Cokes for half a dime……
Anyone who has seen many of my images has seen a lot of various Coca Cola signs and stuff related to the king of colas. Why do I have such a love for Coca Cola? When I was a little boy back in Harlan, Kentucky, my father was the manager of the local Coca Cola plant. All through out my youth my Dad would bring home boxes of the kinds of Coca Cola stuff that was commonly given away as gifts, Coca Cola pencils, bottle openers, ice picks, playing cards, drinking glasses, serving tays, and tons of other items of the long past, in fact when Coke sold for 5 cents. Many years later when I was “all growd up” as Bruce Willis is fond to say, I was in Atlanta and saw a shop specializing in the sale of Coca Cola memorabilia.
I was shocked at the price they were asking of things that were all too common to me. I picked up a Coca Cola knife which was priced at $29. I asked if people really would pay that much for a Coca Cola knife??!! He said that most of what he had were “reproductions’ of the original items. He went on to say that the real memorabilia went for a lot more, the knives for instance has sold for as much as a hundred dollars. Now my mind was on a roll, back in my Mom’s garage closet, Dad had gone to be with the Lord, were dozens of boxes all filled with “original such times, hundreds of them!
I’ll cut to the chase, I went to a phone and called Mom and asked if we still had all the stuff Dad had in the garage closet. She said she had gotten tired of having to move all those boxes to get to things, and had the garbage men carry them all away! For a short time, I calculated and re-calculated the potential loss, then it dawned on me, I didn’t loose anything. I had a lot of great years with a loving father, got to use some great Coca Cola pencils, and drank my coke from Coca Cola glasses! I had a loving father that loved to bring all that stuff home so he could give it to kids in the neighborhood, or friends that dropped by to visit, something people did back then!!! When I look back on growing up in Harlan, I remember relatives that seemed to always be at the house, big family picnics, hanging out with friends, riding our bicycles all over the hill we lived on, and sleigh riding on winter days! Maybe the real treasure of being my Dad’s son, and my brother’s brother was just the life we lived. What would I have done with a half million dollars anyway!
Blessings,
the pilgrim
This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 5th, 2013 at 6:14 pm
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Would you believe that I found all that stuff buried in the back yard?!! Didn’t think so….Oh well…you are right ….We were (and are) blessed anyway.
Love You Brother
If you ever do let me know! Of course you’re right we had Mom and Dad and each other, treasure enough! Love you to brother!
I’ve heard you tell this story and it never grows old to me. You and Homer we’re blessed beyond measure. A loving family and a father that demonstrated what a healthy relationship to his wife, children and community looks like is almost unheard of any more. But I know you’ve passed it on to your children too, so there is hope for the next generation! Riches beyond millions Bill. Eternal riches that will last forever! Thanks for sharing this.
Thanks for your friendship, Nick!
Gosh, I wish I would have had that inirmoatfon earlier!
Reminds me of a t-shirt I once saw. It said: “I used to be a millionaire but then my Mom threw away all of my baseball cards”
Love it!
A half a million dollars would be nice, but a lifetime of memories….priceless.
Thanks for the reminder of what is truely important.
Your friendship surely is David!
My mom sold all my toys on a rummage sale when I was a teenager. She kind of guilted me into getting rid of it because I was “grown up” and didn’t need that stuff. I look back and that stuff is worth a mint now, especially since I took care of it well. But the real treasure is the memories I had playing with that stuff with my brother, friends, cousins, etc. so I’m content with that. It would have been nice to give some of that to my kids though, but I have great memories with them regardless and I can share the joy of the Lord with them.
Amen!