bottlebugs
Well-Known Member
I lucked out yesterday. I won an online auction in Montreal. It was a total fluke. My autocorrect
function sent me to the wrong site which was an auction house in Montreal. It had only one
item of interest - KIK Kola bottle caps. They are older than anything I have ever seen before,
and predate my earliest KIK item. They also sort of confirm a theory I had as to the origin of the
name KIK. I analyzed all the information and came to the conclusion that KIK was founded in
around 1911, places unknown. Other experts on this subject may or may not agree, but an article
in a Miami newspaper from 1941 not once but twice indicated a 30 year history of the brand.
In the photo below of the caps, you will notice the strange font and lettering. K and K (Koca-Kola?)
are separated by a small letter "I". The bottle that matches them surely predates the use of an
American Dry of Canada bottle too. I am currently searching for a 1926-1930 Orange-Bloom bottle
in the 7 oz. size.
Now the same member found an article about KIK concentrate being supplied to the New York
parent organization. At first I found this to be hard to digest, until the 1911 date was shown to
be probable. Delatour, the founder of the America Dry Corporation in NYC was not an experienced
soda manufacturer like his grandparents and uncles. He designed and made ladies' hats. He struggled to make it on his own and sought out a manufacturer in Montreal named Lazarus Bloom. The widow of a Delatour family member had been in Passaic NJ for a family wedding and met an relative of Bloom, whose family member was getting married. Was this just around the 1926 founding date of Orange-Bloom company of Montreal? It looks like a deal was struck. Delatour died just before 1930 and subsequently a Canadian arm of the America Dry company was founded in Montreal, who became the new bottlers of all Orange-Bloom products. How convenient; barrels of concentrate were being shipped to NYC at the height of American prohibition. Bootleggers used these companies to ship 100 proof grain alcohol to the dry cities in the US. Imagine a barrel labeled K/K being used to contain contraband?
I'll bet it had a KIK!
function sent me to the wrong site which was an auction house in Montreal. It had only one
item of interest - KIK Kola bottle caps. They are older than anything I have ever seen before,
and predate my earliest KIK item. They also sort of confirm a theory I had as to the origin of the
name KIK. I analyzed all the information and came to the conclusion that KIK was founded in
around 1911, places unknown. Other experts on this subject may or may not agree, but an article
in a Miami newspaper from 1941 not once but twice indicated a 30 year history of the brand.
In the photo below of the caps, you will notice the strange font and lettering. K and K (Koca-Kola?)
are separated by a small letter "I". The bottle that matches them surely predates the use of an
American Dry of Canada bottle too. I am currently searching for a 1926-1930 Orange-Bloom bottle
in the 7 oz. size.
Now the same member found an article about KIK concentrate being supplied to the New York
parent organization. At first I found this to be hard to digest, until the 1911 date was shown to
be probable. Delatour, the founder of the America Dry Corporation in NYC was not an experienced
soda manufacturer like his grandparents and uncles. He designed and made ladies' hats. He struggled to make it on his own and sought out a manufacturer in Montreal named Lazarus Bloom. The widow of a Delatour family member had been in Passaic NJ for a family wedding and met an relative of Bloom, whose family member was getting married. Was this just around the 1926 founding date of Orange-Bloom company of Montreal? It looks like a deal was struck. Delatour died just before 1930 and subsequently a Canadian arm of the America Dry company was founded in Montreal, who became the new bottlers of all Orange-Bloom products. How convenient; barrels of concentrate were being shipped to NYC at the height of American prohibition. Bootleggers used these companies to ship 100 proof grain alcohol to the dry cities in the US. Imagine a barrel labeled K/K being used to contain contraband?
I'll bet it had a KIK!
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