QUICK "POPEYE SODA" QUESTION

[SODAPOPBOB]

Hey Morb ~

I hate to throw a monkey wrench into things, but I found another one of those mysterious Popeye patches. But notice this one has the word "Mote" stitched on it. Plus it doesn't have the red highlights. I looked up the word "Mote" and (depending on how it is used) could mean any one of the following ...

1. Speck of dust
2. Might - Maybe
3. Idea
4. Mother (foreign)
5. Wife (foreign)
6. Nickname

So take your pick. I'm thinking "nickname." But whatever it means, it appears it wasn't exclusive to Virginia Dare. But there is no question that due to the specific way Virginia Dare is written they had some sort of special stamp they used. But used for what is still a mystery. I also looked up the word "Steinie" and my online dictionary just laughed at me. It asked ... Did you mean "Steinke?" The only thing that makes any sense at all is that "Steinie" might mean a drinking/chugging contest of some kind. Thus the winner was the "Champ." ???

Just for the record, I have recorded no less than 40 hours of searching the internet for a photo of that dumb bottle. So please keep this in mind if someone intends to do a search of your own. And please save the photos I've posted, as they take forever to find, and may never appear in one place at one time again except here on Antique-Bottles.net. (Which is where the crazy/obsessed collectors like myself hang out). []

Thanks for hangin' in there ... "I yam what I yam."

SODA"POOPEYED"BOB

 

[JayBeck]

Hey Bob,

I have been reading this thread since you started it and keep hoping to see that Popeye bottle when there is a new post but so far no deal. A lot of what you can find online seems to be the repro/fantasy type items which can make it difficult to determine if there ever was a real product. I just found a photo of an original cardboard sign (the one used for the magnet you posted) and seeing this sign I would think that there must be a bottle for this product somewhere. However, everything seems to point to a paper label bottle which tend to be more scarce to begin with but I also thought about how long the Popeye soda was in production. Since the original items seem to be so scarce, it is possible that Popeye soda was only produced for a short time, maybe only a year or two, which would add another factor of rarity for a bottle that likely had a paper label. I would say that the Popeye bottle does/did exist but is there still one out there with the paper labels? I sure hope someone out there comes up with a picture of the actual bottle because I sure would like to see one.

Sorry the picture is small but was the best I could get from the source so here is a link. The seller also mentions the difficulty in finding an actual Popeye bottle.

http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/popeye-soda-advertising-rare

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

JayBeck ~

Thank you so much for everything. That seals the coffin on the cardboard sign part. Now we just need to find one of the dang tootin' bottles. But, like you said, that me be extremely difficult if not (as Popeye would say) "praktickly impozzible." []

Also, the sign you posted and the magnet I posted sure look like the "identical" one. Is it possible that both would have the same wear along the bottom? I seriously doubt it. But if they are the same, how did the image get on the magnet and who put it there? Is the magnet manufactured or home made? Too much mystery for this bloke. But since I love a good detective story, I guess the search will continue.

Thanks again. You just made my day/month. And here's the magnet again for wear comparison. (With possible yellowing of both along the top. JayBeck's is likely later and may have been kicked around a little more) ???

SPBOB

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

P.S. ~

The cardboard sign sold back in 2007. I was going to register and see what it sold for, but they charge $9.99 per month, so I decided to skip it. I wonder now if it was possibly the seller or buyer who had the magnet made? Could very well have been one or the other.

SPBOB

 

[morbious_fod]

ORIGINAL: SODAPOPBOB

Hey Morb ~

I hate to throw a monkey wrench into things, but I found another one of those mysterious Popeye patches. But notice this one has the word "Mote" stitched on it. Plus it doesn't have the red highlights. I looked up the word "Mote" and (depending on how it is used) could mean any one of the following ...

1. Speck of dust
2. Might - Maybe
3. Idea
4. Mother (foreign)
5. Wife (foreign)
6. Nickname

So take your pick. I'm thinking "nickname." But whatever it means, it appears it wasn't exclusive to Virginia Dare. But there is no question that due to the specific way Virginia Dare is written they had some sort of special stamp they used. But used for what is still a mystery. I also looked up the word "Steinie" and my online dictionary just laughed at me. It asked ... Did you mean "Steinke?" The only thing that makes any sense at all is that "Steinie" might mean a drinking/chugging contest of some kind. Thus the winner was the "Champ." ???

Just for the record, I have recorded no less than 40 hours of searching the internet for a photo of that dumb bottle. So please keep this in mind if someone intends to do a search of your own. And please save the photos I've posted, as they take forever to find, and may never appear in one place at one time again except here on Antique-Bottles.net. (Which is where the crazy/obsessed collectors like myself hang out). []

Thanks for hangin' in there ... "I yam what I yam."

SODA"POOPEYED"BOB

Most likely the company that produced this piece used it as a universal piece where you could get it printed with whatever you wanted; however, why would Virginia Dare use such a piece as an advertisement if there wasn't some type of connection. Case in point look up betty boop and holly beverages on ebay and you will find a bottle topper with the character with the earlier bottles post on this thread.

 

[morbious_fod]

http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-51-2-X8-3-4-CARDBOARD-HOLLY-SODA-BOTTLE-TOPPER-/140459191947?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20b4052e8b

The Holly Betty Boop bottle topper.

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Morb ~

Thanks. Maybe one of these days we'll know the whole story on the Holly bottles. Wonkapete said Tom Marsh (the creator of these fantasy bottles) passed away, and that they were created in the 1960s. But whether he or someone else created the topper, I don't know. Obviously someone went to a lot of trouble to promote it for some reason. Which I suppose may have been to add to the hype regarding their rarity and valuable.

Wonka ~ If you see this I'd like to clarify what you said about buying Tom Marsh's collection of 3000 bottles. Are you saying all 3000 were Holly bottles, or that they were just a portion of his entire collection? I am also wondering exactly how many Holly bottles he made? And despite the controversey surrounding them, I still think I'll try and nab one someday. Especially if they are "worthless," which is right up my alley when it comes to the price of one. []

SPBOB

 

[morbious_fod]

I don't know if they owned the brand or just bottled it; however, I finally got around to looking up that mention of the Popeye brand in the Soda book. I thought it was a sign; however, it turns out to be a paper label. Looks like the bottles were 12oz and it was a "tropical beverage" bottled by the Porto Rico Pale Dry Co.. I can't seem to find where they trademarked the name, but this is certainly the label we have been seeing on the signs.

The company seems to have operated from the 1940 until at least the 1960's.

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Morb ~

All I can say is "WOW! Followed by a great big "THANK YOU!"

Okey dokey then ... we are really making some progress now! To update things we have a solid identification on the existence of the following Popeye Soda related items ...

1. A Popey bottle cap.
2. A Popeye cardboard display sign.
3. A Popeye paper label.

But where-o-where has my little dog gone? And where-o-where are the bottles that went with these items?

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Hey Morb ~

Your recent discovery got me so excited I have been doing some research of my own. I looked up "Porto Rico Pale Dry Co." and found the following paragraph from a site called "Philadelphia Memories" by some guy that grew up there. And although it doesn't make a specific connection to "Popeye Tropical Beverage," it does tell us a little more about it's place of origin. Namely, Philadelphia, PA.

{Copy/Pasted}

[font="verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif"]Porto Rico was one of many local/regional brands of soda pop found across America in the 1940 and '50s. Before Coke and Pepsi put the little independent bottlers out of business. When Coke supplied servicemen all over the world with product during World War II, it was one of the smartest product placement moves ever made. Once hooked on cola, people abandoned Pale Dry Ginger Ale, Frank's Black Cherry Wishniak (a Philly favorite) and other now-obscure soda pop flavors and local offerings in favor of large national cola brands.[/font]

Link to site: http://www.joesherlock.com/Philly2.html


Plus, here's an old photo of a roadside sign that accompanied the text above. I can't quite make out the bottle on the right, other than it is green glass. (But definitely not a Popeye bottle).

Thanks again for the lead.

Bob