 |
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
Featured Collector
Our Featured Collector is Mike Narvaez.
 How long have you been collecting
Coca-Cola® items? And how long have you been a member of The
Coca-Cola
Collectors Club?
For 17 years. My wife Joyce and I decided to use a
Coca-Cola
theme in our new restaurant, and we both loved it. We joined the national Club and
local chapter (Golden Gate) one year later.
We were on a vacation, went to Southern California and Las Vegas and back to California
on our way home. A 350-mile trip took us six days! We stopped at every little town
and filled with car with
Coca-Cola
pieces. We even had to rent a truck and drive back to pick up things we’d bought!
We heard about antique shows and at one of them met a couple who told us about the
Club.
Are you a member of any chapters?
Yes, the Golden Gate Chapter and the Central California Chapter (called the “7 C’s”
Chapter)
 What's your favorite piece, and
how did you find it?
When you begin collecting, you tend to get anything with
Coca-Cola
on it. Then you narrow down and find what you really love. I have three areas that
I concentrate on. I love the artwork and the colors of the original calendars, and
have most of the calendars back to 1898. I have roughly 200
Coca-Cola
clocks and a pretty complete thermometer collection.
My two favorite pieces are both early pieces. I have a 1912
Coca-Cola
girl piece by artist Hamilton King. The woman sits on a yellow stool and wears a
very long dress, almost drawn as an outline. The other is a piece I just got back
from the restorer. It’s a 1909 cardboard, featuring the same woman who is on the
1909 calendar (called the “Exhibition Girl”). It’s 29x45 inches, and I got it at
auction. Even before it was restored, the colors were beautiful! A few years ago
my mother saw this piece in a book and told me I should buy it. It turns out 1909
was her birth year – and the year my father was born. This piece has special meaning
to me, and I want my granddaughters to have it one day.
 Do you display your collection
in just one room or throughout the house?
My whole house is full. I live with it and enjoy it. I wouldn't want to collect
something that I just stored in boxes. I even have a room full of just
Coca-Cola
Christmas items. (It stays up year-round.) I just redid the upstairs of my house
and had special
Coca-Cola
red carpet put in!
What advice would you give to a new collector?
Be quality-minded. Quality things hold their price.
|
|
|
|
 |
|
)
)
)