bottlebugs
Well-Known Member
I was down with a cold this week. Feeling much better. Glad it wasn't covid!
Took some time to appreciate my growing bottle collection and to look
carefully at my new (old) labeled Pepsi. Another mystery to unravel here.
I magnified it greatly and looked for signs of pixillation etc. All good. The only anomalies
are the missing dealer privilege and the oddly subdued gradients at the corners. The label
has aged and the backing glue shows it was put on a very long time ago.
Here is a repro of the 1940 label. Very well done. Fooled even me back in the day. It was
released in the 1970s and put on actual bottles which were plentiful and cheap back then.
Even now, 50 years later, most of the labels are still sparkling white. My label has the aging
of a 90 year old label.
The missing dealer privilege was my first clue to follow. Only Pepsi marketing literature and sales
samples had this odd design. I am beginning to think Pepsi was revamping their label in late 1941.
They had steadily made simplifications that removed the old fashioned motos and designs of
the 1930s. The neck labels were redesigned to remove the logo and the gradient. The slogans got
shorter and shorter as the 1930s came to an end. It was definitely time to update the body label.
If you examine the ads etc. you'll see that strange anomaly. "12 OUNCES" There was always room
for the dealer privilege on the actual signs (above) and bottle labels - except this one. I was lucky
enough to find some marketing books that salesmen brought with them to visit prospective or
existing clients to display their latest innovations. I was in sales for 20 years. Our company made us
do exactly the same thing. Was Pepsi getting ready to streamline their body label to match the neck?
I think so. The entry into WW2 on December 7, 1941 changed all that. A new red white and blue label
set was released in 1942. It was simplified in the exact same order. They changed the neck later in
1942 to the swirl design and then changed the body in 1943 to the matching swirl. This is my theory.
Took some time to appreciate my growing bottle collection and to look
carefully at my new (old) labeled Pepsi. Another mystery to unravel here.
I magnified it greatly and looked for signs of pixillation etc. All good. The only anomalies
are the missing dealer privilege and the oddly subdued gradients at the corners. The label
has aged and the backing glue shows it was put on a very long time ago.
Here is a repro of the 1940 label. Very well done. Fooled even me back in the day. It was
released in the 1970s and put on actual bottles which were plentiful and cheap back then.
Even now, 50 years later, most of the labels are still sparkling white. My label has the aging
of a 90 year old label.
The missing dealer privilege was my first clue to follow. Only Pepsi marketing literature and sales
samples had this odd design. I am beginning to think Pepsi was revamping their label in late 1941.
They had steadily made simplifications that removed the old fashioned motos and designs of
the 1930s. The neck labels were redesigned to remove the logo and the gradient. The slogans got
shorter and shorter as the 1930s came to an end. It was definitely time to update the body label.
If you examine the ads etc. you'll see that strange anomaly. "12 OUNCES" There was always room
for the dealer privilege on the actual signs (above) and bottle labels - except this one. I was lucky
enough to find some marketing books that salesmen brought with them to visit prospective or
existing clients to display their latest innovations. I was in sales for 20 years. Our company made us
do exactly the same thing. Was Pepsi getting ready to streamline their body label to match the neck?
I think so. The entry into WW2 on December 7, 1941 changed all that. A new red white and blue label
set was released in 1942. It was simplified in the exact same order. They changed the neck later in
1942 to the swirl design and then changed the body in 1943 to the matching swirl. This is my theory.
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