# Hunting old soda advertising signs



## morbious_fod (Sep 26, 2009)

While the trip to the dump was the main objective of the day, a side project was also in the works as well. Remembering some of the fading soda advertising we had passed last time I came armed with a camera this time, and found some great old fading soda advertising to take pictures of. 







 Here is a RC Cola sign from the 1970's. If you look closely you will see it's 1960's counter part starting to bleed through after being painted over all those years ago.


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## morbious_fod (Sep 26, 2009)

On the otherside of this building is this beauty, an Upper 10 from the late 1950's and 1960's. You don't see Upper 10 signs all that often, a great find.


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## morbious_fod (Sep 26, 2009)

This was the second reason I brought my camera. I really liked this sign the first time I saw it, it's a truly great sign that has a certain air about it, plus it's freaking huge and covers the entire second story of the store. 






 Yet again there's another earlier incarnation fading through.


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## morbious_fod (Sep 26, 2009)

I had actually forgotten about this one being on the side of Toney's store. I can't believe I did but it happened. This, and it's cousin on the other side of this store my be the last signs left from the Sun Rise Bottling Company of Tazewell, VA. It is a Rhythm Punch, which was their own local brand, sign, and I about fell over when I rediscovered this gem. Of course I had to get a picture of this fading treasure.


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## morbious_fod (Sep 26, 2009)

While not a painted on sign, I thought that this was an interesting rusted 7-Up sign over the garage door. Most likely this sign came from the Richlands 7-up bottling company.


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## morbious_fod (Sep 26, 2009)

One of the metal signs was saved from the store by one of the original owner's sons. I met him and he was kind enough to let me take a picture of it. It's a beautiful Dr. Pepper sign from the 1940's. I would love to find one of these in good shape some day. He also told me that there used to be two large Coca-Cola button signs on the building as well but his brother got those down and one of them ended up being destroyed. I would have loved to seen this building in it's heyday, completely covered in soda advertising I bet it was a sight to see.


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## wonkapete (Sep 26, 2009)

Great stuff man!!  I love taking pics like this too.  That DP sign reminds me of a Coke sign I have from my grandfather's old store.  It has old rusty initials carved all in it.  When I got it from him, my parents were great help decipering all the initials since it was a small comunnity, they knew everyone.  While not in mint condition, it's priceless cause it's so personal.  Great stuff!


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## madman (Sep 26, 2009)

hey joe great stuff there thanks for sharing!!!!!


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## morbious_fod (Sep 26, 2009)

> ORIGINAL:  wonkapete
> 
> Great stuff man!!  I love taking pics like this too.  That DP sign reminds me of a Coke sign I have from my grandfather's old store.  It has old rusty initials carved all in it.  When I got it from him, my parents were great help decipering all the initials since it was a small comunnity, they knew everyone.  While not in mint condition, it's priceless cause it's so personal.  Great stuff!


 
 I particularly like the bullet holes in the sign, an yes being in the backwoods of Tazewell County those are bullet holes, buck shot, or at least pellets or bbs. Crazy bunch of sign shootin' rednecks in that part of the woods. You can also see some initals in that sign as well. It was real nice to relive the history of a store like that.


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## morbious_fod (Sep 26, 2009)

I don't know if I had posted these or not, but I'm always looking for a good sign when I'm out looking for these old bottler locations, and here are a few that I have found. 






 This one is in Johnson City, Tenn. and is older than the 1920's because in a picture from that era you can see what was sticking out of the sign while the building that was beside this one was still there.


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## morbious_fod (Sep 26, 2009)

Here is the picture I'm talking about from the Johnson's Depot site. http://www.johnsonsdepot.com/ 







 Yep that's the exact same sign.


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## morbious_fod (Sep 26, 2009)

Same sign different angle. Actually this picture was from my first sighting of the sign.


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## morbious_fod (Sep 26, 2009)

Bristol has a couple of hidden Coca-Cola signs. The building that sits in front of this one was built around 1913, which tells you how old this one is. You can't even get a straight on shot of this one due to the alley between the buildings being so small.


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## morbious_fod (Sep 26, 2009)

This is a more modern Coca-Cola sign in Bristol, Va.


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## morbious_fod (Sep 26, 2009)

Here's one from Bluefield VA.


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## morbious_fod (Sep 26, 2009)

Another from Johnson City. Actually this one is straight across the street from the first one.


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## morbious_fod (Sep 26, 2009)

One from Pocahontas, VA.


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## morbious_fod (Sep 26, 2009)

Here's the third Bristol Coca-Cola sign. I really wish that they would repaint this one back to it's original condition, I would lend some history to historical Bristol. All it takes is some paint and some volunteers, or heck talk the local Coca-Cola company into doing it.


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## morbious_fod (Sep 26, 2009)

I have another running around somewhere. It's a Pepsi sign that has faded and peeled away to reveal a Red Rock Cola sign underneath. I'll have to dig it up. I even talked to the guy that had the store and he said he wanted to restore the sign to which I replied that he should restore the Red Rock Cola sign not the 70's era Pepsi that had been painted over it.


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## morbious_fod (Sep 26, 2009)

I forgot about this one. This sign which you have to look very hard to see was painted on the side of the Nehi Bottling Plant in Bluefield, VA. You can barely make out Nehi and Par-T-Pak, and RC Cola is almost completely gone.


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## wonkapete (Sep 26, 2009)

Great stuff, once again!  There's an old faded '20s Coke sign painted on a building in Georgiana, Alabama.  I thought I had a pic of it somewhere but can't find it.  I'll have to take a new pic of it when I'm up that way.


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## madman (Sep 27, 2009)

killer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## LC (Sep 27, 2009)

This is a good post . I love the old signs . I have seen quite a few of the vintage painted five cent Coca Cola signs on various buildings in  my area of the country Joseph , but I do not recall seeing any others as for the painted on the wall variety . I have seen other metal signs on buildings over the years though .

 I found this sign on the roof of an out building at my home place while replacing the roof . Has probably a hundred holes in it from nails . Why was it under the shingles , I have no idea , being there was no hole that needed patching where I removed it from . Anyone have any idea as to the age of this sign ? The house is a Sears & Roebuck house , one of those that had the numbered pieces that you put together from a blue print . The house was built in 1927 , I am not sure when the building was built , I am guessing pretty much about the same time .


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## morbious_fod (Sep 27, 2009)

I'm not sure when they used the R-J on the bottles. It may be late 1940's or early 1950's. I could be completely wrong as well.

 Update: I just checked Petretti's Soda Pop book and they have a sign in there that is very similar to yours that they claim is from the 1950's and the R-J thing was bing used in the late 1940's as well so I seems that I am right.


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## LC (Sep 27, 2009)

Thanks Joseph , my guess was late forties or early fifties , so I guess I was not all that far off either . I have seen you post a lot of your acl sodas on here , I always enjoy the posts . I have quite a few of them myself , actually bought a good sized building full of them a few years back , sold many of them on ebay . If I can get the time this fall I will try and go through mine and try posting them to see if possibly I have a few you do not have . Thanks for the reply , Lou


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## morbious_fod (Sep 27, 2009)

Check out my website if you enjoy seeing my acl bottles, I have started a new section where I am posting pictures of my collection that aren't local bottles. I have the Mountain Dew, Mountain Dew Imitators, and Cheerwine pages already up. And my Dr. Enuf story page has all my Dr. Enuf bottles posted on it.


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## LC (Sep 27, 2009)

I will do so .


 FOLLOW UP : Just spent time going through your bottle site Joseph , I can see you spent some time on this project . Great emphasis on the Mountain Dew section . I found the article section interesting as well .


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## morbious_fod (Sep 27, 2009)

Thanks for the kind words, glad you liked it.


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## sodapops (Sep 29, 2009)

really neat photos there morbious, I would love to find some signs from Oklahoma bottlers either metal or on a building. In all my 30+ years of collecting, I have never found a metal sign from a local bottler. Surely they advertised their soda! Man it would be so cool to find a "Kidds Cola" or a "Jay Kola" sign of any kind! both Oklahoma bottlers.


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## Duane73 (Oct 1, 2009)

I thought I would add a contribution to this thread with a littl bit from my home town...Young Brothers Pharmacy has been in business since 1881...Coca-Cola has been sold in the pharmacy in one form or another almost as long...The building sits on the west side of the old Western & Atlantic railroad which was a very busy passenger route from Atlanta to Chattanooga...A Coke salesman doing business with the Pharmacy thought the east wall of the building would be a great place for advertisment since it was in plain view from the railroad tracks...So sometime in 1894 he asked for permission to paint the wall..This would be the first outdoor Coca-Cola advertisement in the world...Not being a professional sign painter he made one mistake, he left out the "i" in the word drink..Which he squeezed in on his next trip to town or so I was told..I worked here for about three years while in college...The coolest thing I found rambling around in that old building was an 1930's ear Walter "Big Train" Johnson autograph baseball..Any way here is the restored sign...Restored in 1990 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places..


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## Duane73 (Oct 1, 2009)

close up


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## sammathew (May 15, 2012)

In earlier days, putting advertising signs on the wall was a way to advertise your product or business. Although, it is illegal now to advertise on public walls but still there are many places where advertising is done on wall.


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## morbious_fod (May 15, 2012)

> ORIGINAL:  Duane73
> 
> close up


 
 Very nice. Thanks for sharing that.


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## Uncle_Jarvis (May 15, 2012)

Here are some pre 1920s pics I dug up


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## celerycola (May 15, 2012)

Anyone else have pictures of a Celery=Cola sign? The bottles in the window are hutches.


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## celerycola (May 15, 2012)

How about a Celery-Ade sign in Tennessee?


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## celerycola (May 15, 2012)

Cel-I-Ko in North Carolina.


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## celerycola (May 15, 2012)

Celo in Florida. The baseball player sign on the in the window is Dazzy Vance.


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## hemihampton (May 15, 2012)

Here'a coke painted on wall in Scottsboro Alabama. I remember seeing another one in Roanoke Virginia but didn't get a pic. LEON.


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## celerycola (May 15, 2012)

Why do the crates have McMinnville Tenn?


> ORIGINAL:  Uncle_Jarvis
> 
> Here are some pre 1920s pics I dug up


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## flasherr (May 15, 2012)

Fredericksburg Texas


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## Wheelah23 (May 15, 2012)

Not technically soda... But it's a local advertising sign. John Giblin was a local bottler from around 1910.


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## ncbred (May 16, 2012)

Couple I took in the NC mountains last year...


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## morbious_fod (May 16, 2012)

> ORIGINAL:  Uncle_Jarvis
> 
> Here are some pre 1920s pics I dug up


 
 Gee that picture looks familiar. LOL!


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## morbious_fod (May 16, 2012)

Nice signs guys.


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## peterjhon (Jun 14, 2012)

These Soda advertising signs are good. It is very rare to find these advertising signs while companied are moving to digital sign boards and LED display sign board.


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## sodapops (Jun 14, 2012)

I have being looking for someone to paint a sign on the side of my restaurant for years, theres just not anyone that does that kinda stuff anymore.


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## SODAPOPBOB (Jun 19, 2012)

Morb ~

 Cool idea regarding old soda pop signage. Speaking of which, I have been looking for an enlarged image of this picture which claims to be of the very first Coca Cola bottler in Chattanooga, Tennessee from 1899. But this dinky version is the only one I have been able to find. I have even tried to enlarge it myself but for some reason have been unable to. If anyone has a larger format of this old photo I would sure like to see it.

 Thanks.

 SPBOB

 http://www.chattanoogacocacola.com/history.asp


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## aldismiller (Jul 26, 2012)

Very interesting post.. these advertisements are now rarely found . These ads took you to the childhood. Isn't????


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## morbious_fod (Jul 27, 2012)

> ORIGINAL:  sodapops
> 
> I have being looking for someone to paint a sign on the side of my restaurant for years, theres just not anyone that does that kinda stuff anymore.


 
 I think they have given it up for billboards.


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## LC (Jul 27, 2012)

Best I could do Bob , still kind of blurry , not enough pixels to be able to enlarge it .


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## madman (Jul 28, 2012)

here one i spotted in waterville ohio


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## madman (Jul 28, 2012)

here it is


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## madman (Jul 28, 2012)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30165907@N06/5104969935/lightbox/


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## epackage (Jul 28, 2012)

.


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## epackage (Jul 28, 2012)

.


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## epackage (Jul 28, 2012)

Fountain Service at your home, what would this vehicle be worth today???


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## SODAPOPBOB (Jul 28, 2012)

LC ~

 Thanks for the resized picture of the 1899 Chattanooga plant. You'd think there would be a lot more of that particular picture on the Internet because of it's historical significance. But the one I posted is the only example I have ever been able to find. 

 Bob

 Here's another oldie but goody and the grandaddy of all store signage ...

 Painting of Jacob's Pharmacy - Atlanta, Georgia - Where Coca Cola was first served on May 8, 1886.  

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca-Cola


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## madman (Jul 29, 2012)

> ORIGINAL:  epackage
> 
> .


nice!


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## bloodj2 (Aug 1, 2012)

Mer-Mer's bakery 617 North Gay St. Knoxville


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## aldismiller (Aug 3, 2012)

Awesome work Guys!!!!


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## TheCaliKid (Aug 5, 2012)

Signs? I think I'd refer to them as brick murals, lol.


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## aldismiller (Aug 8, 2012)

At that time these brick murals were only the technique available for outdoor advertising!!


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## surfaceone (Aug 8, 2012)

> At that time these brick murals were only the technique available for outdoor advertising!!


 
 Hello Aldis,

 You seem to be in the business. Perhaps there were other techniques, as well, eh...


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## SODAPOPBOB (Aug 8, 2012)

U.S. Billboard Origins In 1830â€™s
 http://www.oaaa.org/about/historyofoutdoor.aspx


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## M.C.Glass (Aug 13, 2012)

This "ghost sign" is what actually got me interested in old bottles.


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## daved123 (Aug 31, 2012)

That time, brick murals enough for advertising. But now we can use many different technique used to improve our business.

Benefits of outdoor sign-age


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## hemihampton (Sep 2, 2012)

I love the old Faygo wall sign. Reminds me of my rare Faygo can. LEON.


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## madman (Sep 2, 2012)

> ORIGINAL:  MCglass
> 
> This "ghost sign" is what actually got me interested in old bottles.


that faygo sign is killer!


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## Wheelah23 (Sep 3, 2012)

Faygo today... [8D]


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## morbious_fod (Sep 6, 2012)

Yeah, much has changed in the history of Faygo.....LOL!


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## logueb (Sep 6, 2012)

Here's a Chero Cola that was repainted several years ago.


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## celerycola (Sep 6, 2012)

*RE: OT Speaking of Faygo*

Currently on Fleabay:

 http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Faygo-Advertising-sign-RARE-/00/s/MTAyNFg3Njg=/$(KGrHqJHJ!wE+TpmwVU-BQSR4,g-hw~~60_57.JPG




> ORIGINAL:  madman
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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