BJ Summer's Guide to Coca-Cola, Fifth Edition, 2005

This is a book on Coca Cola collectibles. It also has some information on Coca Cola itself, noting that the early Coca Cola had 1/10 of a grain of cocaine in it, and contained three to four times as much caffeine as does the present formula.

There's a tremendous variety of collectibles. Included in the book are signs (there's a whole set of trading card about signs), discs, festoons, calendars (the earliest ones have beautiful artwork); trays, paper goods, fans, blotters, postcards, ads, manuals, price guides, bottles, cans, china, art plates, mirrors, thermometers, carriers, coolers, no-drip protectors, vending machines, radios, clocks, openers, knives, ice picks, ashtrays, lighters, matches, coasters, menu boards, door pushes, trucks, toys, banks, games, jewelry, clothing, wallets, Santas, the Sprite Boy (a sort of scary looking character in my opinion). dispensers, and miscellaneous.

By far the vast majority of objects are from the 1880's through around 1960 or so, with a very few after that.

One of the things that is noticeable in all these collectible advertising materials is the almost-near absence of Orientals and Blacks.

One thing that I wish the author had done was to put the objects by years, rather than having them all mixed up; that way it helps the reader see the evolution of the Coca Cola advertising over the decades.

Still, it's a very good book and can be quite astonishing when you consider the tremendous variety of things produced to advertise the product. If you decided to collect Coca Cola memorabilia, you'll have to decide if you want a little of all the types of things, or if you want to concentrate on just certain types of things. For example, I've gotten a lot of the Coca Cola trading cards, but I also have a couple of the trays and two of the signs.

Back to main index page