Coca Cola Collection

When I was 8 I started collecting Coca Cola cans and bottles. I didn’t want the Coca Cola bed, flags and toys. Just the cans and bottles.

Lots of kids started collecting Coca Cola stuff when they were kids. I recently had diner with three other entrepreneurs and they all had Coca Cola collections as a child. One of them told me he recently went to his parents house and found that his whole collection was worthless because the exposure to light for years had faded all the colors. He could barely read the print on any of the cans.

Today I visited my parents house and took another look at my Coca Cola collection. When my parents moved to their current house, about 15 years ago, my mother organized my whole collection in a closed, dark and airtight (well, sort off) closet. Everything looks as bright and new as it did 15 years ago.

Another cool thing about the collection is that I actually saved a lot of full bottles. I have several 20 year old Coca Cola bottles with real 20 year old Coca Cola in it. I tried 10 year old Coca Cola a few years ago and it tasted fine. Maybe I should have a Coca Cola tasting evening for Coca Cola lovers where we open and taste some of my special bottles.

A few specials:

17 year old American Original Coca Cola
21 year old Yugoslavian Coca Cola
18 year old French Coca Cola

And those were just the first three bottles I looked at.
This might even be worth something….

UPDATE: …or maybe not. When I got home I tried eBay and there are lots of older and more exotic Coca Cola bottles for sale. I ended up offering $20 for a full Coca Cola bottle from 1914. If I win it I’ll throw a party and drink it together with anyone who is interested in tasting 92 year old Coca Cola.