Morphy Auctions – Soda Pop, Advertising & General Store
August 18, 19, 20, 2025
morphyauctions.com
2000 N. Reading Road, Denver, PA 17517

DENVER, PENN. — On August 18-20, Morphy Auctions will serve up the latest edition of a perennial collector favorite: the colorful soda pop, advertising and general store auction. With a production timeline that starts in the late Nineteenth Century, the three-day lineup is highlighted by a selection of rare antique Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola bottles and premier soda fountain memorabilia from a time when the local soda shop or drug store was the place where everyone gathered to socialize over light refreshment.

In their earliest days, soda pop brands were fiercely competitive marketers, providing lavish ceramic syrup dispensers and vibrantly colorful advertising signs to establishments where their products were sold. Examples of those innovative promotional items — including more than 650 lots of Coca-Cola memorabilia — will be the objects of their own effervescent competition at Morphy’s, in a 1,780-offering that also includes signage publicizing ice cream, chewing gum and sweets; tobacco, alcoholic beverages, coffee and much more. Adding entertainment value to an already exciting array of goods, the sale also features 42 classic radios, including Bakelite and Catalin productions; and more than two dozen gum-vending machines.

Bubbling to the top layer of auction highlights is a Hires Root Beer “Munimaker” salesman’s sample dispenser. It is constructed from marble, glass and nickel, with a zinc liner and coils inside, just like its full-size counterpart. Its globe is emblazoned “Drink Hires / It is Pure” ($30/60,000).

Every Coca-Cola collector knows the circa 1914-16 single-sided cardboard sign depicting a Dutch boy in wooden clogs, running with an oversize stick of Coca-Cola Peppermint Pepsin Gum cradled in his arm. Morphy’s offers a large version of this sign, measuring 24½ inches tall by 18¼ inches wide ($20/40,000).

The experts at AGS (Authentication & Grading Service) examined a circa 1933 Coca-Cola double-sided porcelain sign with a Christmas bottle graphic and filigreed top and concluded it would be very difficult to find a better example. Marked “Tennessee Enamel Mfg. Co. Nashville,” this sign measures 24½ by 21¾ inches ($10/20,000).

In the way of foreign-market productions, there’s a circa 1931 Coca-Cola celluloid pocket mirror made for the Mexican market. Its Spanish-language message, which appears above a young woman in a semi-sheer minidress, holding a bottle of Coke, translates to “Drink Coca-Cola / Delicious and Refreshing.” The only known example of its type, the mirror’s presale estimate is $6/12,000.

The auction features a parade of elegant beauties whose hairstyles and clothing choices reflect the Gilded Age aesthetic. One notable example is a large circa 1905 Pepsi-Cola cardboard sign with the image of “Miss Pepsi-Cola” holding an early soda fountain glass. The message says “Drink Pepsi-Cola / Delicious / Healthful,” ($10/20,000).

The auction also includes a selection of rare and early Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola bottles. Many are one-of-a-kind or prototypes, coming from bottlers all over the United States. For example, this sale may represent the first time many soda pop collectors will have ever seen a “Pepsi Pepsi Pepsi” bottle ($6/9,000).

An example of a reverse-painted and foil-under-glass sign reading “Soda Fountain & Confections” would suit any soda pop display ($4/12,000).

A salesman’s sample barber chair from Theo A. Kochs is immediately notable for its mindboggling attention to detail. This faithful scale-model re-creation has red leather cushions, white porcelain and chrome construction, just like its life-size counterpart. The chair swivels back and forth, but it does not lift when the hand pump is used ($15/30,000).

A country store collection is not complete without at least one spool cabinet. Morphy’s upcoming auction can help with that, as it includes an elaborate circa 1890 Brainerd & Armstrong two-piece spool cabinet whose unusual design incorporates a decorative marquee and a clock. Standing 77¾ inches tall, it is carved from walnut wood with all-original applied tule (bullrush) accents, door fronts and pull handles, with two interior compartments. It is one of only a few known examples of two-piece pull spool cabinets ($4/8,000).

The Monday through Wednesday, August 18-20, soda pop, advertising and general store advertising auction will be conducted live at Morphy’s gallery, 2000 North Reading Road, starting at 9 am. All forms of bidding will be available, including absentee, by phone and online through Morphy Live. For information, 877-968-8880 or www.morphyauctions.com.

2000 N. READING ROAD | | DENVER, PA 17517 | | 877-968-8880 | INFO@MORPHYAUCTIONS.COM
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