Coke Thermometer

[SODAPOPBOB]

Wow! All of a sudden I feel like a kid in a candy store. I'll try not to get too carried away with this, but I just couldn't help myself from sharing the following. It's the earlieast soda pop related "Donasco" sign I've found so far.
(Thanks to Barry, of course). []

SPBOB

Item Description

3 3/8 x 19.5" c. 1936 by Nehi, Inc. Made by the Donaldson Art Sign Co. Covington, KY. Has nice art image of pyramids in distance. Lower right has small "Good Housekeeping Bureau" logo. Trace of lt. scattered wear across top edge, mostly just visible in reflected light. A few minor bends at left and right sides. Bright and VF. Wonderful design.
(G - $100 to $200 )

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Please pardon my indulgence with just one more before I call it a day. This one is a Buffalo Rock thermometer. It is described as having "Donaldson Art Sign Co." on the bottom edge. It dates to sometime in the 1940s.

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

acls ~

We haven't heard from you lately, and I sure hope you don't mind my highjacking your thread like this. Things just kind of snowballed. But since this may be the first time that a connection has been made between the Donaldson Art Sign Company and Donasco, I thought it would be of interest for future reference. What I am attempting to do now is ...

1. Show a somewhat chronological order of tin signs and other items the company produced.
2. Try and determine when the company started using the name Donasco, and if the name is actually
an extension of the original company or something else? Based on the evidence so far, it appears
the company was totally defunk by 1990.
3. Try and determine if the Donasco thermometers like yours and others were actually produced while
the company was still in business or later by someone else using the name?

Although the tin sign shown below is not soda related, it is a beautiful example of what the Donaldson Art Sign Company was doing in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Prior to the 1920s, it's starting to look as if the company primarily made paper litho signs and posters. This 1920s/30s "Queen Quality" sign is the earliest tin I have been able to find made by them so far. I realize it uses the word "glass" in the discription, but the main heading said "tin." Maybe it's a combination of glass over tin. ???

Here is the text that was associated with the auction sale ...

Sold For $2,400

[/align]1920s/30s Deppen "Queen Quality" Beer - Reading, PA - Advertising sign with original wooden shipping crate. Printed glass font with Queen Quality banner and beer bottle under the Deppen stag, and the Deppen Brewing Co. Reading Pa. Signed lower left corner Donaldson Art Sign Co. Cin., O. Mold frame with splayed sides and notched out back for light fixture. 25 1/4" H x 13 1/4" W [/align](Very good condition). [/align]

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

I found the following by searching ... "Donaldson Lithograph Company." It is typical of the kind of things the Donaldson Company was doing around the turn-of-the-century. In fact, they seemed to specialize in items that were circus and magician related. In my recent searches I have seen dozens of these types of litho advertising items. This one is especially cool because it has the following story connected to it ...

Wood, William. "Wood's Great Sensation Edna." Newport, Donaldson Litho Co., circa. 1900.[/align] [/align]One-sheet (27 ¾ x 41 ½") color lithographed poster depicting a fiery scene from Wood's show replete with a devil, lightning, the magician dressed in tails, and a gorgeous girl. Some wear and chips in margins not affecting image. Linen backed. Good condition. Scarce. [/align] [/align]Edna was a levitation illusion invented by Wood, which he patented in 1889. Kellar and Alexander Herrmann featured the illusion, but only Kellar paid Wood for the rights to use it. In 1908, while touring Mexico, Wood and his daughter Bertha perished when the tugboat they were riding sank off the coast of the Yucatan. Though the tugboat's crew survived and Wood's props and trunks eventually washed ashore (along with many of his lithographs), the $14,000 in cash he had been carrying was never recovered, prompting an investigation into his death. According to magic historian David Price, Jr. "Edna Wood was informed by the American consul that a member of the crew told the awful story of Wood begging the crew not to leave him and Bertha to drown. At the end, he begged only for his daughter's life, but his plea was not heeded by the crew members intent on saving their own skins.[/align] [/align][Circa 1900 Lithograph][/align]

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Back to the future ...

Green Spot Tin - 1950s - Marked "Donaldson Art Sign Co." ]

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

[ Teem - Thermometer - 1960s - Donaldson Art Sign Co. ]

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

[ Royal Crown - Thermometer - 1950s - Donaldson Art Sign Co. ]

 

[splante]

bringing this back up again because I believe some hae eluded that the danasco is a reproduction. Donasco produced Coca cola thermometers for Coke to distribute to vendors. Here is a picture of the one I have it looks just like the robertson, and the tca who also produced them. The tca is the later version 70's and 80's while the Robertson and Donasco are usally earlier here is a picture of the one I own (see the note on the second picture) Mine was produced in 1956.

 

[splante]

here is a picture of the "hidden" date code you have to tilt the thermometer to see it its is mostly hidden behind the glass thermometer this picture shows athe area I have been told that the newer 1960's on up do not have this marking
sorry its hard to get a good picture since its mostly hidden behind the thermometer. This is mine I have seen other with a 54 and 55 date code but none before or after that Ive heard some exist from 1948 but not sure

 

[splante]

the 1948 date code are the embossed version, didnt mean that it was the acl version