i've been outta the killoggs loop a bit too long, so i thought i'd fill everyone in on what i've been up to and how i've moved and may soon move again and how my job is less than fun and how things have all changed since we last spoke, but instead, i thought i'd share with you a short story about a man and a belt buckle.
i'm always on the lookout for strange belt buckles. a few months back, i found a gentleman who had an interesting looking bronze buckle with a nun on the front, and Drink Coca-Cola in the fancy Coca-Cola script. on the back it said A Coca-Cola Creation, Trans-Pan Exposition San Francisco, 1915. here's a photo of said belt buckle:
it looked mighty interestin' and strange and all, havin' a nun on it, so i bought it. afterwards, the gentleman i purchased it from told me the story of how he bought the buckle in an coke collector's magazine in 1978 from one robert hope. he told me after talking to the man on the phone for awhile, he mentioned how the man on the other end sounded familiar. 'if i didn't know better...' he said to the man. 'with that voice, and that name, you sound like that comedian.' bob hope answered 'well, i might just be that comedian'
i don't know whether the story is true or not, but he told me after i had already purchased it, and either way, it makes a nice story. after researching the buckle some more, i found out Coca-Cola never put such a thing out (although some claim they did, and got in hot water and disassociated themselves from it). so it may be a fake, it may be real, it may be from bob hope, it may not. in any case, it's funny.
sonny [email] said at 3:43 AM 08-26-2003: I had seen the artist Manwoman's picture of this brass piece in Juxtapoze a few years back
http://www.manwoman.net/swastika/swastika2.html
In 1925 Coca Cola made a lucky watch fob in the shape of a swastika with the slogan, "Drink Coca Cola five cents in bottles. When I phoned the Coke Archives in Atlanta, Georgia they denied even having one in their collection.
scott [email] said at 8:19 PM 08-26-2003: i wonder if they denied making it, as well as claiming they didn't have it in their collection. i don't see why they would. in 1925 the symbol's meaning wasn't quite the same as it was a decade or so later. hitler was just getting out of jail in 1925 after his failed munich beer hall overthrow attempt. then again, it would be easier for coca cola co. to just claim ignorance and not deal with it.
sonny [email] said at 3:49 AM 08-26-2003: everyone should take pictures of their belt buckles and put them in this post. It is a great show-and-tell opp cause it's not a competition cause the Coke-Nun is the best belt buckle ever
ed [email] said at 8:04 AM 08-26-2003: My belt buckle is the most plain, utilitarian buckle ever. It's boring. Unlike the nun-boobie goodness of Scott's new buckle!
kevin [email] said at 2:40 PM 08-26-2003: The Great Coca-Cola Conspiracy:
The New Coke campaign of the early 80's was considered one of the biggest marketing failures ever. Well, it's not. It is in fact one of the most brilliant and immoral marketing strategies in history. This is all true, just look on any can of Coke.
In the 1980's when Bill Cosby declared that Coke would change it's formula, it was a huge scam to save Coke money. You see, the Coca-Cola corporation never dreamed that people would like New Coke. What they wanted was to release a substitute Coke product with a noticeably different taste. They would keep this on the market until all of the old Coke was sold and people couldn't get it anymore.
Eventually, Coke co. claimed (quite rightly) that people missed old Coke and demanded it's return. As a consequence, Coke vowed to rerelease the original Coke as Coke Classic. They never did. What they did do was bring back the original recipe, but with (significantly cheaper) corn syrup instead of sugar.
Everyone would have noticed if they had just made the switch directly. Coke would have been forced to return to the original, more expensive, product. But since Classic Coke tasted passably similar to old Coke, people just assumed it was the same, since no one had had any in so long.
So now you can only get original Coke in the US on Passover (look for Kosher for Passover Coke from about mid March, it will either say KP, or just look for Hebrew letters). Since corn is not kosher for Passover, they release the true original formula with sugar.
kevin [email] said at 3:08 PM 08-26-2003: hmm.. umm.... uh...if bob says IMMORAL! then yes! bob says so. do not question. enjoy. obey. and remember: coke adds life. yee!
Michael said at 3:32 PM 08-26-2003: Hmm. Marketing is preception, no more. Using words like honesty when you're describing subjective perception is pretty iffy. Think about it this way: you buy coke for the taste. You bought it when it was old coke, and you buy it now that its classic coke. You like it just fine - you keep buying it, anyway. Are you being cheated in any way, really? Not really. The guys at coke were presented with an operational reality that their cost of inputs could be altered to their distinct advantage, but with a slight taste difference. Somebody with a knack for public perception came up with the 'real options' approach of New Coke as a marketing ploy, they ran scenario analysis to determine if the ruse was cost-effective, came back with a positive answer, and from there its just business. I don't think its immoral. If they had made the drink particularly different in terms of health effects, caloric intake, or similar, then obviously you have to disclose that or it is immoral. Otherwise I think its just a pretty nifty marketing gambit.
brandon [email] said at 3:10 PM 08-26-2003: If you really want to dig and get nutty you can link the corn syrup switch over thing to a northern Chicagoland rendering plant run by a sympathizer of Daley's machine, ADM, Dwayne Andreas, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and Kennedy's Assassination.
From which you can conclude that ADM installed Kennedy as president because of his anti-drug convictions and Daley's support of the Cocaine trade. Andreas was on more than friendly terms with N. Khrushchev and had often dreamt of becoming a pirate. ADM's message was: "If you don't allows us to empty our silo's of corn syrup, we shall empty the nations silos of ICBMs instead."
bryan said at 3:34 PM 08-26-2003: Not entirely true.
New Coke was bad, for sure. And they brought back Coke Classic, yeah. With corn syrup. But this is not as conspiratorial as it sounds. It goes way back, and is the result of a classic case of boardroom distraction.
Coke lost huge amounts of market share to Pepsi in the early 80s because mgmt was bogged down in court battles with its bottlers. See, old Coke bottling contracts issued in the early 1900s froze the price of certain ingredients in perpetuity to make bottling Coke a great proposition to entrepreneurs. Not only did it help Coke spread all over America, but it also established ultra-rich bottling families because the contracts could be passed down forever or sold. Dozens of families lived for years in major riches, doing nothing, subcontracting the work and living off free profits. They made more and more money, and certain ingredients stayed at 1920's levels.
Coke couldn’t afford this by the late 70s when actual ingredient prices (including sugar) finally rose above the prices charged to Coke bottlers. The company was essentially self-liquidating. By 1983-84, when Coke finally unscrewed itself and shed hundreds of lawyers, management was not skewed toward the future. Pepsi, meanwhile, had taken America by storm through brilliant marketing and for the first time, its market share outstripped Coke’s. Faced with increasing shareholder discontent, Coke had to act fast. They didn't have time for long-term relationship building and brand overhaul.
They decided to update the taste of Coke. Chemists tried dozens of formulas on hundreds of test groups, and settled on the most-preferred taste. (The tests were all over the methodological map: New Coke against Coke, against Pepsi, against other formulas, etc.) When world market share points are measured in billions, the testing conclusions promised much. It's hard to ignore billions, and besides, somehow they had to beat Pepsi.
When it was tested, nobody thought to ask the participants how they would feel if Coke went away. And the “Summer of New Coke” was a DISASTER. There’s plenty of interesting stuff to read on the culture shock. Really riveting. Anyway, the CEO and President of Coke made an ultra-rare public apology (mirrored only before by Chrysler and Tylenol execs) and brought back Coke Classic, to be supplemented by Coke II. While the execs thought this was a solution that would both keep old customers and also beat Pepsi, Coke II didn’t do so hot over the years. It hasn’t been available widely in a long time, although it’s still made. (Haven’t looked to find out where to buy in the US - anyone?)
Why does Coke Classic use corn syrup? While researching the Pepsi-ish New Coke/Coke II, they discovered that corn syrup mixed better, was easier to handle, didn’t carmelize or grain in the equipment, and was cheaper. It was also available from a wider variety of suppliers and the price was less volatile.
The use of corn syrup is not mandated to the bottlers, however, who can use either or both. In Mexico most Coke is made with cane sugar, for example, but can also contain corn syrup. They didn’t produce New Coke to make the switch, they 1) weren’t that smart and 2) weren’t thinking about it.
While the above explanation makes sense to conspiratorially minded consumers, corn syrup makes financial sense for so many reasons that Coke can afford to ignore anyone who cares – and any Coke manager who can remain anonymous will tell you exactly that.
kevin [email] said at 3:48 PM 08-26-2003: can't we just have conspiracy talk here? dammmit! i mean without gettin' all bob brinker econ on me yo. hehhee... jk. you make sense sir, but you are not as much fun as bob rosenberg. bring back art bell!
Michael said at 3:52 PM 08-26-2003: OK. but i do want to point out that I tried to initiate a conspiracy dialogue over the whole "blackout" thing and nobody wanted to play ball. Anyway, of course anybody who suggests that Coke is not affiliated with the Illuminati is naive at best, or one of Them at worst.
brandon [email] said at 3:56 PM 08-26-2003: Jeez, that's such an obvious point. How could the hypno-suggestive qualities of fluoride be of any use in turning us away from the God of Moses if they hadn't embedded us with nanotransponders first? Since nanotech wears out quickly, what better way is there to keep redosing us than soft drinks? Do you think I don't know about timecube, fool? Do you think I was educated stupid by greenwich time lie?
brandon [email] said at 4:56 PM 08-26-2003: Correction. I had you at Fluoride. For the rest of your life, you'll carry a Brandon-sheped hole in your heart. Prepare yourself well for interminable, crepuscular sighing!
bryan said at 3:54 PM 08-26-2003: yeah, that wuz pretty dry. I was going to post an alias just to "keep it real".
I loved Art Bell... On 9/11, my brother called us in a panic because he was stuck in the desert near Parumph and the only radio he could get was Art Bell. "What the hell's going on? Are we being invaded by aliens or the Cubans? I have no real news here!"
brandon [email] said at 3:58 PM 08-26-2003: I was intensely sad when Art Bell left and the station replaced the show with a nightly plea for slavery reparations.
brandon [email] said at 3:39 PM 08-26-2003: Several mexican owned liquor stores in Roger's Park in Chicago, IL. Try the one on Clark across the street from the Blockbuster and cowboy apparel stores.
Several places in Mississippi.
I'm trying to remember where else I saw it... ah, it was a supermercado, also in RP.
jerry clark said at 3:50 PM 01-22-2004: Hello,
I have a 1915 Coca Cola solid brass Belt Buckle Depicting a Nun there is a slide you pull to reveal her nude, it is embossed on the back the 1915 Sanfransisco exposition.
Have a look on EBay uk it's in pounds sterling and currently at £20.00, My member name is, Falmouthantiques
kara [email] said at 4:30 PM 01-22-2004: Thu, 22 Jan 2004 16:28:18 -0500 [04:28:18 PM EST]
From:
Kara Mae
To:
clarkandsons@btconnect.com
Subject:
Re: Coca Cola Auction
Headers:
Show All Headers
You are a stupid asshole.
jerry clark said at 01-22-2004 2:50 PM:
Hello,
I have a 1915 Coca Cola solid brass Belt Buckle Depicting a Nun there is a
slide you pull to reveal her nude, it is embossed on the back the 1915
Sanfransisco exposition.
Have a look on EBay uk it's in pounds sterling and currently at £20.00, My
member name is, Falmouthantiques
1915 Coca Cola Belt Buckle Nude Nun SanFran
Thank you
Jerry Clark
[Reply to this] [#92545] [ip: logged]
jerry clark said at 3:55 PM 01-22-2004: Hello,
I have a 1915 Coca Cola solid brass Belt Buckle Depicting a Nun there is a slide you pull to reveal her nude, it is embossed on the back the 1915 Sanfransisco exposition.
Have a look on EBay uk it's in pounds sterling and currently at £20.00, My member name is, Falmouthantiques
josh [email] said at 4:09 PM 01-22-2004: The crazy thing is, since his responses are to another response, NOT from the form at the bottom of the page, he had to have reloaded the little popup window that you get when you post a response. Why would anyone do that?
I wonder if perhaps this is a bot/service that lets you advertise your auctions by searching for blog entries and then posting on them? That is unlikely, but a good idea.
well, hello jerry clark, please don't reload this page again, thank you very much.
The crazy thing is, since his responses are to another response, NOT from theform at the bottom of the page, he hadto have reloaded the little popupwindow that you get when you post a response. Why would anyone do that? wonder if perhaps this is a bot/service that lets you advertise your auctions by searching for blog entries and then posting on them? That is unlikely, but a good idea.Excellent idea. If it doesn't exist you shouldcreateitandthebotfoundsomethingtalkingaboutheexactsameitethatithisobscure?
josh. said at 4:42 PM 01-22-2004: That's what I'm saying - a bot that searches for people on blogs talking about the ebay items you have to sell, then responds to those blogs saying "I have this for sale on ebay".
kiche [email] said at 4:47 PM 01-22-2004: ummm... the search terms here seem like they'd be to vague, i mean, this is the exact same item, and it's really obscure.
josh. said at 5:16 PM 01-22-2004: THATS WHAT I'M SAYING, KICHE.
Example : I have a 1967 copy of Superman #143 for sale. I list it on ebay. I get a bot to search for blogs where the words "Superman #143 1967" are mentioned. The bot then responds to that blog and mentions the 1967 copy of Superman that I am selling, and links back to eBay.
And again, I doubt that is the case here. But I think it is a good idea and will happen - bots searching blogs with the idea of posting responses that are ads.
scott [email] said at 10:23 PM 08-27-2003: wow, those rule! the jesus and mary buckle is pretty impressive. what are the two to the right of that one? kinda looks like an octopus and a ship, and i can't make out the other one. or the one below it...
let's see some more, killoggians! i need a pic of my hank williams sr belt buckle. oh yeah, and my redneck mother buckle. and angie, when you get back you should take some pics of yours.
myriam said at 9:04 PM 09-06-2003: these are seriously impressive. i didn't know that belt buckles like this existed! not a thing we have in CA. it's so cool to see things you never knew about before!
angie said at 12:19 PM 09-06-2003: I just took a picture of my collection last night, so as soon as I figure out how to get my pictures onto my computer I'll post mine. They range from Misfits to real German WWII buckles. I'm pretty proud, although impressed with Sonny's collection.
jeff [email] said at 1:43 PM 09-06-2003: My favorite ownzed belt buckle is my "Reagan-Bush 1980" brass buckle. I used to wear this around high school when I went on a hick buckle kick for a few weeks. The others aren't noteworthy, but that one was pretty cool.
Ron said at 11:05 AM 10-06-2003: Well I did it. I bought a buckle with the coca-cola nun/nude. I have found one at my local collectables swapmeet and could not resist buying it. I just do not know now where to find a belt for the thing. May have to journey to mexico and have one made maybe with red and white coke lettering around it. Though the buckle is a bit tall to wear.
Still trying to find more detail as to the history of the buckle. Any one with details of when and where these were made.
pokey [email] said at 11:16 AM 10-06-2003: I just bought a chainsaw beltbuckle. The body of the saw is red and I put it on a red leather studded belt. Someday, I will take a picture and post it here, now that I can!
sassy said at 5:12 PM 04-06-2004: according to the antiques road show i was watching---anything you are holding in your hand that coca cola denies---
example; lighter that plays dixie circa 1960's is worth money. $3,500.00 to $4,000.00. so the question is how much is a naked nun coca cola belt buckle worth from 1915 sanfrancisco expo?
kara [email] said at 5:33 PM 04-06-2004: this is going to be one of those posts that keeps rising from the dead.
Lady, there is one of these belt buckes on ebay every month.
ed [email] said at 5:46 PM 04-06-2004: Damnit, Kara... stop flooding the market! If you hold on to the sweet, sweet boobiebuckles, the price will go up, and THEN you can sell 'em for a killing. It's the 'merican way.
kiche [email] said at 6:24 PM 04-06-2004: He was born in Oklahoma
And his wife's name is Betty Lou Thelma Liz
He's not responsible for what he's doing
His mother made him what he is
And it's up against the wall, redneck mother
Mother who has raised her son so well
He's 34 and drinkin' in some honky tonk
Kickin' hippies' asses and raisin' hell.
Sure does like his Falstaff Beer
He likes to chase it down with that Wild Turkey Liquor
He's got a '57 GMC pickup truck
Got a gun rack
"A Goat Roper needs love too" sticker
And it's up against the wall, redneck mother
Mother who has raised her son so well
He's 34 and drinkin' in some honky tonk
Kickin' hippies' asses and raisin' hell.
M is for the mud flaps she gave me for my pickup truck
O is for the oil I put on my hair
T is for T-Bird
H is for Haggard
E is for Eggs
R is for Redneck
And it's up against the wall, redneck mother
Mother who has raised her son so well
He's 34 and drinkin' in some honky tonk
Kickin' hippies' asses and raisin' hell.
manbeef [email] said at 2:00 AM 01-18-2005: that bot/guy said its worth 20 pounds. but i think its priceless. the idea of dirty-joke advertising became a thing of the past before i was born. why? now its all just porno.
ken smith said at 10:09 PM 03-03-2005: the nude nun belt buckle has been sold for as much as $600.00 stated by allen petretti the coca cola man . people say that there was no trans-pan exposition in san francisco ,there was avery big expo .but the "trans" part on the buckle means transportation of tokens and suveniers made by LA Stamp Co. in Los Angeles in 1915 they sold out in the 30's .so the buckle is what your willing to give for it, it's a much talked about piece.
haroldbunn said at 3:43 PM 05-14-2007: I have in my possesion a Coca Cola belt buckel with a nun on the front with a pop up from within of a naked lady. The back is stamped Trans-Pan Expodition San Fransico 1915. Is this the buckel you are speaking of?
chrisx [email] said at 5:02 PM 03-06-2007: OMGWTF! ROTFLMAO! O RLY?
There's one on eBay now for $50. Let's all have a bidding war and jack it up.
QWERTY!
