For Sale:  I buy, sell and trade soda bottle crown caps.  E-mail me for a list of caps that I have available.

For Sale:  2004 Coca-Cola Graduation Bottles.  $9.00 single, $12.00/pair postpaid in the USA.  Selected seam lines do not cross mortarboard; shipped full and capped. Contact: Mike Elling, 4042 Sidonia Rd., Sharon, TN  38255; Ph: (731) 973-4995; or E-mail.

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

From Marc Melton, Uncle Earl's Elixirs: I am trying to locate an antique 16-ounce soda pop bottle mold from the 30s or 40s to bottle my organic elixirs.  Any ideas on how I might acquire one? Ph: (760) 815-9500 or E-mail.

From Ron Raney, Chicago, Ill.: I am looking for a NuGrape shirt. Any help?  E-mail me.

From me: I am looking for ANY soda-related book for The Soda Fizz reference library. Specifically, old National Carbonator and such magazines - and  - More Pop! by Alan Schmeiser, Michalan Press, Dixon, California, 1970. Please E-mail me with any titles you have that you think I may be interested in obtaining, or call (423) 737-6710. 

From me - WANTED: Regional listings of bottles.  If you collect bottles from your region only, such as your state or county - I want your list.  The purpose: create an online database listing of bottles by region/area for new collectors to use as a reference to beginning collecting or a check-off list for experienced collectors. Photos of rare or good examples also welcome. Please contact me with what you have - in all bottle categories (all sodas, milks, apothecary, beer, whiskey, etc.). Kathy Hopson, 1966 King Springs Rd., Johnson City, TN 37601; Ph: (423) 737-6710, 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

Diet Sprite Zero will replace Diet Sprite throughout the United States. The relaunched product in 20-ounce PET bottles will feature a metallic label featuring Sprite's green and blue colors with yellow accents. 2-liter bottles, aluminum cans and multi-can wraps will also feature the new graphics. The Coca-Cola Company explains that the addition of the name "zero" is an innovative way to communicate the brand's zero-sugar, zero-carb and zero-caffeine attributes.

Quiznos Sub sandwich chain announced that it signed an agreement to serve Pepsi products beginning February 2005 in its US restaurants, effectively ending a 23-year relationship with the Coca-Cola Company. Quiznos is the third largest US sandwich chain with 3200 locations in the United States and Puerto Rico. The change in partnership was due in part that late last year Coca-Cola had signed an agreement with Quizno's rival Subway Restaurants to serve Coca-Cola products beginning 2005 in Subway's 20,000 outlets worldwide.

The Coca-Cola Company announced the relaunch of FamilyDiner.com, a website providing information for families to make their restaurant experience more enjoyable. The Family Diner initiative launched in 2003 was supported by the National Restaurant Association and its partners. In addition to providing families with smart eating tips and searching for kid-friendly environments, the website also has tools and materials for restaurant operators to make their establishments more family-friendly.

On September 2nd, the world lost Billy Davis, the man who taught us to sing, and his memory and accomplishments in advertising were celebrated in New York City at the kick-off of Advertising Week, a yearly celebration of the best of Madison Avenue. Davis was the co-writer of such timeless classic Coca-Cola ads as "I'd Like to Buy The World A Coke", "Have A Coke And A Smile", "Things Go Better With Coca-Cola", and "Coke Is It" along with colleague Bill Backer. Davis applied his extensive Motown background with an innovative flare, creating outstanding music for some of advertising's most endearing commercials. He died of a long-time illness at his home in New Rochelle, N.Y. He was 72.

And they're off! Magna Entertainment Corp., the number one owner and operator of horse racetracks in North America based on revenue, and Pepsi- Cola North America, a unit of PepsiCo Inc. have announced that they have signed a multi-year sponsorship agreement to exclusively pour Pepsi-Cola products at thirteen MEC horse racetracks in North America, including Pimlico Race Course in Maryland, Gulfstream Park in Florida and Santa Anita Park in Southern California. Pepsi-Cola North America will be known as the "Official Soft-Drink Supplier" at MEC racetracks and will be granted rights to utilize all MEC trademarks, including the specialty race logos created for races such as the Sunshine Millions, the Preakness and the Santa Anita Derby, as well as individual use of the MEC racetrack trademarks for all associated Pepsi- Cola brands. Most tracks will begin converting to Pepsi brands immediately and Pepsi-Cola promotions featuring MEC properties will hit the marketplace starting this winter.

Pepsi-Cola North America will launch two new soft drinks this year for brief, "in-and-out" plays. The first, Mountain Dew Pitch Black (with a blast of black grape), launched in late August and will stay on store shelves through Halloween. Then, just in time for the holidays, Pepsi Holiday Spice (with ginger and cinnamon) will hit stores November 1 for an eight-week appearance through the end of the year.

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

OCTOBER 2  -  RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
The Richmond Area Bottle Collectors 33rd Annual Show and Sale (Sat. 9 AM - 3 PM, early buyers, 7:30 AM) at the Showplace Annex, 2003 Mechanicsville Turnpike, Richmond, Virginia.  INFO: ED FAULKNER, 4718 Kyloe Ln., Moseley, VA 23120; PH: (804) 739-2951; E-mail: faulkner@antiquebottles.com or MARVIN CROKER, PH: (804) 275-1101; E-mail: marvincroker@comcast.net.

OCTOBER 2 - PT. PLEASANT, WEST VIRGINIA
West Virginia's 9^th Bottle Show (Sat. 10 AM - 4 PM) at the West Virginia State Farm Museum, Rt. 1, Point Pleasant, WV 25550 (Rt. 62 North of Pt. Pleasant, Fairgrounds Road to the Museum).  INFO: CHARLIE PERRY, 39304 Bradbury Rd., Middleport, OH 45760; PH: (740) 992-5088 or (740) 992-3730; E-mail: perrycola@eurekanet.com. 

OCTOBER 2  -  BUFFALO, NEW YORK
Greater Buffalo Bottle Club’s Annual Show & Sale (Sat. 9 AM – 3 PM) at the Erie County Fairgrounds Health Expo Building, South Park Ave., Hamburg, New York. INFO: PETER JABLONSKI, PH: (716) 440-7985, E-mail: Psjablon102@cs.com or ED POTTER, PH: (716) 674-8890.  

OCTOBER 3  -  DRYDEN, NEW YORK
The Finger Lakes Bottle Collectors Association's 35^th Annual Show & Sale (Sun. 9 AM - 3 PM, early buyers, 8 AM) at the Dryden Fire Hall - Neptune Hose Co., Route 13, Dryden, New York.  INFO: GEORGE BLAASCH, PH: (607) 589-6436, E-mail: GBlasssch@aol.com. 

OCTOBER 8-9   -  SANTA ROSA, CALIFORNIA 
Northwestern Bottle Collectors Association’s 38^th Annual Show & Sale (Sat. 9 AM – 3 PM, early admission Fri. 2 PM – 7 PM) at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds, Finley Hall, Santa Rosa, California. INFO: BEV SIRI, PH: (707) 542-6438 or N. B. C. A., P. O. Box 1121, Santa Rosa, CA  95402.  

OCTOBER 9  -  BROKEN ARROW, OKLAHOMA 
The Tulsa Antiques & Bottle Club's 28^th Annual Show & Sale (Sat. 9 AM - 4 PM) at the Broken Arrow Community Center, 1500 S. Main St., Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. INFO: RICHARD CARR, 4 Gawf Place, Muskogee, OK 74403; PH: (918) 687-4150.

OCTOBER 10  -  BEDFORD, PENNSYLVANIA  
Bedford County Antique Bottle Club’s 27^th Annual Show & Sale (Sun. 9 AM – 1 PM, early admission 7 AM) at the Bedford County Fairgrounds 4-H Building, Bedford, Pennsylvania. INFO: LEO McKENZIE, PH: (814) 623-8019 or CHARLES HAZLETT, PH: (814) 695-0128.

OCTOBER 10  -  KEENE, NEW HAMPSHIRE 
Yankee Bottle Club’s 37^th Annual Show & Sale (Sun. 9 AM – 3 PM, early admission 8 AM) at Keene High School, Arch St., Keene, New Hampshire. INFO: CREIGHTON G. HALL, 382 Court St., Keene, NH  03431; PH: (603) 352-2959.

OCTOBER 15-16  -  MORRISTOWN, TENNESSEE 
The Tennessee Valley Traders & Collectors Annual Show (Fri. 10 AM - 6 PM, free admission; Early Admission Sat. 8 AM - 3 PM, $10; Dealer set-up, Fri. 9 AM; First table, $25, each additional $20) at the Tally Ward Recreation Auditorium, Morristown, Tennessee. INFO: BILL HENDERSON, PH: (423) 581-8386; E-mail: showprobill@charter.net. 

OCTOBER 16  -  ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA
Pennsylvania Antique Bottle, Breweriana & Advertising 4^th Annual Show & Sale (Sat. 9:30 AM – 2:30 PM, early admission 8 AM) at the Merchants Square Antique Mall, 12^th & Vultee St., Allentown, Pennsylvania. INFO: MARK ZEPPENFELT, 4881 Cypress St., Wescosville, PA  18106; PH: (610) 391-0871, E-mail: uuubuy@rcn.com.

OCTOBER 17  -  FINDLAY, OHIO
Findlay Antique Bottle Club’s 28^th Annual Show & Sale (Sun. 9 AM – 3 PM) at The Old Barn, Route 224 (1 mile west of I-75 exit 159), Findlay, Ohio. INFO: FRED CURTIS, 1635 Washington Ave., Findlay, OH  45840; PH: (419) 424-0486.

OCTOBER 17   -  SCRIBA, NEW YORK  
Empire State Bottle Collectors Association’s 6^th Annual Fall Show & Sale (Sun. 9 AM – 3 PM) at the Scriba Fire Hall, U. S. Rt. 104 East, Scriba, New York. INFO: BARRY L. HAYNES, P. O. Box 900, Mexico, NY  13114, PH: (315) 963-0922 or (315) 963-3749.

OCTOBER 21 - 22  -  SAVANNAH, GEORGIA
The 7^th Annual Savannah Antique Bottle & Collectibles Show & Sale (Sat. 9 AM – 3 PM, early admission Fri. 4 PM – 7 PM & Sat. 8 AM – 9 AM) at the National Guard Armory, Eisenhower Dr., Savannah, Georgia. INFO: DAVID POWELL, 2617 Salcedo Ave., Savannah, GA  31406; PH: (912) 354-3576 or RUSS BUTLER, PH: (850) 627-4909; E-mail: oldglass99@yahoo.com.

OCTOBER 23  -  CANYONVILLE, OREGON  
The Jefferson State Insulator Club and Siskiyou Antique Bottle Collectors Association's Insulator and Bottle Show (Sat. 9 AM - 5 PM, free admission; dealer set-up and early buyers, Fri. 3 PM - 7 PM, Sat. 7 AM - 9 AM, $10.00)  at the Seven Feathers Resort (800-548-8461), 146 Chief Miwaleta Lane, Canyonville, Oregon. INFO: BRUCE SILVA, P.O. Box 1565, Jacksonville, OR 97530; PH: (541) 899-8411; E-mail: jsglass@intergate.com or SCOTT MORRELL, 5508 Pioneer Road, Medford, OR 97501; PH: (541) 608-1043; E-mail: barbatum@medford.net; Website: http://www.insulators.com/clubs/jsic/show/ 

OCTOBER 31  -  GLENDALE HEIGHTS, ILLINOIS
The 1^st Chicago Bottle Club's 35^th Annual Bottle, Jar, Pottery, Advertising & Collectible Show (Sun. 9 AM - 2 PM) at the Ramada Inn Convention Center, 780 E. North Ave. (1/2 mile west of I 355), Glendale Heights, Illinois.  INFO: JOHN PANEK, P.O. Box 287, Deerfield, IL 60015; PH: (847) 945-5493; E-mail: paperbottl@aol.com. 

NOVEMBER 4-6  -  BRANSON, MISSOURI
The Arkansas & Oklahoma Green Country Chapters of the Coca- Cola Collectors Club present the "Fall Fever in the Ozarks" Coca-Cola show at the Settle Inn & Resort, 3050 Green Mountain Dr, Branson, MO. The swap meet will be open to the public on Sat., Nov. 6th, from 10 AM -2:30 PM. For more information, contact KEN COTTRELL, E-mail: beartul@earthlink.net or Ph: (918) 357-3067.

I now maintain a full 'events calendar' that you can check out for future shows.
Any new events  in your area? E-mail it so all of us can know, to: Upcoming Events

I just finished the September/October issue of The Soda Fizz Magazine - which should be mailed today or tomorrow. Thanks to former publisher, Rick Sweeney, we had covers for this one.  Rick was super and sent me a supply - until I can get things rolling here to get my own printed up.  I do have a small supply of the July/August magazine left over - if anyone would like to see a sample, sans glossy cover, let me know.

Many of you have emailed me asking where has the Fizz gone...and my answer is this: After having moved to St. Paul, Minnesota in mid-June, spending weeks I did not expect to on the Expo's souvenir program before the show in mid-August, flying to Tennessee for three weeks to prepare for and attend the show and then returning to do the mid-August B&E Newsletter and begin the Fall issue of Bottles and Extras, I packed everything back up - lock, stock and barrel, and moved AGAIN at the end of August for Hot Springs, Arkansas. *whew!*  Then, after waiting for things to be unpacked and utilities to be turned on, etc., I was about two weeks later than I wanted to be on the Fall B&E, which put me WAY behind on the current issue of The Soda Fizz magazine - which I just finished last week  - and our Fizz-ine was a casualty of all this running around.  I apologize - but will say I hope I never have this much "excitement" again in my life and hope that this time, actually, things will return to a normal pace.

The EXPO was wonderful and I enjoyed every moment - however exhausted I was to keep me from doing everything I wanted to do.  I had wanted more than anything to see the duck parade at the Peabody, and although a shameful few blocks I was from it - I never made it.  *sigh*  As those of you who receive it will see in the printed Fizz, I got to meet Alan Blakeman (British Bottle Review, Yorkshire, England) and David Van Loon, who sent me my elephant bottle from England, also from Yorkshire.  I also got to meet Mike Elling in person for the first time, although with the whirlwind of things going on, I didn't get to spend much time with him.  Everyone was surprised that at an "antique bottle Expo," the display that won the "People's Choice" award went to Jimmie Wood, of Denver, N.C., for his display of North and South Carolina ACL bottles.  I had a blast!   Now, from what I understand, the next big show for ACLs is the show in Broken Arrow, Okla. [Oct. 9th], by the Tulsa Bottle Club - and there will be an ACL meeting prior to the Saturday show on Friday night.  Contact me if interested in attending for the details.  It has been arranged by Milford and Sue Anglin.  I hope to try and be there for the meeting, but if I can't manage it, I hope to definitely be there for the show. AND please note the "last note" below regarding placing my Soda Fizz brochures at an upcoming show. I need new subscribers! Help me get the word out!

LAST NOTE: If anyone has an upcoming show - or plans to attend one - and would like to place PSBCA (and/or FOHBC) brochures on your table or at the information table of the show, DO let me know and I would be happy to send you a supply for that. Matter of fact, I have printed up an ample supple of them for this reason.  Also, if you have a booth in an antique shop or mall, etc., I would send brochures for you to place there as well.  All help is greatly appreciated.  (It is my goal to increase the PSBCA membership significantly this year, 2004.)

Until next time, Happy Collecting!

From RaGene Ratzlaff: At a recent flea market I found a brown Hires bottle that I had never seen before. It is about 8 inches tall and 2 1/4 inches in diameter. I would guess it is about 7-ounce in capacity. The bottom 1 1/4 inches are ribbed all around the bottle, except for the lettering: "Hires - Registered All Rights Reserved. The bottom has embossed: "Pat. app'd for." Could you give me any history on this bottle? Thanks! RaGene

Hi RaGene,
The bottom, as you describe it, sounds like one similar to what I have. It is pictured here:
https://www.angelfire.com/tn/traderz/hires.html 

As far as I know, these were bottles used by Hires for different flavors, such as the many flavor bottles used by Coca-Cola and Pepsi. I do not think they contained Hire's Root Beer, but currently have no proof either way. 

During the early part of the century especially (teens, twenties into the thirties), many bottlers experimented with flavors - as an economical way to produce a popular soft drink where they could obtain (or make themselves) the flavor's syrup without expensive franchise agreements, putting more cents into their own pockets. They often used bottles of this type to contain the flavors, the cap and/or paper label identifying the flavor inside the bottle. The bottle would be embossed with the name to identify the company's bottles when being picked back up for refilling. I have three or four different ones for Hires - two of which are pictured on the webpage (plus several for Dr. Pepper, many for Coca-Cola and Pepsi, several for Orange Crush, etc.) These bottles, in my opinion, are collectible for their connection to the major company brand they were bottled by - even though they many never had held the brand itself inside it.

Value? It varies. The amber Hire's bottle on my webpage with the others was acquired for $30 many years ago, which I thought was a good price for it. I've only seen 2-3 since, and picked all of them up, sharing one with a fellow bottle club member who had wanted one, for the same price I paid for it. But, I live in the east coast area - and from what I understand from a collector friend in California, those same amber bottles are considered "common" there and are easily picked up for $10. I'd buy them all day long for $10  - because I haven't seen any more of them there in some time. 

But area does make a difference. In east Tennessee's area, to include upper N.C, Virginia, etc., when you go into an antique shop or mall, there will be an ample supply of soda bottles to browse through for one you don't have. But travel to South Carolina or Georgia, etc., and you won't find anything that even remotely looks like a soda bottle - for any price - believe me, I've looked. (Stop in a restaurant in either state and ask where the closest antique shop or mall is - for soda bottles, and the waitress will look at you like you just flew in from Mars and forgot to take off your space suit.) Antique furniture galore - perhaps, but no sodas (which especially surprised me about Georgia, where so many different sodas were made.) 

Then, on the flip side, my friend Sherry went with her fiancé to Missouri to visit his family, and as usual, she always checks out the antique shops for me and with her cell phone in hand, gives me an item-by-item list of what she finds. What I noticed immediately is that what she was finding was selling in the shops for about half of what I could obtain it for at the best possible price in my area. I had her pick up about everything she had enough funds on hand to get - even if I already had it, because of the price she could get it for, it will give me something to trade someday. (And she makes good finds for me also in her home state of Texas, too.)

Another example on areas vs. value is the book on embossed bottles ("Deco Bottles" as he calls them) by Brian Wade. Brian is in the New York area. Because his book is the only one I know of for embossed soda bottles, I got it from him 'hot off the press' last year at the FOHBC National Show in Louisville. I didn't get much of a chance to look at it until I got back to the motel that night - and was surprised - or rather, shocked - at some of the values he had given the bottles in his book. Some seemed fair, give-or-take, but others were way lower than I expected to see! A trip back to his table the next day clearly showed me that I was correct in my initial response. Apparently soda bottles go for less where he is from, and that is how he had priced the bottles he'd brought to sell at the show - but he was in my "area" - where bottles go for more than what he was asking. There was a crowd at his table and his bottles were selling almost faster than he could set them up on the table and before the show ended, he returned home with lots of empty boxes. So, having never been to N.Y. to any antique shops, etc., there - and using this example as my "measuring point" - soda bottles must not value as high in his area as they do mine.

Final point: browsing shows for vendors outside of my area. I have noticed that some vendors from some areas have their bottles priced on the high end, and people look, but pass them by. Others, like Brian at Louisville, have theirs lower than what would be "average" in that area for them, and therefore sell extremely well for the show. Some vendors have used a price guide to give value to their bottles, without regard to actual trends for that area, bottle or brand, and can fall into either end of the spectrum - selling like hotcakes or also getting passed by. 

Soda bottles do not seem to be like the antique bottles of the 1800s and before, which have pretty well set their values years ago - they are still evolving. Dealing with both types of collectors (antique bottles and sodas), I hear the antique bottle collectors say, "I don't collect those, they are too new," when I offer them The Soda Fizz Magazine to look at when at a show. And on the same page, soda bottle collectors are least bothered why one fruit jar is priced $3 and one next to it is $3000 - although an antique fruit jar collector can give you extreme details on why. Sometimes rarity, and value, are less obvious with our soda bottles, even to those who collect them.

One further word on price guides: use them as a 'guide' only. It has been brought up many times (even in our PSBCA meeting in Memphis at the Expo in August) that they become "dated" over time, which is very true. I don't even pick them up any more. What I use the ones I have for is to give an indication of what is "common" (valued low) and what may be mid-range to hard-to-find, or even down-right rare. Or, if an item is listed in the book for $200 and I find one in a shop for less, then I know I probably am not giving too much for it - or if an item is listed for lower than the asking price, the book gives me something to bargain from. And sometimes I use them for the photos in identifying/dating a piece of advertising, or perhaps date an item (many bottles are shown in dated advertisements). Otherwise, realistically, the values given to each item is useless after the book is even just one year old.

This is probably more answer than you ever thought to get. Perhaps someone else knows more about these Hires bottles than I do, in regards to history and usage, etc. - but I sure used a lot of words to try and give my thoughts on it.

Any additional info is welcome.

Kathy

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