ANTIQUES: Vintage Coca-Cola Coolers

Pharmacist John Pemberton invented Coca-Cola in Atlanta in 1886; the creation of its iconic logo—in the distinctive script of Pemberton’s bookkeeper, Frank Robinson—followed soon after. Since then, the popularity of the soft drink and the many types of Coke collectibles has grown.

Metal coolers designed for carrying icy bottles of Coke were manufactured in a range of sizes; they all boasted the glossy Coca-Cola red finish and the raised white letters of the familiar brand. This cooler (left, $310), at about nineteen inches tall, was made by the Acton Manufacturing Company of Kansas City, Kansas, in the early 1950s. It holds thirty-six classic, curvy Coke bottles inside its galvanized interior and includes a handy, built-in bottle opener.

The slimmer model (right, $525) is the Cavalier Carry-Cooler, made by the Cavalier Corporation in Chattanooga, Tennessee, circa 1950. Often referred to as the “airline” cooler, it is seventeen inches in length but only seven inches wide—a slim design well-suited to the smaller passenger airplanes used in those days, as it holds just a dozen bottles and enough crushed ice to cool the classic beverage. [AUGUST 2010]

THE GOODS

Retro Pop Shop
395 Laurel St./Route 20
Lee, Mass.
413.243.0025