# COCA COLA / NEEDLES, CA. / BILL PORTER



## SODAPOPBOB (Mar 13, 2011)

~  COCA COLA / NEEDLES, CA. / BILL PORTER  ~

                              Question:  What do the words in the title have in common? 

                                                        Answer:  Read below.

 It has been said before that if you have seen one Coca Cola hobbleskirt bottle you have seen them all. This may be true to some extent, but there is oftentimes more to those little green bottles than what meets the eye. Take for example the one shown below from Needles, California. I recently got in trade for a 1915 Buffalo, N.Y. bottle that I sent to collector and researcher Bill Porter. My Needles bottle is a D-patent, dated 1942, and even though considered common in Billâ€˜s book, it is still somewhat hard to come by in excellent condition. It fits right in with my growing collection of Route 66 hobbleskirts. I am tickled â€œGeorgia greenâ€ to have it, as is Bill with the nice Buffalo bottle that I sent him. (Buffalo doesnâ€™t fit my Route 66 criteria).

 Anyway, I thought I would share a little bit of what I know about the town of Needles, Ca. Which hopefully will help to illustrate why each of these types of bottles are a story unto themselves, and that a little bit of history is contained in each and every one of them.

 Following this text I will share a handful of photos related to Needles, Ca. that should help to give you a better idea of what the town and vicinity look like.

 Needles is a small desert town located directly on the Colorado river which separates California from Arizona. It is about 100 miles south of Las Vegas, Nevada. Needles was originally founded in 1883, and at that time was primarily a ranching and farming community. Except for the nearby river, the area is mostly arid desert.

 Running east and west through the area are remnants of old Route 66 that was first established around 1926. It is interstate 40 that handles most of the traffic nowadays. If you have ever seen the movie â€œ The Grapes of Wrath,â€ made in 1940 and starring Henry Fonda, you may be familiar with the scene where the Joad family first reaches the California border and swim/bathe in the Colorado river. That portion of the river, and the bridge they crossed, is at Needles where tens of thousands of other displaced migrants during the Great Depression of the 1930s also crossed the river into California or, as the movie refers to it, â€œThe promised land of milk and honey.â€ The bridge is now listed as a historic landmark. But believe me when I say that that particular area of California is by no means a promised land. It would not be for at least another 150 miles farther west, after dropping into the San Bernardino valley, that the first green crops of any kind start to appear.

 As for the Coca Cola connection, the Needles bottling plant was established around 1919, which explains in part why there are no known examples of any 1915 Coca Cola bottles, with the 1923s being listed as scarce.

 Needles population varied over the ensuing years â€¦ 3,144 in 1930, and currently at about 5,200 hardy citizens. A lot of itâ€™s economy today is tourist related, which includes numerous motels and restaurants for weary travelers criss-crossing the country. I have been through there myself many times. But to be honest, you couldnâ€˜t pay me to live there year around. Itâ€˜s just too dang hot and dry for my liking.

 So there you have it â€¦ a little bit of history in a little olâ€™ green Coca Cola bottle. And if you think any part of this as weird, just be glad I'm not writing an entire history on the 2,000-plus other Coca Cola bottlers across the country.  And the next time you pass through Needles, California, just tell them â€œBob sent you.â€ I'm sure it will get you a free ice cold bottle of Coca Cola. (Yeah, right! They don't know me from Adam around there).  [] 

 I hope you enjoy the pictures that follow.

 SODAPOPBOB

 {Coca Cola - Needles, California - 1942 - Owens-Illinois - Pat. D-105529 - 6 oz.}


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## SODAPOPBOB (Mar 13, 2011)

{Base}


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## SODAPOPBOB (Mar 13, 2011)

{Map}


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## SODAPOPBOB (Mar 13, 2011)

{Sign}


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## SODAPOPBOB (Mar 13, 2011)

{Postcard}


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## SODAPOPBOB (Mar 13, 2011)

{Poster - 1940}


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## SODAPOPBOB (Mar 13, 2011)

{Still photo from the movie showing the Joad's crossing the Colorado River at Needles, Ca.}


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## SODAPOPBOB (Mar 13, 2011)

{Needles - 1940s}


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## SODAPOPBOB (Mar 13, 2011)

{Needles - 1960s}


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## SODAPOPBOB (Mar 13, 2011)

Thanks Mr. Bill Porter. As you can see, I really dig the little green bottle you sent me.  []

                                                             Your buddy,

                                                                   Bob


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## SODAPOPBOB (Mar 13, 2011)

Here's the cover of Bill Porter's book. Check with him personally via the address below for a copy of your own.

                                                    E-mail :  oldcokes@aol.com


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## SODAPOPBOB (Mar 14, 2011)

This now famous photo was taken by Dorothea Lange in 1939 during the great depression and shows one of the more unusual uses of a Coca Cola hobbleskirt bottle. I wonder if that was some form of a generic nipple, or if they were designed specifically for soda bottles?


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## TheCaliKid (Mar 14, 2011)

Bob -

 You wonder about the strangest things.



 P.S. Your Needles can't beat my Taft!  [][][]


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## SODAPOPBOB (Mar 14, 2011)

Hey Kid ~

               Where ya been? Good to hear from you. In response to your reply, consider this ...

                             Is the universe there to "wonder" about or "wander" about?  

                                                       SODA"AMAZED"BOB

                                                                   []

 P.S. ~  There was a "Taft" Big Chief on e-bay the other day. You otta get it. Even if you don't "get" my quizzler above.  Lol


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## cobaltbot (Mar 15, 2011)

Cool post and photos Bob.  I have found over 200 hobbleskirts and continue to dig or pick them up.  Most are from the east.


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## SODAPOPBOB (Mar 15, 2011)

cobalt ~

 Thanks for stopping by. Another interesting side note to the bridge(s) crossing of the Colorado river near Needles is shown in the picture below of Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper from the movie "Easy Rider" made in 1969. As you know, Peter Fonda is the son of Henry Fonda who starred in the 1940 movie "The Grapes of Wrath." In one of my earlier pictures it shows the Joad family crossing the old arch bridge, (which was replaced by a newer bridge in 1966) whereas in the one from "Easy Rider" it shows them crossing the newer bridge on I-40. This father-son connection was no mere coincidence, and the film makers of "Easy Rider" (which was produced and directed by Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper) intentionally created the bridge crossing scene to suggest a "bridging" of the generation gap between the depression era of the 1930s and the 1960s.

 SODA"POP-AND-SON"BOB  []

 P.S. ~  I am eagerly seeking a Barstow, Ca. hobbleskirt if anyone should come across one. Barstow is another small Route 66 town which is located about 120 miles west of Needles. Thanks.


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## SODAPOPBOB (Mar 15, 2011)

Additionally ...

 I am currently working on putting together a list of every e-mail address I can find for the various historical societies - museums - and chambers of commerce along old Route 66 that once had a Coca Cola bottler. My intent is to send each of them an inquiry to see if they can send me information and photos regarding the history of the Coca Cola bottler in their particular town. This sort of information, and especially photos is extremely difficult to find on the internet. If and when I get the requested info I will post a separate thread regarding it. But I anticipate it will take quite a bit of time.

 SPBOB


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## celerycola (Mar 15, 2011)

Some of those histories were in the bottler Fiftieth Anniversary publications published by The Coca-Cola Co. You should see some in Mike Miller's Arizona Bottle Book. Dennis Fewless and Chris Weide should be able to provide information on most of these plants from the '20's to the '60's.


> ORIGINAL:  SODAPOPBOB
> 
> Additionally ...
> 
> ...


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## SODAPOPBOB (Mar 15, 2011)

celery ~

 Thanks a lot. I will definitely look into that. Especially if they have photos of the bottling plants. As they say, "One picture is worth a thousand words." Plus, I heard through the grapevine that Dennis Fewless is supposed to have a 1934 acl of some kind. That would be an added bonus if he does.  

 Bob


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## splante (Mar 15, 2011)

awesome history lesson sodapopbob....every bottle has a story.......


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## SODAPOPBOB (Mar 15, 2011)

splante ~

 Thanks. Below is another tid-bit of a story related to the history of Needles, California. I just wish I could find a photo and some more information related to the Coca Cola bottler from there. But hopefully that will be forthcoming and make this essay complete. []

 SPBOB

 Charles M. Schulz (1922â€“2000) (Creator of Charlie Brown and the "Peanuts" comic characters).






Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on November 26, 1922, Charles M. Schulz was the only child of Dena and Carl Schulz. From birth, comics played an important role in Schulzâ€™s life. At just two days old, an uncle nicknamed him â€œSparkyâ€ after the horse Spark Plug from the _Barney Google_ comic strip, and throughout his youth he and his father shared a Sunday morning ritual reading the funnies. Schulz always knew he wanted to be a cartoonist and was very proud when Ripleyâ€™s newspaper feature, _Believe it or Not_, published his drawing of the family dog in 1937. The Schulz family moved to Needles, California, in the summer of 1929, when Sparky was six years old; they only stayed there for about a year before returning to Minnesota.


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## TheCaliKid (Mar 16, 2011)

> ORIGINAL:  SODAPOPBOB
> 
> Hey Kid ~
> 
> ...


 
 Wow, can you send me the link to it? Is it still for sale?


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## SODAPOPBOB (Mar 16, 2011)

Kid ~

 Here ya go. It closes this evening around 8:30 PM and the bid is currently at $25.00. Good luck and please let us know if you get it.

 SPBOB

 Link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Nice-BIG-CHIEF-COCA-COLA-BOTTLING-Taft-California-/280642150199?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4157935f37


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## TheCaliKid (Mar 17, 2011)

Darn, I come back in here at almost 1 am........too late. 

 That bottle is CLEAN! 


 Sold for $26.85 - not bad. The seller just made about 25 smackers.


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## TheCaliKid (Mar 17, 2011)

Have you seen his site, oldwestbottles.com? Super cool.


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## ktbi (Mar 17, 2011)

Thanks for the Route 66 history Bob.  My wife and I drive a good part of 66 two years ago through California and Arizona.  I've always liked the history.  Will be watching for your bottles.   Ron


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## surfaceone (Mar 17, 2011)

Howdy Bob,

 Thanks for the history and the tour. Been a long time since I've been to Needles.






 "To fans of the Peanuts comic strip, Needles is the home of Snoopyâ€™s famous brother, Spike. Spike can usually seen in the cartoon sitting by a spiky cactus, wearing a hat to protect his fur from the desert sun." From.


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## surfaceone (Mar 17, 2011)

[8D]


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## SODAPOPBOB (Mar 17, 2011)

Thanks to all for the kudos and shared information. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I am currently working on another hobbleskirt Coca Cola bottle I have from Gallup, New Mexico. Eventually I hope to have a hobbleskirt from every bottler along old Route 66 and do a history on each of them. But it will take time, and possibly even years. 

                                                Signed ... "Sparky Jr."   Lol  []  

                             (My apologies for getting off-track here, but what's new?)

 {Below - Snoopy's brother, Spike, who lives in a Saguaro cactus in Needles, California. Shown receiving an invitation to "Snoopy's Reunion" which was a feature cartoon made in 1990, and includes all five of the puppies in Snoopy's family. Plus the link to the cartoon itself if any of you Snoopy fans care to watch it. It is shown in three segments, with Spike's appearence in the 3rd part.} YouTube Link:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAeSTJyDfoY
 [/align]


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