From Mix International  : Richard is off to Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and all points north picking up several large collections.  Look for lots and lots of new and exciting merchandise starting next week - lots of very hard to find items and many bottles that we have never had on ebay before. We are also pleased to offer the following bottles for sale this week on a first-come-first-served basis - click on the bottleworld.com links to see the photos::

• World of Coke Las Vegas Summer 2003  NEW!! - BEAUTIFUL in tube - $22.50
• Bread Box Bottle - $10
• Rodeo 2003 Bottle  - $4
• Constitution Center Bottle  - $3
• Veterans Memorial Stadium - $3
• Centennial of Aviation Bottle  - $3
• WHAS Childrens Kentucky - $3
• Brickyard 400 NASCAR 2003 Bottle  - $3
• --click here to see Richard's eBay auctions--

From Blair Matthews, Editor of Soda Pop Dreams Magazine : Vol.5 of the Back Issues CD is available for sale via the website. Price for this new CD (which contains Issues #24-28) is only $9.95 (US$) for a limited time and includes postage!! Also new in our online store is a package of PRINT EDITION Back Issues!! Missed one of our editions from the past year? Our print edition package contains issues: #19, #24, #25, #26 & #27 - all for one special price. All the details can be found at: http://www.pww.on.ca/store.htm

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

Be sure to send me your UP FOR GRABS item listings! E-mail to: Up For Grabs 

From Joe Henken : I am trying to find a 2-quart Ski bottle. It is a green no deposit-no return bottle, wrapped with a white styrofoam label with green and blue 's' stripes and an orange "Ski". Thanks!

From Doyle Bailey : I need for my collection: King of Beverage, Circle A, Artesian, Artesia, theif bottles, Lazenby's Liquid Sunshine, Morrison Old Corner Drug Store items, Morrison-Hefley, Morrison-Castles Drug Store, Risher Drug Store, Bowens Drug Store bottles, pill boxes, etc. And, Dublin, Texas bottles. Also looking for a Dr Pepper thief bottle with "American M.W. Co., St, Louis, Mo." on the side, with an "A" on the bottom. It can be cloudy, or in dug condition - prefer a complete bottle, but will consider otherwise. Email with info.

From Mike Bryant : $REWARD$ Will pay top dollar for a 30 BELOW acl soda from San Diego, California. Also want other San Diego area bottles - embossed or acl. Phone: (828) 851-2787 or by E-mail.

There are also WANTED and FOR SALE items listed <here> toward the bottom of the page.

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

Petretti's Soda Pop Collectibles Price Guide:  The Encyclopedia of Soda-Pop Collectibles, Third Edition by Allan Petretti Features thousands of soda pop collectibles made from the 1870s to the 1970s. 3100 b&w photos, with a 176-page color section. ISBN: 0-87349-516-0 Antique Trader; 3rd edition (March 2003)

What's new? This is important, so listen up! The searchable data base of collectors is currently being tested. Within the next week or so, it should be available "live." I will keep you posted.

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

AUGUST 1-2  -  AUBURN, CALIFORNIA
Non-Cal Insulator Club's Show & Sale (Fri. & Sat.) at the Auburn Fairgrounds, Auburn California. INFO: PAT PATOCKA, PH: (916) 663-3681. 

AUGUST 2  -  OLD FORGE, NEW YORK   
Central Adirondack Bottle, Postcard & Paper Show & Sale (Sat. 10 AM - 4 PM) at the Municipal Building, 183 Park Ave., Old Forge, New York. INFO: GAIL MURRAY, Director Town of Webb Historical Association, PH: (315) 369-3838, E-mail: director@webbhistory.org or BOB KENNERKNECHT, PH: (315) 369-2229, E-mail: knecht@telenet.net.

AUGUST 2  -  MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA
Chesapeake Bay Insulator Club's 4th Annual Show (Sat. 9 AM – 2 PM) at Calvary United Methodist Church, 220 W. Burke St., Martinsburg, West Virginia. INFO: JEFF HOLLIS, 56 Corning Way, Martinsburg, WV  25401, PH: (304) 263-6140, E-mail: wvacampfire@cs.com.

AUGUST 2 - 3  -  MILLVILLE, NEW JERSEY 
Wheaton Village Association’s with the FOHBC Annual Show & Sale (Sun. 10 AM – 4 PM, early admission Sat.5 PM) at Wheaton Village, Millville, New Jersey. INFO: WHEATON VILLAGE, 1501 Glasstown Rd., Millville, NJ  08332, PH: (856) 825-6800 ext. 2735.

If you would like to view the full 'events calendar,' I now maintain  < click here>.
Any new events  in your area? E-mail it so all of us can know, to: Upcoming Events

It has been brought to my attention by several of you after I mentioned the FOHBC EXPO planned for August of next year in Memphis, Tennessee that you'd like me to request a meeting for the ACL bottle collectors. Well, I have made some inquiries, and it seems it is possible for us to do that - and I will be back to you regarding the details. What I'd like to know at this point is a rough figure of how many of you would be interested in attending, so I can let them know how large a room to request for us. So EMAIL ME and let me know !

Several of you have also contacted me re: a 7Up Club, mentioned in last week's newsletter. Please do mail and let me know if you are interested - if you haven't already.

Until next time, Happy Collecting! CokeGirl

Wanda in Mississippi bought an old jewelry box at a yard sale. She couldn't resist the $2 price tag, as it was "brimming with old costume jewelry." Among the fun jewelry was a real treasure, a Victorian mourning necklace, 18" long with a gold clasp, made from human hair, and a matching bracelet. Wanda won't reveal how much she sold it for, but she says it was a handsome profit. 

Lawrence tells the story of a friend who spent a quarter on a doll at a Saturday morning rummage sale, hands shaking as she thought she knew what she was buying. What she had was an original blonde Blythe doll from 1972 in near-mint condition, which sold only a few days later for $1,200! 

Lawrence adds, "At a return of about 4,800% on the initial purchase, this doll ranks as the all time best garage sale find I have ever heard about, and reaffirms my belief that there are hidden treasures out there, if you only know what to look for and have a little bit of luck with you." 

What constitutes a collector's ultimate "find" fantasy? Traditionally, it would involve discovering untouched pieces, hopefully rooms full or an entire home, that somehow had been passed over by time. For the great majority this remains a dream. 

When Billings, Montana auctioneer Dan Tryan's phone rang several months ago, little did he know he was about to enter just such a dream. He was being called upon to inventory and auction the contents of the Fifth Avenue Grocery in nearby Roundup by the executors of the estate of Louis Pluth, last descendent of the family who owned the store. 

In 1952, when the original owners passed away, their children didn't wish to run the business, so the store, and house next door, were shuttered and sealed up, so quickly that money was even left in the till. For 50 years, the contents remained on the shelves, untouched. Only due to the heat being left on for five decades did all the beer, whiskey and other glass bottled goods survive intact. 

Tryan was amazed upon his initial trip to the store. 

"There were cases of bottles of whiskey and wine. There was a speakeasy in the basement of the house next door, including a player piano, rolls of music, even the old bar. Lots of Kessler beer signs and memorabilia, Coca-Cola, everything you'd see in a general store back then. There was Shinola, a Kool-Aid counter-top display, Shirley Temple glasses that came in Bisquick, and everything on the shelves appeared brand new," said Tryan. 

As Tryan tells it, "Two days before the sale, Associated Press called, wanted to do an interview with me. When that went out, I started getting calls from NBC, CBS, CNN, USA Today, live radio talk show interviews all across the country, including two in Dublin, Ireland and one in Australia. Then National Public Radio got the story. It went onto 300 radio stations, and by this time, my phones were ringing off the hook." 

Once he put photos of items in the sale on his Web site, "things got crazy," Tryan said. He took silent bids over the site, receiving over 15,000 hits before the auction. 

More than 2,000 individual items were auctioned. An amazed Tryan said, "I got $135 for one can of Shinola. It was truly amazing. A Daisy bee-bee pistol went for $1,150! The two biggest items were the Golden West Coffee Girl posters. One brought $4,700, the other one $6,700.

The dream of finding the ultimate item, or items, remains strong inside every collector. Is it possible? You tell me. Keep the stories coming and I'll keep including them here.

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