Vintage 50's Salesman's Mini Coca-Cola Cooler -- RARE

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Vintage 50's Salesman's Mini Coca-Cola Cooler -- RARE

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Sold Date: 12/17/2006
Channel: Online Auction
Source: eBay
Category: Advertising

My dad was a Coca Cola salesman and route manager back in the late 40's and early 50's. The items I am selling for my mom came from his collection of Coca Cola memorabilia.

OK.....you've seen mini Coca-Cola coolers before on Ebay but what makes this one unusual is that it was made for the salesman....not for the general public. The cooler itself is 2 3/4' wide X 1 5/8" deep X 2 /4' tall. It has "Drink Coca-Cola" and "Reg. U.S. Pat. Off." and "Ice Cold" written across the front. That is w it stops being a customer give-away. On the back is printed "To make top profit proportion space to sales." If you look under the lid of the cooler the pop lids are Coca-Cola on one side and other brands on the opposite side. The underside of the lid is printed with "'s your best seller's share of cooler space." When you turn the cooler over you have a roller in the center on which percentages are printed at the top and bottom............they add up to 100%. You can move the roller back and forth and get different percentages. For example if at the top you have 75%....it reads 75%of your customers Buy Coca-Cola.....and the bottom reads 25% buy other drinks. If you look at the inside of the cooler 75% of the bottle tops are Coca-Cola... and 25% are other brands. As you change the percentages on the roller the product in the case changes to match it. Very cool....and very unique. The object of the piece was to show the salesman that as you increased the amount of coke in the unit so would their profit increase....or so went the theory. Please let me know, my dear collectors, if you think any of this information is confusing or misleading. I can only guess the age of this salesman's tool is late 1940's or early 1950's when my dad was with Coca-Cola.

Now for the condition: The cooler is bright and colorful. The red plastic is still bold and shiney. The silver is almost completely intact with only a couple minor scratches. The tab at one end of the lid hinge is broken so the lid comes off easily. Under the lid the paper/cloth roll is in great condition showing no age. On the bottom the white paper/cloth with the percentages on it is in great condition. The black center part of the display....I believe it may be metal has paper remains sticking to it. I cannot tell if t was a paper pasted to this that had printing on it or if the black roller has just picked up paper scraps with age???

Please see pictures I have included in this posting. I can post more pictures or more explanation if requested. Buyer pays actual postage.

Please check out the other Coca Cola items I will be listing in the coming days on Ebay auctions and in my Ebay store.....and thanks for stopping in to check out this interesting sales item.