How about a coke?

[jaystuw]

Actually, It was How about a coke Jay!!!? Thats what my mom would ask (yell) at me as a kid. My mom was a coca-cola person, not pepsi, aways coke. Back then (I'm really dating myself here) We had 6-packs of green 7.5 oz. hobble-skirted, glass bottles. And (dating myself even further), the bottle caps had cork inside that I would pick out and chew,Yuck! Anyway, she would stick the bottles in the freezer for just the exact right amount of time to get them lightly frosted with ice on the outside and about a inch of ice slush on the inside. And serve them up that way to us hot, sweatly brats. We always drank straight out of the bottle, For me, Those first few sips were straight from heaven!


Ok, that was a little long winded, I just lost myself in the moment. I should post this, But now I'm wound up on Old soft drink stuff. At my grandparents house, they always had bubble-up in dark green
swirl pattern bottles and once in a while Dr.Pepper (a rare treat), I remember the clock pattern on the bottle but I swear I can't remember the color of the bottle, maybe a very light gray?

Anyone (you old guys) ever use one of those soft drink machines for bottles? I remember an upright type with a long narrow window/door that you would open and pull (or more drag) the bottle from a tall row. Or the other type that layed horizontal, on that one I think the bottles sat up right in ice water, once released you slide them on a rail, (help me out here guys, its been a really long time!) and then up and out. I seem to remember these machines being at places like gas stations and campground stores. Did either type last beyond the 1970's?

I still want to talk about soft-drink collector stuff, But I will be typing all night, Thanks for reading the memories! Jay

[starmac]

I know where there is still an old upright one in use, it takes 50 cents to get an 8 oz bottle out of it. When I was in high school they were a quarter, seems like I remember getting cokes out of them for a dime.

[6bg6ga]

Jay,

I also remember those green small bottles with the cork in the cap. Coke has always been my soft drink of choice. Coke seemed to taste better back then or maybe it was the fact that I was younger and a Coke was a treat. Todays Coke in the can or plastic bottle doesn't have the taste in my opinion that Coke in a glass bottle has. I believe its called progress. Maybe one of the best things was the price. I can remember .10 ea and I'm thinking it was .05 for a while.

Recently got rid of my combo Coke machine to a neighbor. It was capable of holding two rows of glass bottles and the rest cans or a total load of cans.

Yes, I remember those machines with the small door you opened on the side and you had a row of different pops and you simply pulled out the bottle of choice. I also remember those Coke machines with the paddle that was about in the middle of the machine. The vertical lift machines where you moved the bottle down the row to the area with the spring loaded door and simply pulled straight up.

[gmsharps]

I remember a .05 Coke machine and shortly after they all went to .10. It seems they stayed .10 til the early 70's then to .25 when there was supposedly a sugar shortage and the price never went back down.

gmsharps

[6bg6ga]

I'm thinking it was .05 in the 50's. Correct my memory if I am wrong.

[PbHurler]

If you're ever in Oklahoma, make a side trip to Pops in Arcadia. They have an unsurpassed selection of "pop", if you've drank it; they probably have it.

Scroll through their offerings here:

http://www.pops66.com/40.0.html

[gmsharps]

I saw a couple of machines in the mid 60's that still had the .05 cokes.

gmsharps

[Pb2au]

My father in law has one of the upright machines, in full working order, in his garage. It is not filled with Coke......

[Col4570]

I was working in the USA in 1974 and they certainly had those machines then,also Cambells soup machines that heated the contents.

[Ramar]

The up right machines with bottles in rows were my favorite on Sundays after baseball practice. The gas station in town was closed and 3 straws taped together and a "church key" meant free sodas. I hid my straw behind the machine for safe keeping until the next week.
Ramar

[Charlie Two Tracks]

Coke or Pepsi. I've also gotten my pop out of a machine that was filled with water and the tall machines with rows of different pop. The thing I really miss is an ice cold bottle of Pepsi and a bag of Planters Peanuts. Drink enough pop to make room for the peanuts and then dump the peanuts into the pop. Wow was that good. It isn't the same out of a can.

[captaint]

When I was a kid the park pavilion had an old "pull out the 6 oz bottle" kind. One thin silver dime and off we go. Maybe my imagination, but I remember it tasting better then. Mike

[winelover]

Anyone (you old guys) ever use one of those soft drink machines for bottles? I remember an upright type with a long narrow window/door that you would open and pull (or more drag) the bottle from a tall row. Or the other type that layed horizontal, on that one I think the bottles sat up right in ice water, once released you slide them on a rail, (help me out here guys, its been a really long time!) and then up and out. I seem to remember these machines being at places like gas stations and campground stores. Did either type last beyond the 1970's?

I still want to talk about soft-drink collector stuff, But I will be typing all night, Thanks for reading the memories! Jay


Mother-in-Law had the Coke chest type with the rail system, removed, on her enclosed back porch. I remember all the variations well. We had a bottler in town, Atlas, that had the contract with Faygo, to supply those upright machines. IIRC, those bottles were clear with embossed circles and no labels. The bottle cap told, what flavor it was. In those upright machines , that was the only thing you could see, anyways.

Winelover

[Blammer]

yep, I owned one of them soft drink machines. :)no seriously, I had it in my kitchen.

[pworley1]

Our coke machines went from .05 to .10, but the cokes in the coolers only went up to .06. I could never understand why anyone would buy one from the machine. By the way chocolate milk came in 6oz class bottles then and the were .03 each or 2/.05.

[Lloyd Smale]

local gas station had one and when they went to the can machine the owner brought it inside and just filled it with long neck beer bottles. Its still there and still used at 3 oclock every friday.

[William Yanda]

8 oz bottles for a dime, in returnable bottles with a 2 cent deposit. Locally RC Cola, Nehi and Hires Root Beer were the labels available. Vertical dispensers came about to frustrate those kids with the straws and a church key. The price was 10 cents in the late 50's. Wish I had a dollar for every time I had to fill the machine.

[kenyerian]

If you are ever in Atlanta be sure and stop at the Coca Cola Museum. They have a lot of very interesting displays . I spent about 5 hours in there lookin at the history of Coca Cola with my whole family. Even the youngest had a great time without getting bored.

[osteodoc08]

Being from GA (the home of coca cola) it was always, you wanna coke? What flavor? Coke was a generic and brand name in my household. Pepsi need not apply, however, after a fishing trip, dad and i would stop and get an RC and a moon pie. I miss those days.

[lancem]

When I was a kid there was a place down the road that had a Coke cooler that you lifted the lid and the bottles were down sitting in refrigerated water, you put in your money and then snaked the bottle through a maze to get it to the gate which unlocked after you put your money in to get the bottle out. Penny deposit on returning the bottle, rode many a mile on my bike picking bottles out of the ditch to get my candy money. My buddy has several of the upright bottle door machines, like above they are not filled with pop.

As a side I remember the Airman's club at Keesler AFB had beer machines, served cans though.

[crowbuster]

When i was 11 and had a paper route our local standard station was may favorite on collection day. Forest was the man who owned it and he let me pull a coke out the old mach. heaven when you are 11. we rarely had pop at home.

[ShooterAZ]

Back in the 40's-50's Coke would imprint the bottom of the bottles with the various cities names on them. They were dispensed from the vertical type machines. I have several of them including one with FLAGSTAFF, ARIZ on the bottom. They have become collectible.

[troyboy]

The CC does taste different than the old days. The sweetener is not sugar. Drink CC from the mexican stores in the glass bottles and you WILL notice the difference. Pay attention to the ingredients.

[762 shooter]

In the old country stores here in the south, the drink machine was known as the dope box. I guess a holdover from the days when cokes had coke in them.

762

[Ickisrulz]

If you're ever in Oklahoma, make a side trip to Pops in Arcadia. They have an unsurpassed selection of "pop", if you've drank it; they probably have it.

Scroll through their offerings here:

http://www.pops66.com/40.0.html

No Wink?

[Iowa Fox]

I still remember what those small bottles of coke tasted like in the 1950s and to me it had pepsi beat hands down. I won't even drink pop today, the stuff is corn syrup with artificial flavor that tastes horrible.

[contender1]

I was raised in a restaurant that carried a lot of different sodas. I drank many a Coke in the old glass bottles with the raised letters. And yes, they did imprint the cities on the bottoms of the bottles.
I used to collect them, and I still have 6-8 cases of empty bottles. May have to dig them out & let other collectors enjoy them.

[Mumblypeg]

Oh yea.....I remember those days too. I am a Pepsi man now... but back then any soft drink was great. Kind of a treat... we didn't get them that often. My father drank... bourbon and Coke or Pepsi and we would steal the soft drinks any chance we got!(He could keep the bourbon) One of my granddads ran a station in Theodore Ala., half way between Dolphin Island and Mobile and folks would stop there on their way to the beach... There was (1969) a water cooled drink machine in that store. I remember that Dr. Pepper taste different depending on the size of the bottle, the smaller ones being stronger. Cokes were 5cents for the small bottle etc. Don't mean to highjack but Moon Pies? I dated a girl once that worked with a guy who wrote The Moon Pie Handbook...how to eat and enjoy Moon Pies. He sent it to the Chattanooga Bakery and they liked it so much that he could get Moon Pies strait from the bakery anytime. She would bring me what ever I wanted... if you have never had a FRESH Moon Pie.... you should. I ate way too many! I haven't eaten many in a long time after that...but the fresh ones are really good. Yea... some old some new....drinks do taste better from glass.... but we all know that...

[PbHurler]

No Wink?

OK, give me a break, I did say they probably had it.

:kidding: :)

[armexman]

As a diabetic all I can say is Thanks be to God, we have COKE-ZERO.
As a Mexican, all I can say is Thank God there were Cokes in my little village when we visited over Christmas break. It always felt good to treat my cousins to the rare drink of a soda-pop I would buy them. One of my best friend first-cousins, still reminds me how when he asked me for a Coke I would always buy it for him. He is 13 years my junior an is my cast boolit student.

Nowadays I have a can of Coke in my reloading room for emergency sugar drops (rare, maybe twice a year); the room's door is 3 feet away from my bedside and we costantly turn over the can by having my son drink the old ones. May he never suffer from this dreaded disease that took away my ability to drink a cold frosty Coke from a bottle.

[jonp]

The upright machines with the vertical, narrow glass door did indeed last into the 70's. I remember going into the local NAPA store and getting the mini bottles of coke for 15 cents. I used to have a couple of wooden cases of the small bottles. On the bottom was where the bottler was located and every one was different in my collection. Unfortunately they were stolen out of a storage unit several years ago with my tools and some long guns.

Depending where you were from it was soda, pop, coke etc. In the far NE it was soda or coke same as a snowmobile was always a Ski Doo no matter the make.

Growing up the only person I ever heard call soda something different was my Great Uncle Ray, a WW2 South Pacific Marine Vet and a great guy. When I went over to mow his lawn every Sat he would always stop me halfway through and we would go over to the store and he would buy me a Pepsi. "You want a Pepsi"? he would say. I didn't like Pepsi but never said anything and always thanked him for one and drank the whole bottle sitting on the General Stores porch. Of course, that was when kids were raised right I guess.

[jonp]

I still remember what those small bottles of coke tasted like in the 1950s and to me it had pepsi beat hands down. I won't even drink pop today, the stuff is corn syrup with artificial flavor that tastes horrible.
They still make the Coke in other countries with real sugar not corn syrup. It does taste different and much better. If you go into a store go to the "Mexican Food Aisle" and look for the imported Coke. It will be the real deal. I buy my sweetie one every few weeks when food shopping.

[bhn22]

I grew up on Coke, Real Coke. Mom would take us kids out once a week to buy our allotment of 1 case of Coke that had to last two weeks. This was in the '60s. It was never anything else, just Coke. Nowdays I buy Mexican Coke from Sams Club. It is at it's best nearly frozen, you have to get just the right amount of ice crystals in it. Fifty years later, it's still all I want to drink. No wonder all soft drinks in the south are called "Cokes".

[shooterg]

Got all the free cokes I wanted in early teens, hanging around local diner/beer joint/pool hall.
The grownups would all wager a dollar, pull Cole bottles out , winner was whoever had the farthest away bottling city on bottom. Had a US map on the wall to settle arguments !
If I had a nickel I could get a huge Peppermint Patty to go with it. And salted peanuts dropped in 'em was good too..

[aspangler]

Boy! The memories are flooding back! .05 Coke from the local store in 6.5 oz bottles. I have ridden my bike to "Grannies" with .50 cents and a carton of bottles and come home with a carton of "COKE" and a loaf of "white bread" and gave my dad .10 cents change many times. I remember when Coke and Pepsi first came out in cans. We would buy one, then scrap the paint off very gently to reveal the beer brand that it was supposed to be in the can before it was repainted. Brings back a lot of memories. Thanks for reminding me.

[shooterg]

Got all the free cokes I wanted in early teens, hanging around local diner/beer joint/pool hall.
The grownups would all wager a dollar, pull Cole bottles out , winner was whoever had the farthest away bottling city on bottom. Had a US map on the wall to settle arguments !
If I had a nickel I could get a huge Peppermint Patty to go with it. And salted peanuts dropped in 'em was good too..

OOps - PC "froze" got a double post. Wish we could delete mistakes !

[Big Rack]

OK, experts I have a light green bottle that has 'Soda" imprinted on the sides but the bottom says Coca Cola Bottling Co. Cincinnati Ohio. I'm curious if this is a early Coke bottle or was it for a generic cola packaged by that company?
I also have another that has a ball in it permanently apparently when filled the pressure would seal it. I guess you just pushed the ball down to open it has a small ledge molded in it to hold the ball once unsealed. I understand it's Australian and a similar style is still used in India.

[bear67]

My dad ran a wholesale propane supply house that sold propane/butane, cookstoves heaters and supplies to retail delivery businesses. He had an old water filled, move the bottle to the end of the maize and lift out machine in the shop--5 cents-- for use by employees and guests. The compressor or something died and he called local Coke distributor for a replacement. The only machine just like the old one available came with a 6 cent coin changer. Dad didn't like it so he put 100 + pennies in an old squatty coffee can and in effect still had a nickle machine. They still had it when they sold out the business to a national company years later and were still using the original can of pennies. I am sure they took a loss on the nickle machine in the later years, but he always bragged that they still had nickle cokes at his place.

There a couple places in Texas that I can still get a nickle cup of coffee and I go by when in their neck of the woods just to say that I bought my coffee for half a dime.

[montana_charlie]

My Dad and I were driving out through desert parts of New Mexico during a late 50s/early 60s summer.
We stopped for gas at a station out in the middle of nowhere.
I had recently gotten old enough to handle the gas nozzle, so I was pumping gas while Dad went to get a couple of cold drinks from the machine. It was the chest type with the rails.
He was after a root beer, and I wanted a Coke. He hollered back that there wasn't any Coke but they had Pepsi, so I agreed to take one.

About that time the attendant got caught up and relieved me at the nozzle, so Dad and I stepped into some shade an took a couple of giant swigs from our cold drinks. He held his bottle up to the sky and declared that really hit the spot, and I started to immitate him.
When I got the Pepsi bottle up in the sun, I could see the mouse inside.

Never drank another Pepsi ...

[Houndog]

If you are ever on this side of the US make a trip to Mast General Store near Boone North Carolina. (Zionsville actually) They have all the old soft drink brands I've ever ran across in thise old chest type coolers with the rails for sale. You'll find the old bottled Coke and Pepsi as well as NEhi, Bubble up, Frostie root beer, and quite a few more. They also have many of the old candy brands you don't see any more including barrel after barrel of the old time penny candy and an old time Ice Cream shack. I make several trips over there every year for the trip down memory lane AND there is always a Bluegrass music jam session going on the back porch open to everyone that wants to listen or play, NO CHARGE.

[mold maker]

I thought we invented the straw and church key trick.
Hadn't thought about that in years.

[starmac]

The little town I finished high school in, did not have any place open after 5 or 6 in the evening. The school was easy to break in and had one of the maze type coke machines.
It seems odd now to think we used to break and enter pretty often, to pay for a coke. lol

[Mumblypeg]

I thought we invented the straw and church key trick.
Hadn't thought about that in years.

I believe that was the main reason they fazed those out when they did.... but why did you need a straw? A cup would do... just pop the top and hold your cup under it.... unless you wanted it all...:-)

[bob208]

down at the weldshop they had an old machine that stood on legs. I dropped many rubbed off buffalo nickels in it. you had to give them an extra .02 if you wanted to take the bottle with you.

[JeffinNZ]

They make good gun safes.

[dagger dog]

There was one Coke machine that had a 5 C coin slot and a 4 X 6" door, when you deposited the nickel in the slot you raised the door and pulled out the bottle, the raising of the door pulled the next bottle up for service, there was a "chain" of linked cylinders that held the bottles, you could raise the door any time, but the next bottle wasn't exposed until a coin was deposited and the door raised again.

I can remember the debut of the Coke king size 12 oz bottles, think it was about the same time Elvis hit the Ed Sullivan show with the censors blocking out the picture from his waist down ,that if I can remember was about '57 ?

Cane sugar was the sweetener replaced by corn syrup with the "New Coke debacle" that cost them a bunch of money, they went back to the "original"recipie, but retained the corn syrup.

The part of the country I live and worked in had a product called Double Cola and to my taste, has that original Coke taste, of course we all know that taste is very relative to the person doing the tasting.

Any one here drink Ale 8 One , if you do bet your from KY ?

[DLCTEX]

Our mechanic shop at the tractor dealership had a rotary Coke machine up by the office. At 3:00 PM we took a break and started a deal of seeing who's bottle was from furthest away and the closest had to buy drinks next time. One of the fellows started volunteering to go get the cokes from the machine. We became suspicious after he was always furthest away, so someone followed him to spy on him and saw him going through the empties in the cases and pouring his into that bottle. That ended the game. For those of you too young to remember the bottles were returned to the distributor to be cleaned and refilled. If you took the bottle there was a 3 cent deposit. Most, but not all, bottles were marked with the town and state of the distributor.

[dagger dog]

[QUOTE=DLCTEX For those of you too young to remember the bottles were returned to the distributor to be cleaned and refilled. If you took the bottle there was a 3 cent deposit.[/QUOTE]

Yeah I forgot all about hustling returns during summer vacation, we used to walk the roads and check all the trash cans for empties, turn them in at the local mom and pop grocery and spend the spiff on penny candy !

[C.F.Plinker]

I worked at a drug store when I was going through Jr. High and High schools. The bottle deposit was 2 cents and the deposit on the wood shell (it held 12 bottles) was 5 cents.

The store had a soda fountain and we made up flavored Cokes. Vanilla was the most popular followed by cherry. We had one doctor that would stop by almost every day on the way back to his office after he left the hospital morning rounds . If you were working the fountain and saw him coming through the door, it was automatic that you made a small chocolate Coke and took it over to the prescription counter for him.

[blackthorn]

I had never heard of "NeHi" pop before I read this thread. It just occurred to me that is what "Radar" on "Mash" used to order at the bar--- a Grape NeHI!

[gray wolf]

At my age the only thing I don't remember is the date of my first cave painting.

[Dale in Louisiana]

I remember a .05 Coke machine and shortly after they all went to .10. It seems they stayed .10 til the early 70's then to .25 when there was supposedly a sugar shortage and the price never went back down.

gmsharps

The slaughter house down the road had a coke machine that took THREE Cents. If you took the bottle with you you had to leave a two-cent deposit.

dale in Louisiana
(Not older than dirt, but when I got here it was still on the pallet)

[Dale in Louisiana]

Back in the 40's-50's Coke would imprint the bottom of the bottles with the various cities names on them. They were dispensed from the vertical type machines. I have several of them including one with FLAGSTAFF, ARIZ on the bottom. They have become collectible.

That was a game Dad played at work with his buddies. everybody buys a Coke. The one with the closest city paid for the next one for the guy with the furthest.

They also played poker with the M&M machine.

dale in Louisiana

[ElDorado]

I spent summer vacation of '78 working at a produce distributor that had an upright coke machine that served 6 1/2 oz bottles for a dime. It sure was good on those hot days. They kept the crates of coke right next to the machine. When you finished your coke, you just put the bottle in an empty crate.

I got hooked on the stuff working at that place.

[phonejack]

I remember the horizontal machines where they sat in cold water also. And always looking on the bottom of the bottle to see what town it was made in.

[bear67]

Up until age 12 and I went to driving tractors for neighboring farmers, we rode our bikes up and down state and county picking up return bottles. We could get a "Coke" and candy bar at Tinsley Grocery for 5 bottles. Actually I had a better gig--local manufacturer of a specialized liquid drink made in the river bottoms would give a nickle for pint and half pint whiskey bottles to package his product in. He did not have to have the original screw caps as he could buy them cheap by the case. We met him on Saturday mornings again at Tinsley's store. Those were the days--ride our bikes to the river to fish and pay for the day with the bottles picked up along the way. Also could trade cleaned brim for bologna and crackers at Red Hopson's store an meat market on the way to the Neches.

[BNE]

I know where there is still an old upright one in use, it takes 50 cents to get an 8 oz bottle out of it. When I was in high school they were a quarter, seems like I remember getting cokes out of them for a dime.

Me too! We have a local feed and seed store that I used to buy stuff for our critters when I was a kid. The shop is still run by the same family and now my girls have pulled a Coke from the same machine I did as a kid. I may have to go and get one this weekend....

Nice memory.

[Houndog]

I had never heard of "NeHi" pop before I read this thread. It just occurred to me that is what "Radar" on "Mash" used to order at the bar--- a Grape NeHI!

Hehi was bottled locally by Tri Cities Beverage in johnson City TN back in the 50's and 60's. I'm sure there were more bottlers franchised all across the country.

FWIW: that same company is still in business, under another name if my memory is correct, and bottles Dr. Enuf, a soft drink favorite in lots of the Southeast.

[jumbeaux]

My dad had a small country store that had a .06c machine that held the 6 oz bottles...it was chest type with water in it that was chilled...I worked in a machine shop for many years and we had a bottle machine that we "pulled" at break to see who had the bottle from the farthest locale...we would kick in a buck and all learned more about geography than we did in HS (Rand McNally atlas got areal workout)...btw in East Texas we call everything a coke..."you want a coke ?"...yeah I'll take a "Dr. Pepper" or an "orange belly wash" etc...also, a Dr. Pepper with Planters peanuts poured in the bottle is an old time favorite...

rick

[gew98]

There was one Coke machine that had a 5 C coin slot and a 4 X 6" door, when you deposited the nickel in the slot you raised the door and pulled out the bottle, the raising of the door pulled the next bottle up for service, there was a "chain" of linked cylinders that held the bottles, you could raise the door any time, but the next bottle wasn't exposed until a coin was deposited and the door raised again.

I can remember the debut of the Coke king size 12 oz bottles, think it was about the same time Elvis hit the Ed Sullivan show with the censors blocking out the picture from his waist down ,that if I can remember was about '57 ?

Cane sugar was the sweetener replaced by corn syrup with the "New Coke debacle" that cost them a bunch of money, they went back to the "original"recipie, but retained the corn syrup.

The part of the country I live and worked in had a product called Double Cola and to my taste, has that original Coke taste, of course we all know that taste is very relative to the person doing the tasting.

Any one here drink Ale 8 One , if you do bet your from KY ?

I used to drink alot of Ale 8 ...hell even alot of the gas stations from Richmond to Paris had frozen Ale 8 slushy machines !. Since I don't live in central KY anymore Ale 8 is rarely seen west of louisville. But we still have RC cola and moonpies !.

[dagger dog]

in East Texas we call everything a coke..."you want a coke ?"...yeah I'll take a "Dr. Pepper" or an "orange belly wash" etc...also, a Dr. Pepper. rick

Yes, our clique called all flavors of carbonated bottled beverages by many names, Coke, pop, cola pop, soda pop, soft drink, cold dope and some others, they were all interchangeable and everyone knew that you were speaking a language they could interpret.

I was squirrel hunting one day on property that was taken into the state DNR lands, it was an area that was bypassed by the federal Interstate Highway system. There was the foundation of a small family run grocery store that had been demolished, within the ruins of the foundation, I recovered a "pop" bottle, clear glass, that was labeled Jeff Cola.

That sparked my interest and I proceeded to research on the www, that research turned up a local bottling company within the city where I work. Farther research was provided by a customer of the auto repair shop where I was employed. The fellow was a resident of Jeffersonville, IN from the 1920's through WWII and into the 21st century and provided more information about Jeff Bottling Co.

You will be surprised at how many local beer breweries had their bottling processes intertwined with "soft drinks".

[jonp]

"You will be surprised at how many local beer breweries had their bottling processes intertwined with "soft drinks". "

Many did so to stay afloat during Prohibition. Such companies as Yuenglings, Americas oldest brewery , and Coors produced milk, malted milk, soda and near beer.

[DLCTEX]

I had never heard of "NeHi" pop before I read this thread. It just occurred to me that is what "Radar" on "Mash" used to order at the bar--- a Grape NeHI!

When my wife was pregnant with our twins (1967) she would get a craving for a grape NeHi and if that craving came after hours I would have to drive around looking for a vending machine that had them.

[Boyscout]

I remember parties my parents would throw. If there was snow, they would stick the green glass bottles of Coca-cola in the snow right off the porch. I don't think anything else ever tasted so good. Mom was addicted to Pepsi at the time but Coke was always my favorite.

I have noticed that regional bottlers are slightly different in flavor. The best Coke I have had in years was in the San Diego area while visiting MCRD for graduation. The only restauants around here who know what Coke should taste like is McDonalds and White Castle. Fazolis, Wendy's, Panera and Qdoba are always harsh with too much soda water. Has anyone tried the Coke they sell bottled in the Mexican Restaurants?

[Beau Cassidy]

You guys are making me feel like a young punk. The cheapest I remember seeing Coke machines was about 25 cents. When Coke changed their formula in about 1985 I was working at my first job in a grocery store in Jackson, Mississippi. There was dang near a riot with folks trying to get the last of the old formula. Now the sugar base is corn syrup or something else and it just isn't the same. Nothing could compare to a dang near frozen glass bottle Coke. They say the plastic bottles do not alter the change but I disagree.

As of late I have been consuming Throwback Forumula Pepsi. I find it doesn't give an aftertaste like the current Cokes do as it is made with real sugar. They say your taste changes some after having your gallbladder out so that may have something to do with it, too.

The Mexican Cokes are a good alternative but I have found them to be a little on the high side. There is just something about consuming a product made in Mexico that bothers me, too.

[celem]

I have fond 1950s childhood memories of reaching into the top of the rotating coke machine at the Decatur, Georgia bakery "The Cake Box" and pulling out my 5 cent coke. The price was a nickel until 1959.

[Bzcraig]

I have all these memories and scrounging for bottles in alleys near garbage cans to return the bottles and buy some candy circa 60-64.

[jumbeaux]

I think the Mexican Cokes, Fanta etc use pure cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup...the best Dr. Peppers utilize Imperial Pure Cane Sugar instead of the corn syrup...they are hard to find...

rick

[starmac]

My favorite Dr Peppers came from Dublin Texas, I seem to remember reading that they had closed the plant a few years back though.

[destrux]

OK, experts I have a light green bottle that has 'Soda" imprinted on the sides but the bottom says Coca Cola Bottling Co. Cincinnati Ohio. I'm curious if this is a early Coke bottle or was it for a generic cola packaged by that company?
I also have another that has a ball in it permanently apparently when filled the pressure would seal it. I guess you just pushed the ball down to open it has a small ledge molded in it to hold the ball once unsealed. I understand it's Australian and a similar style is still used in India.

They still sell soda sealed with a glass ball in Japan. The store 5 Below sells it here in the states. Some normal and some oddball flavors like "yogurt" and "cucumber".

[destrux]

You guys are making me feel like a young punk. The cheapest I remember seeing Coke machines was about 25 cents. When Coke changed their formula in about 1985 I was working at my first job in a grocery store in Jackson, Mississippi. There was dang near a riot with folks trying to get the last of the old formula. Now the sugar base is corn syrup or something else and it just isn't the same. Nothing could compare to a dang near frozen glass bottle Coke. They say the plastic bottles do not alter the change but I disagree.

As of late I have been consuming Throwback Forumula Pepsi. I find it doesn't give an aftertaste like the current Cokes do as it is made with real sugar. They say your taste changes some after having your gallbladder out so that may have something to do with it, too.

The Mexican Cokes are a good alternative but I have found them to be a little on the high side. There is just something about consuming a product made in Mexico that bothers me, too.

Mexican Pepsi tastes even better than the Throwback version. It's got much better flavor but still no foul corn syrup aftertaste.

[destrux]

Here's the machine at our auto shop. Late 60's model but with the newer 15 cent price sticker. Still keeps them ice cold, but the vend solenoid is missing so it doesn't lock the rack so we charge at the counter ($1 a bottle, it's not easy or cheap to fill this thing anymore).

We were keeping original 6.5oz return type bottles in it till the last 6.5oz bottling plant shut down two years ago. (http://brainerddispatch.com/news/2012-10-10/last-65-oz-us-coke-bottle-rolls-minnesota-line)

We fill it up with Orange Crush, Grape Crush, Strawberry Crush, Mexican Coke, Mexican Pepsi (I know! In a Coke machine!), Stewarts Key Lime, Stewarts Cherries and Cream, and a few others depending on what we can get when we need to refill it.

Only run it in the summertime though, too much electricity wasted in the winter for the little bit of soda sold.

http://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/i458/destruxxx/20140130_153121.jpg

[starmac]

LOL I have never been much of a coke drinker, and can't even drink one unless it is poured over ice. When they changed the formula, I had an aunt that was a cokeaholic. She bought enough to last until they came out with the coke classic or whatever it is called. lol

[gew98]

I too used to be a coke kid....that new coke and the subsequent plastic bottles ruined it for me. For several years back in the early 80's we could find glass deposit bottle cokes at little general stores and groceries where we hunted around St Mary's , weedville , Berndale PA. I can remember walking down to the corner bar in New jerkistan and glass 1 quart coke bottles were 70 cents. When I moved to KY in the early 90's you could still find RC cola machines selling RC at 25 cents a can.

[starmac]

LOL If rc cola was still a nickle a bottle, I would leave it where I found it. But then a 20 oz anything will last me a couple weeks.

[starmac]

I have to say that the old 16 oz coke bottles were very good for attitude adjustments. How many of you guys ever made rings out of them.