“It’s strange. I don’t even drink Coca-Cola.”
Jon Aschenbrener’s taste in beverages hasn’t affected his penchant for collecting. He estimates he has 5,000 to 10,000 individual Coca-Cola items in his massive collection.
Aschenbrener describes himself as a “farm boy” who’s been living in the city the last 24 years.
He said he fell in love with bottle collecting, and Coca-Cola items in particular, over about 30 years.
Aschenbrener grew up on a large cattle and grain farm northeast of Cupar, which is about 60 kilometres northeast of Regina.
“My grandparents and my parents were lucky enough to survive the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s, and especially the ’80s. A lot of families didn’t. So there was like 15 to 20 abandoned farm yards in very close proximity to our farm. So when I was little, spring and fall would be the best time to go bottle picking in the bush.
“I found some epic bottles and it just went from there.”
Aschenbrener in front of part of his Coca-Cola collection. (Thomas Simon/CBC)
He still owns the first Coca-Cola-related item he ever received — a pen and tin set he got from his mom for his 14th birthday.
“It turned the light bulb on,” he said. “It’s like one of the most special things my mom has ever given to me. I haven’t even opened it.”
He said it was very common in the 1990s to go to auction sales, whether in town or at auction sites. His family just started buying Coca-Cola items, whether it was signs or machines. He said a “massive” light-up sign that he and his mom got is still on the farm.
“Then I became an adult and made real adult money,” he said. “That’s kind of when it blew up, because you have a little bit of money to play with.
Aschenbrener said he can’t really explain his fascination with Coca-Cola memorabilia.
“I got that pen and tin set, I was finding bottles behind Grandma and Grandpa’s house, and it just became part of who I was. And it was like, ‘What can I find next?'”
The pen and tin set Aschenbrener’s mom gave him on his 14th birthday. (Thomas Simon/CBC)
Aschenbrener’s rarer items include signs, bottles and trays from the 1920s, and some cardboard pieces from the 1930s and ’40s.
“Serving trays from the ’20s or earlier are like super rare,” he said.
A 1939 Coca-Cola Salesman Sample Cooler was on his want list, but is now in his possession thanks to connections he’s made with antique dealers in Langley, B.C.
Aschenbrener said he often obtains items from tips he gets in texts or social media messages — sometimes several times a week.
“These people are just looking out for me and being like, ‘That needs to be in Jon’s world,'” he said.
“I’ve had a couple of parties, and people come up here and they’ll be here two hours, just lost at seeing what’s going on in the cabinets, seeing items that they didn’t know existed.”
He said his favourite items are things his family gave him, including the birthday gift from his mom.
When Aschenbrener was 15, his dad came home with a Coke bottle he had found in a collapsed barn.
“At that time, it was like the ‘Holy Grail’ Coke bottle,” Aschenbrener said. “And I just didn’t believe he found it in the wild. And I still have it.”
The ‘Holy Grail’ Coke bottle Aschenbrener’s dad found in a collapsed barn near their family farm. (Thomas Simon/CBC)
He said his grandmother had a Coca-Cola glass that he believes restaurants gave out. He said she had it in her house “forever,” found it again, saw that he liked it, and gave it to him.
“Those family things just tie all of this awesomeness together,” he said.
Asked what gives him the most joy about his collection, Aschenbrener said it’s preserving the history.
“Some of these things are cardboard or Masonite that were just thrown in the fire pit, because they’re done at the store or the gas station. They’re garbage,” he said.
“So for some of those paper items, to have them and preserve it for how much longer, that brings joy and excitement, because I have it and I’m saving it for the future.”
A Coca-Cola bottle opener that Aschenbrener says was produced between 1910 and 1920. (Thomas Simon/CBC)
Aschenbrener’s not sure how much money his collection is worth or how much money he’s spent on it.
“I would say like 60 per cent would be purchased and sourced — some kind of financial exchange. And then 40 per cent is, ‘I found this in Grandma’s basement. You deserve this.'”
He said there are some older people, especially in the United States, that have warehouses full of “museum quality-type stuff.”
Aschenbrener says this tray dates back to 1927. (Thomas Simon/CBC)
“I’m not there and I don’t think I’ll get there, because I don’t have the space for that,” he said. “I’m just happy collecting what I can.”
He suspects there are other Coca-Cola collectors in Saskatchewan, but their collections are hidden.
“You don’t know if your neighbour has a basement full of stuff, or a garage full of stuff,” he said.
