchised outlets operating in the mid-west and west. To ensure uniform quality for the namesake beverage, Allen sold A&W Root Beer concentrate exclusively to each franchise operator. His profits were derived from the sale of the concentrate and a nominal license fee.

During World War II no new restaurants were opened and despite governmental sugar rationing  and employee shortages (both results of the war) most A&W units remained successful. After the war the number of A&W restaurants tripled as GI loans paved the way for private enterprise to flourish.

In 1950, with over 450 A&W's operating nationwide, founder Roy Allen retired and sold the business to an aggressive Nebraskan named Gene Hurtz who formed the A&W Root Beer Company. The post war era - the rapidly recovering economy and popularity of the automobile, provided the right environment for Hurtz's company to prosper. Drive-in's were becoming increasingly popular and A&W had the privilege of being one of the few nationally established drive-in restaurant chains. By 1960 the number of A&W's had swelled to over 2000.

The first A&W restaurants outside of the U.S. opened in 1956 in Winnepeg, Manitoba, Canada. The Canadian division eventually became a wholly owned subsidiary of A&W and in 1972, was sold to Lever Brothers, LTD., an international conglomerate.

In 1963, the A&W Root Beer Company was sold to the J. Hungerford Smith Company, the firm which had manufactured A&W Root Beer concentrate since 1921. In 1982, A. Alfred Taubman, a developer of shopping centers and real estate, purchased A&W Restaurants, Inc. Then in December of 1994, Sagittarius Acquisitions, Incorporated, headed by Sidney Feltenstein purchased A&W Restaurants, Inc., from the Taubman interests.

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