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KeyMan
Collectibles |
NEWSLETTER |
December 2021 |
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Soft Drink
Baseball Memorabilia & Premiums |
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Steven KeyMan |
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By Steven KeyMan |
Founder of
Keymancollectibles.com,
and a long time
collector, Steven
KeyMan has more than 30
years of experience in
researching, and
cataloging information
on Baseball
Memorabilia.
Researching his own personal
collection, and helping others find
information on their
collectibles, the
website grew into the
largest online resource
for baseball
memorabilia |
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Ask
Steven: Direct your questions or feedback,
about Baseball Memorabilia to Steven KeyMan
Steve@keymancollectibles.com You can also Send
KeyMan pictures of your personal Memorabilia Display,
and get your own Free
Collectors Showcase Room featured on the website.. |
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The Coca-Cola Perpetual
Counter, a baseball game
scoring device; was a premium
that Coca-Cola used in 1911, to
encourage people to send in a
2˘ stamp for the booklet, "The
Truth About Coca-Cola... "a book
of information - not of
defense."
The original 1886
formula for Coca-Cola contained
cocaine. In 1904 Coca-Cola
removed the cocaine from the
drink; but competitors of the
Coca-Cola Company through
print, and word of mouth
claimed that Coca-Cola was a
harmful, drug-habit forming, or
dangerous beverage for Young or
old. The Booklet was part of a
campaign fought for many years
by Coca-Cola to gain the trust
of the consumer, in that the
drink was pure and wholesome.
Blue Bird was a grape
flavored soda made by the
Citrus Products Co. of Chicago.
In
1926 Blue Bird issued ink
blotters to announce a
special promotion. "Boys" could
mail in Blue Bird bottle caps
along with money to receive
gifts such as a baseball glove,
or baseball.
On the ink blotter is a young baseball player with a ball and glove in
full uniform drinking the soda.
Another 1926 Blue Bird
promotion offered a jade green
fountain pen for .99˘ and 29
bottle caps. It is likely that
the ink blotter accompanied the
fountain pen.
Nehi is a flavored soft drink
introduced in 1924 by Chero-Cola.
The Nehi fruit-flavored sodas
became popular, and in 1955,
the company changed its name to
Royal Crown Company, after the
success of its RC Cola brand.
Around 1927, Nehi offered premiums "for every member of the family." Drink Nehi Quality Beverages and save
the crowns (bottle caps) and
use them and a small amount of
cash to obtain select premiums
from a catalog that could
be picked up at a local
retailer. For 85 crowns and
.85˘ you could get a Goldsmith
Official League baseball, or
Fielders glove.
The
1952 Coca-Cola Baseball
Tips carton inserts was a
regional issue to the New York
area. This 10 card set features
artwork of 9 New York
ballplayers, one for each
position, and one hitter card.
The set is represented by three
New York Yankee, three New York
Giant, and three Brooklyn
Dodger players.
The front headers display the
artwork depicting the players,
with the slogan "Coke is a
Natural," the players name,
team, and position. The lower
insert portion features the
1952 home schedule for the
player's team. A four card test
issue previous to this set
consist of 3 different Phil
Rizzuto cards.
In 1957 Mission Soda signed
Mickey Mantle as it's press
agent during the winter
months. Mantle promoted their
Orange Soda in 1957 and 1958
through newspaper ads.
A 16-page comic book featuring stories of Mantle's early days
with the Yankees called "My Greatest
Thrills In Baseball"
was made available with a
purchase of a six-pack of
Mission Soda. A
5"x7" B&W photo featuring a
close-up portrait of a smiling
Mantle along with "Best Wishes"
and a facsimile signature was
also given away.
The
Babe Dahlgren Enterprises,
"Ball Of Fame" stats wheel
was an advertising premium
issued by the Coca-Cola
Bottling Company. Babe Dahlgren
the "man who replaced Lou
Gehrig" held the copyright, and
it was produced by Sports
Panorama Company of 921 Fallen
Leaf Road, Arcadia, California.
The "Ball Of Fame" features yearly Major League records from 1901 to 1960.
American League on one side the
National League on the other.
Turn the dial to the year of
choice on the outside
perimeter, and the eight
readout windows show the
"Batting leaders" Average, Home
Runs, Runs-Batted-In, Players
Name, and team.
In 1967 Coca-Cola ran an
All-Star Baseball Bottle Cap
promotion. The sets included 35
bottles caps of Coca-Cola, Tab
or Fresca. Each cap featured a
black & white portrait of a
player on the underside with a
number to match the redemption
sheet provided by the retailer
or newspaper.
Defferent cap-saver sheets
included "Match the All-Stars,"
or a Major League team that was
local to your area. Twenty-Five
Team Players and Ten All-Star
caps.
When you mounted all the caps
or liners to the saver sheet,
you could swap them in for
prizes at a redemption center.
Trade in five completed sheets
and you could receive an
official Little League
baseball; four completed
collections a baseball cap with
a team emblem, and for one
completed collection, six
autographed pictures of
players.
The 5x7
Dexter Press, color pictures
have a facsimile autograph
above the player. The back has
a player profile. A set of
twelve was made for 18 of 20 teams.
In a 1977 promotion Pepsi-Cola
issued the
"Baseball
Stars/Collectors Series," MSA
Advertising Discs, specially
made to be a 6-pack carton
insert.
The set Consist of 72 discs that measure 3-3/8" in diameter, and
approximately 9 1/8" x 4 3/4"
still intact with the
checklist, T-Shirt offer insert
card. There are 5 color
variation of each the Reggie
Jackson, and the Mike Schmidt
discs bring the total to 80
cards.
On the back of the Pepsi-Cola
collectors disc, was a T-Shirt
offer. The order form is on the
carton insert portion, on the
back.
The Personalized
Superstar Shirt was available
with a picture and "signature"
of your choice of 4 players:
Pete Rose, Rico Carty, Joe
Morgan, and Rick Manning.
The personalized salutation on the shirt below the players image would
read; "To my buddy
(personalized name) Best Wishes
Pete Rose (signature)" (or the
player of your choice)A $5.95
value, the shirt was offered
for; $3.85 plus 20 Pepsi-Cola
bottle cap liners, $2.85 plus
80 capliners, or Free with 240
capliners.
In 1977 Royal Crown Cola issued
the
Major League Baseball
Players Association All Star
collection. Each can of the 70
player set, along with a
picture lists the Players Team,
Position, Years as an All Star,
Batting Average in 1976,
Lifetime Batting Average, Bats
and Throws, and Years Pro.
Players in the set include;
Johnny Bench, George Brett,
George Foster, Pete Rose, Tom Seaver and Carl Yastrezemski.
When you collected all seventy,
1977 RC Cola Cans you could
take them to the RC bottling
pant, and claim an
"autographed" baseball signed
by the 1976 winning All-Star
Team.
The National League won, so the
prize you received was a
baseball featuring the stamped
signatures of the 1976 National
League All-Star team, and a "Me
and My RC" baseball holder. The
base is a green infield with
all four bases. You
didn't have to surrender the
cans. Just Had to show them.
RC Cola also issued a set of
MLBPA cans in 1978. The player
"Bio" on these cans were round
not rectangular like the 1977
cans. As with the 1977 set, the
collection was not licensed by
Major League baseball so the
team insignia on the caps were
airbrushed out.
Players in the set include;
Joe Morgan, Tony Perez, Thurman
Munson, Eddie Murray, Jim
Palmer, Steve Carlton and Nolan
Ryan.
Made by Topps, and Issued by
Squirt beverage products as a
promotion, the cards were
included in panels of two
players, one American League,
and one National League player.
A complete set of
1981 Squirt baseball cards
Consist of 22 panels, or 33
separate cards.
Twelve players are double printed. The yellow and green front features a
player portrait photo, and the
back of the card is the same as
the 1981 Topps regular issue
set but, with different
numbers.
On September 6, 1995, Baltimore
Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken
Jr. played in his 2,131st
consecutive game, breaking the
"Iron Horse" Lou Gehrig’s
unbreakable record for most
consecutive games played. Cal's
record-breaking streak of 2,632
consecutive games played,
started on May 30, 1982 and
would span over 21 years,
ending in 2001.
Coca-Cola celebrated Ripken's Record breaking streak of 2,131 consecutive
games played and his 21 year
career, by issuing a
commemorative Coke bottle that
came in a smartly designed
canister. The bottle
features "Coca-Cola Celebrates
Cal Ripken Jr. (facsimile
autograph) 21 Years Orioles"
with the Ripken #8 uniform
back. |
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