Collectors of Coca-Cola memorabilia have more than a thirst for items emblazoned in the iconic red-and-white script.
It's an obsession.
"We search estate sales and yard sales looking for items. We try to keep tabs on where sales are in the area. Sometimes a member just gets a call from someone
who tells them 'I know someone ...,'" describes George Gilghrist, president of the Choo Choo chapter of the Coca-Cola Collectors Club.
Gilghrist's own collection started 20 years ago with a bottle he discovered at a flea market. Now he has a specially designated Coca-Cola Room in his house
filled with 1,800 bottles as well as trays, signs and more.
Seventy-five Coca-Cola collectors from four Southeastern states are gathered at the Chattanooga Choo Choo this weekend for their biennial show-and-tell, the
Choo Choo Connection, hosted by the local chapter's members. Chattanooga's history as hometown of the world's first Coca-Cola bottling company makes this
event particularly attractive to collectors hoping to add new finds.
On Saturday morning, the collectors will open the doors of their swap meet to the public. Visitors may bring two items for appraisal and check out the large array of members' collectibles.
"We get a combination of people who just want to know the value of their items, others are wanting to sell," says Gilghrist. "We've found some nice
pieces people are willing to part with, and we've disappointed some others."
The Coke aficionado says the general public seems to believe "if it says 'Coca-Cola,' it's worth a lot of money." Then they are disappointed to learn their collectible is reproduction."
Contact Susan Pierce at [email protected] or 423-757-6284.
Source: www.timesfreepress.com
If You Go
What: Coca-Cola Memorabilia Swap Meet and Appraisal.
When: 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday.
Where: Chattanooga Choo Choo, Roosevelt Room, 1400 Market St.
Admission: Free.
Guide-lines: No more than two items may be brought for
appraisal by members of the Coca-Cola Collectors Club.
Linda Prabish
Occupation: Retired professional photographer
Began collecting: 1980
What hooked her: "My favorite color is red. My first piece
was Coke desk accessories for my office. I've always tried to collect items I can actually use."
Size of collection: About 1,000 pieces displayed in three
rooms of her house: a Coca-Cola-decorated kitchen, a functional ice cream parlor downstairs in her home and a 7-1/2-foot-tall, Coca-Cola-themed Christmas tree
she leaves up year-round. "My husband said if we ever moved and had to take all the trays off the downstairs walls, the room would whistle."
Most unusual piece: A Coke slot machine that is operational and uses tokens, not coins.
Most prized: A 1970 Coke vending machine. "When we opened it up, we found it had been in LaFayette High School. It is a nickel machine and is operational. We keep it stocked with Cherry Coke, Diet Coke and Dr Pepper."
George Gilghrist
Occupation: Retired from Ford Motor Co., Research and
Engineering Center, Dearborn, Mich. He and wife, Linda, are co-chairing the Choo Choo Connection with Labron and Helen Meadows.
Began collecting: 1993
What hooked him: Found an old, embossed, Coca-Cola bottle at a flea market that had been manufactured in the city where he was born, Wyandotte, Mich. It was the first in a bottle collection that has grown to 1,800
bottles representing 900 cities.
Size of collection: More than 2,000 pieces including signs, trays, variety of collectibles, all displayed in "The Coca-Cola Room" in his home.
Most unusual piece: Fishtail signs made in the 1950s and
'60s. "They are called that because they have a red background and the end is cut something like the tail of a fish."
Most prized: "The first nice piece of Coca-Cola I purchased: a flange sign that is double-sided. It's a fishtail sign that says 'Drink Coca-Cola' in the middle of the fishtail. It's the first real sign I purchased attending my first national convention."
Labron Meadows
Occupation: Retired from Alstom Power
Began collecting: 1991
What hooked him: "My stepfather started collecting bottles and my interest grew from his. I started out collecting commemorative bottles and I have 1,500 of them."
Size of collection: About 2,500 items, including a Coke
vending machine made locally at the former Cavalier plant on Central Avenue, which Meadows restored and made operational over six months.
Most unusual piece: A 1930s metal match pull, which he
purchased for $500 from a woman in Scottsboro, Ala. "Back then, matches were laid upside down in these metal boxes, so that when you pulled out a match, it
would strike."
Most prized: A Ty Cobb 2 commemorative bottle, custom made for a Georgia Masonic Lodge, which he bought for $800. The bottle is the second of three Cobb bottles that were produced by Coca-Cola.
What: Coca-Cola Memorabilia Swap Meet and Appraisal.
When: 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday.
Where: Chattanooga Choo Choo, Roosevelt Room, 1400 Market St.
Admission: Free.
Guide-lines: No more than two items may be brought for
appraisal by members of the Coca-Cola Collectors Club.
Linda Prabish
Occupation: Retired professional photographer
Began collecting: 1980
What hooked her: "My favorite color is red. My first piece
was Coke desk accessories for my office. I've always tried to collect items I can actually use."
Size of collection: About 1,000 pieces displayed in three
rooms of her house: a Coca-Cola-decorated kitchen, a functional ice cream parlor downstairs in her home and a 7-1/2-foot-tall, Coca-Cola-themed Christmas tree
she leaves up year-round. "My husband said if we ever moved and had to take all the trays off the downstairs walls, the room would whistle."
Most unusual piece: A Coke slot machine that is operational and uses tokens, not coins.
Most prized: A 1970 Coke vending machine. "When we opened it up, we found it had been in LaFayette High School. It is a nickel machine and is operational. We keep it stocked with Cherry Coke, Diet Coke and Dr Pepper."
George Gilghrist
Occupation: Retired from Ford Motor Co., Research and
Engineering Center, Dearborn, Mich. He and wife, Linda, are co-chairing the Choo Choo Connection with Labron and Helen Meadows.
Began collecting: 1993
What hooked him: Found an old, embossed, Coca-Cola bottle at a flea market that had been manufactured in the city where he was born, Wyandotte, Mich. It was the first in a bottle collection that has grown to 1,800
bottles representing 900 cities.
Size of collection: More than 2,000 pieces including signs, trays, variety of collectibles, all displayed in "The Coca-Cola Room" in his home.
Most unusual piece: Fishtail signs made in the 1950s and
'60s. "They are called that because they have a red background and the end is cut something like the tail of a fish."
Most prized: "The first nice piece of Coca-Cola I purchased: a flange sign that is double-sided. It's a fishtail sign that says 'Drink Coca-Cola' in the middle of the fishtail. It's the first real sign I purchased attending my first national convention."
Labron Meadows
Occupation: Retired from Alstom Power
Began collecting: 1991
What hooked him: "My stepfather started collecting bottles and my interest grew from his. I started out collecting commemorative bottles and I have 1,500 of them."
Size of collection: About 2,500 items, including a Coke
vending machine made locally at the former Cavalier plant on Central Avenue, which Meadows restored and made operational over six months.
Most unusual piece: A 1930s metal match pull, which he
purchased for $500 from a woman in Scottsboro, Ala. "Back then, matches were laid upside down in these metal boxes, so that when you pulled out a match, it
would strike."
Most prized: A Ty Cobb 2 commemorative bottle, custom made for a Georgia Masonic Lodge, which he bought for $800. The bottle is the second of three Cobb bottles that were produced by Coca-Cola.