Coca Cola Collectors Club
Mine is Coke.
When my sister was in college she interned at the Coca-Cola Bottling Company in Atlanta for a family friend who was a bigwig there. The friend had climbed her way to the top of the corporate ladder with just a high school diploma.
Back in 1987 at the friend’s funeral it was standing room only with many Coke employees in attendance crying.
The Lone Star Chapter of the Coca-Cola Collectors Club in Irving, TX holds an annual Tex-Fest swap meet every year.
“For 34 of my 40 years of life I believe I have been addicted to Coca-Cola beverage products,” said Michael, a doctor. “I’m old enough and educated enough to know it’s addictive but at 5-20 years of age this was not common knowledge and I developed my addiction.”
The National Coca-Cola Collectors Club Convention is the largest of its kind.
Bill Combs, president of the Club, has been collecting memorabilia since 1985.
“With any collector your favorite piece is always the last piece you’ve got because you’ve just been chasing it and you’re excited about it,” said Combs. “New collectors should study their memorabilia and read as much as you can.”
At the Lone Star Chapter’s swap meet there is always a welcome reception and banquet and people buy, sell, and trade memorabilia related to the beverage company. There is also something called room hopping at the event and an auction.
Although they have members in other states and countries, the body of the membership resides in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex.
Meetings are held the third Saturday of January, March, May, July, September, and November from 7-10 p.m. Meetings are open to the public and guests are always welcome. Dress is casual and the parking is free.
The collectors who are members of the organization say it is the best hobby in the world.
If you look into a collector’s picks you can see everything from Coca-Cola Barbie collections to one-dimensional Santa figures holding a Coke.
The organization is always looking for more photos to post on their website, lonestarchapter.com.
There are miniature Coke bottles full of Coke like the ones that used to cost ten cents. I remember when I lived upstairs from a hardware store the owner used to let me buy Cokes out of his antique Coke machine for a dime and I would savor the smooth flavor.
It always tastes different out of the bottle.
Then, of course there’s the familiar Coke Polar Bear that always shows up on t.v. commercials around Christmas with some cute animation involving a baby bear.
People have been enjoying Coke for more than 115 years and although it was first created in the U.S. it became popular wherever it went.
Coke brings refreshment to people in over 200 countries.
