This week’s featured image is a wooden crate from the Havre de Grace Coca-Cola Bottling plant.
A recap from a previous post
We shared info about Kelly Beverage and Whistle Bottling in this previous post. You may remember these photos:
In this post, we’ve added a Kelly Beverage advertisement and a couple of promotional pieces. We also remind you that Kelly Beverage purchased the first commercial Dixie bottling machine from Crown Cork and Seal of Baltimore.
and a tiny Christo Cola turtle
Col. Hebditch and Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola has a long history in Havre de Grace and added to our economy, as did many other businesses through the years. We learned that Captain Hiram Stanley first purchased the Coca-Cola franchise for Cecil and Harford Counties in 1918. It seems that Capt. Stanley was still in the service and was not able to open the bottling plant until 1920.
It was located in a building at the corner of Franklin and Commercial Lane (now Centennial Lane) on a property owned by Mrs. Margaret A. Sanders. The building was originally Sanders Machine Shop and Repair Works. According to the book, Havre de Grace – Harford County’s Rural Heritage by Jack Shagena, Jr. and Henry Peden, Jr., Stanley sold the business to Col. J. C. Hebditch on February 24, 1923, and he opened it under his management on March 10th. In 1924 Col. Hebditch purchased 4 lots on Juniata Street and opened his new plant in 1925.
Col. Hebditch was quite the businessman, making a huge success of the Coca-Cola plant as well as real estate and many other endeavors. When he died in 1949, J. Cecil Sale, Sr. took over the plant and continued its success!
A Tribute to Cecil Sale and his Coca-Cola Organization
You can read the entire article by CLICKING HERE for the pdf file.
Coca-Cola TEST bottle
You’ll need to come in and chat with our ‘casual historian’ to learn more about this bottle. We’ve searched online, but not found a definitive answer as to how they were used.
Do YOU know? Stop by and chat!
Below is one of the many promotional items of the Havre de Grace Coca-Cola plant. Our ‘casual historian’ regrets selling a number of games and other memorabilia before he decided to collect Havre de Grace history!
In spite of the ongoing changes in our community businesses, successes have been many due in large part to the creativity, ingenuity, and determination of business owners and their staff. This continues today.
In modern times, musical jingles have played a key role in the advertising of Coca Cola. Some of those jingles have become classics in modern advertising. While music is important in today’s Coca Cola advertising, it was also important for selling Coke on radio during the golden age.
from OLD-Time.com
On a Wednesday evening in 1930 (exact date unknown) at 10:30 PM, the radio listeners heard the first broadcast of THE COCA COLA HOUR on NBC’s Red Network. The program had an unusual combination of sports and music. Graham McNamee and Grantland Rice interviewed famous sports stars of the era, and Leonard W. Joy with his 31-piece string symphony handled the music. The program also had the rare distinction (by 1930 standards) to air
from coast-to-coast.
(LISTEN TO THE SIGNATURE SONG)
Do you have Havre de Grace memorabilia you would like to give/share with our ‘casual historian?’
Remember, don’t throw the Havre de Grace ‘stuff’ out when you’re cleaning out a home, settling an estate, or just ‘downsizing,’ without checking in with George. Don’t give him cause to cry!!!
Our ‘casual historian’ is always waiting for your stories and any memorabilia you may want to share.
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