ATTENTION! TENNESSEE COCA COLA COLLECTORS

[SODAPOPBOB]

P.S.
I realize the sign has been sold and that's that. I also realize that we may never know whether the sign was original or home-made. But this doesn't mean that a little detective work isn't in order for a future reference. Take the following for example; Would a stock certificate use the word "Works" if it was not a legally registered name? And is it possible there was more than one Coca Cola bottler located in Chattanooga at some point? In answer to these questions, I draw your attention to the following ...

1. June 30, 1920 Atlanta Constitution newspaper article with reference to "two" bottlers.
2. Stock Certificate ~ Date unknown but has 19__ ~ "Works"
3. Stock Certificate ~ Date unknown but has 19__ ~ "Company"

( Had I been aware of this information yesterday I probably would have bought the sign and then figured out afterwards whether it was original or not ).

 

[Plumbata]

It looked very suspicious to me. No professional sign painter would be caught dead producing such inferior work. The sheet metal was old, but despite all the rust showing through the old/original currently-beige areas, I saw no clear evidence of rust showing through the painted lettering. This is a strong indication that it is not real. Also, the paint job in many areas lacked definition (such as the black shadowing around "Coca-Cola"), appearing as if it was airbrushed, spray-painted, or applied some other way without manual brushing. This is another strike against it. Lastly, the left and right sides appear to have been bent, as if it were sheet-metal sheathing over a chimney, or part of an old duct. The recent frame-job was rather amateur as well; demonstrating no more finesse or skill than the semi-parkinsonian lettering job. The fact that it was painted red may be coincidental, or may indeed the very same paint used to fake the sign, the current shade differences being attributed to the very different substrates.

 

[Eric]

When you say original do you mean approved art work from the Coca-Cola company and possibly a run of signs?This sign in question is a one of a kind hand painted sign... the lettering is all over the place... letters are all different sizes, crocked, clearly handpainted by the brush strokes in the sign... Possibly painted for the company to hang near the loading docks or part of a sign to mark an entrance... Coca-Cola would not have let a sign like this go into production... The craftsmanship is not there for that. Shabby chic is really in right now... I see stuff like this allover Etsy... It's a very neat looking piece... But no way would Coke sign off on that to be produced.

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

All observations are encouraged and welcomed. As for myself, I'm going with the loading dock theory, circa 1902 []

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

P.S. Observation ... The sign measured 50" x 32 " = ( Approximately Four feet x Three feet )