r/interestingasfuck Jan 29 '23

The evolution of Coca-Cola bottle design over almost a century

[deleted]

4.4k Upvotes

231 comments sorted by

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903

u/TartineMyAxe Jan 29 '23

Bring back the 1899 please

256

u/curiosity0425 Jan 29 '23

Judging by these comments, we have a consensus on that. Let's start a petition

140

u/BMagni Jan 29 '23

I can see Coca-Cola launching a limited edition set, scalpers get fed, normal people can't buy one.

17

u/FistedWaffles123456 Jan 29 '23

there’s a certain line of mixers that coke sells somewhere in europe, looks pretty similar to this

link: https://www.coca-cola.co.uk/brands/coca-cola-signature-mixers

6

u/equality7x2521 Jan 30 '23

They have them in the supermarket beside me but I didn’t notice the design so much, I’ll try and grab some more!

2

u/TBCoR Jan 30 '23

They did in 2007!

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47

u/HarryDepova Jan 29 '23

Would feel like I'm drinking a potion!

28

u/Pukkidyr Jan 29 '23

If you drink enough you'll probably think your a wizard to.

2

u/timkenhan Jan 30 '23

I'M THE WIZARD, HARRY!

41

u/756898 Jan 29 '23

Only if it has the cocaine in it

11

u/CupcakeValkyrie Jan 30 '23

The original didn't really have enough cocaine to do much, and even then it wasn't "cocaine" the way you're thinking. Original Coca-Cola had trace amounts of extracts from the coca plant, which is where the name comes from, but cocaine is made by extracting and then refining and concentrating that extract. Coca extract in the form it was found in the original cola wasn't really any more stimulating than caffeine is.

3

u/VictorRed Jan 30 '23

Are you sure?

4

u/CupcakeValkyrie Jan 30 '23

Based on the research I've been able to dig up, yeah. Cocaine was legal back then and was sold for medicinal purposes, but medical-grade cocaine wouldn't be very pleasant in a soft drink. At those concentrations, it has a local anesthetic effect on mucus membranes (like other 'caine' drugs - novacaine, lidocaine, etc.) Drinking a soda with drug-grade cocaine in it would be like drinking a tube of Anbesol, and I doubt anyone would really enjoy that.

4

u/RawrRRitchie Jan 30 '23

medical-grade cocaine wouldn't be very pleasant in a soft drink

Bold of you to assume that. Everyone has different tastes

1

u/CupcakeValkyrie Jan 30 '23

While that's true, I think the general population wouldn't enjoy a product that makes your mouth numb, and Coca-Cola didn't become a household name and cultural icon by only appealing to a niche minority.

19

u/Simple_Common_454 Jan 29 '23

This. 1899 bottle is aesthetically pleasing

8

u/Rough-Ad-9379 Jan 29 '23

I dunno- 1915 got that dumper tho.

2

u/MedievaLime Jan 30 '23

I'm a fan of the 1915 bottle

6

u/spookinky987 Jan 29 '23

Quite sexy design, yes.

22

u/ShitpostMamajama Jan 29 '23

Bring back the cocaine recipe too. The world’s already ending, why not let the people get a free bump with every coke purchase?

-13

u/theabstractengineer Jan 29 '23

How is the world ending?

12

u/ShitpostMamajama Jan 29 '23

Nazis are back (https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/24/politics/proud-boys-cooperator-testifies/index.html)

Global warming (https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/GlobalWarming)

Overpopulation (https://www.un.org/en/global-issues/population)

Global resource deficit (https://www.eco-business.com/opinion/the-next-global-resource-crisis/)

Anything right wing

I mean fuck have you paid attention in the last four years? The gradual decline of global sanity? The amount of death, blood, and disease in the streets? The War in Ukraine? The WARCRIMES committed by Russia? Do I need to continue?

3

u/evan_luigi Jan 29 '23

Dude quit being a doomer, the negativity is annoying. The world's in a pretty good spot all things considered, we've made a lot of progress.

-4

u/[deleted] Jan 29 '23

[deleted]

4

u/GinOkc Jan 29 '23

I took 5 minutes, didn’t see the world on fire, guess your windows face a different direction than mine

-7

u/[deleted] Jan 29 '23

[deleted]

2

u/GinOkc Jan 29 '23

Oh for shits sake mr Doom and gloom lighten up, this is Reddit, no one is going to take you serious. So go burn with the world or don’t.

2

u/[deleted] Jan 29 '23

[deleted]

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0

u/evan_luigi Jan 29 '23

It's pretty good relative to history, there are few times people would rather live in than the present. Anything past the last few decades is worse if you ask me.

0

u/[deleted] Jan 29 '23

[deleted]

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-6

u/theabstractengineer Jan 29 '23

Wow, the propaganda really worked on you.

0

u/ShitpostMamajama Jan 29 '23

Jesus you’re one of those people. I don’t have the energy to put up with you today. Go back to your hole. Don’t talk to me about propaganda when you’re the kinda person that blatantly ignores facts and statistics just because you have so little going for you in life you have to go against the grain of everything. You’re setting back societal progress you traffic cone of a human. Fuck off

0

u/theabstractengineer Jan 29 '23

Traffic cone?

0

u/ShitpostMamajama Jan 29 '23

You exist only to impede progress

1

u/theabstractengineer Jan 29 '23

Aw, you're sweet!

0

u/Alt_dimension_visitr Jan 30 '23

In other words guide humanity forward and keep people from danger.

Nice compliment actually

-1

u/Mjagos Jan 29 '23

He's got shitpost in his name. No sane person thinks the world is ending

1

u/ToothyCamel420 Jan 29 '23

Humans have always been thinking the world is ending. Look at all the different concepts of apocalypse in entirely different religions over time. I personally don’t think the world is ending, but it has to somehow lie our nature. There was no time when people weren’t thinking the world is ending.

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-1

u/tvtango Jan 29 '23

Wow, the propaganda really worked on you

3

u/Charming_Pirate Jan 29 '23

Nice try buddy, but you’re not getting the cocaine bottle.

2

u/underscore197 Jan 29 '23

Came here to say this.

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328

u/Able-Ad-1332234234 Jan 29 '23

we need to bring back the first one
"honey, uncork your finest cola"

88

u/b3ll3r2022 Jan 29 '23

Put the cocaine back in too.

36

u/Paul-Smecker Jan 29 '23

Make Coca-Cola drugs again.

-16

u/MrmmphMrmmph Jan 29 '23 edited Jan 30 '23

Congratulations, you just became a conservative. /s

3

u/Monke-Gaming Jan 30 '23

Politics 😐

7

u/nolongerbanned99 Jan 29 '23

Due to cost cutting, this will not be feasible. Now they will use speed or meth.

8

u/Otlot Jan 29 '23

It would save them money, actually. Coke still uses coca leaves, but they pay to have the cocaine extracted so they can use the “spent” leaves in their drinks.

-3

u/nolongerbanned99 Jan 29 '23

This does not sound accurate. It’s just a bunch of sugar and artificial food chemicals.

9

u/Otlot Jan 29 '23

After 1904, instead of using fresh leaves, Coca-Cola started using "spent" leaves – the leftovers of the cocaine-extraction process with trace levels of cocaine.[74] Since then (by 1929[75]), Coca-Cola has used a cocaine-free coca leaf extract. Today, that extract is prepared at a Stepan Company plant in Maywood, New Jersey, the only manufacturing plant authorized by the federal government to import and process coca leaves, which it obtains from Peru and Bolivia.

From Wikipedia

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18

u/KentZhang314078 Jan 29 '23

Ah yes, the best carbonated coke water.

164

u/capitali Jan 29 '23

The 1899 is the best one.

22

u/NikkiBriar Jan 29 '23

Oh you know it was!!!

5

u/PuffieBeans Jan 29 '23

I'd like to Order 3000 bottles please;)

72

u/PrincessHootHoot Jan 29 '23

I actually like the 1899 bottle. Looks like some kind of powerup lol

21

u/MasbotAlpha Jan 30 '23

Oh, it was

6

u/luvs2sploooj Jan 30 '23

HEY THERE! GOT A COKE? HAVEN’T HAD ONE IN A BIT. COULD USE ONE. OH LOOK IVE GOT ONE NOW! JUST GONNA DRINK THAT.

HEY ANY CHANCE YOU’VE GOT A COKE?

43

u/Four_Duck_Snakes Jan 29 '23

SizeFlation?

31

u/Devccoon Jan 29 '23

More like perspectiveflation. Don't know why they put each one further away, but it's not helping the comparison.

28

u/jijiriri Jan 29 '23

1915 was really "round", I'm curious to hear what people knowledgeable in design could tell about it.

9

u/Anthony9824 Jan 29 '23

It’s when “ Thiccness “ was actually first introduced in the West

10

u/Scarlet-Fire_77 Jan 29 '23

I remember reading that it barely went into circulation or at all. They turned out to be more prone to breakage in the crates because of the big curves. That's why only a year later, it was slimmed down.

70

u/MaintenanceInternal Jan 29 '23

They need to release all of these as a Christmas set.

It's pretty much a necessity to have glass bottled Cokes in for Christmas and I would 100% buy a row of them like this.

Or a separate set with all the flavours, I cannot get normal vanilla coke anywhere.

10

u/bazzanoid Jan 29 '23

https://imgur.com/a/bsCmGsp bonus little bottles for added coca-cola-ness

On my kitchen wall

10

u/magicravioli Jan 29 '23

They could do what Irn Bru does with their 1901 flavour and release an “older” version of their colas in it. Like imagine the 1899 one with a remake of the actual version of Coca Cola from 1899 (minus the cocaine of course).

0

u/CupcakeValkyrie Jan 30 '23

I've always wanted to try Irn Bru, but apparently their current recipe contains aspartame, which gives me headaches, so that sucks.

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2

u/dhfspyotr Jan 29 '23

Just pour a little vanilla extract in your cola when you open it!

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9

u/IIBlazeTheSunII Jan 29 '23

It's a health potion

10

u/International_Rip186 Jan 29 '23

1915 looks like someone had a fetish.

2

u/milleribsen Jan 30 '23

I definitely have a couple of friends who have similar looking collections but of a completely different product.

2

u/5_on_the_floor Jan 29 '23

I like big bottles, and I cannot lie!

6

u/McbEatsAirplane Jan 29 '23

Let’s go back to that 1899 bottle. That thing is awesome.

6

u/Chemical-Raven624 Jan 29 '23

When did they take the cocaine out?

7

u/Legal-Software Jan 29 '23

Apparently it was part of the original formulation in 1886, and was completely gone by 1903.

10

u/Wooden_Ad1779 Jan 29 '23

looking at the time spans we could see a new bottle design soon. exciting times.

9

u/gabbrielzeven Jan 29 '23

I do not know how. But it's get worst everytime!

4

u/JeromesNiece Jan 29 '23

The first 17 years of this are doing most of the work of giving the impression of continual change. The design basically hasn't changed since 1916

5

u/Daft_Prince Jan 29 '23

1915 was Nuka Cola vibes

3

u/ZippyParakeet Jan 29 '23

What happened in 1957? Lol. Looks the smallest..

3

u/PhoibosApollo2018 Jan 29 '23

May I order the 1899 vintage my dear?

5

u/DutchWinchester86 Jan 29 '23

1899 deserves a comeback, preferably with the original recipe…

2

u/IHateMath14 Jan 29 '23

The first bottle looks like a flash bang

2

u/iiALXii Jan 29 '23

1899 looks NICE

2

u/crazyadmin Jan 29 '23

Assuming that 1915 fell over too much.

2

u/ComprehensivePage337 Jan 29 '23

I’d grind up on 1915 at any club. Gurl, you thicc.

2

u/DanSheman Jan 29 '23

1915 didn't stick around for long, understandably..

2

u/Clear-Campaign-355 Jan 29 '23

The 1915 bottle is awesome.

2

u/INeedToWasteMyTime Jan 29 '23

So when was the phrase "coke bottle figure" coined?

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2

u/Zixinus Jan 29 '23

I would prefer the first one because it seems to contain most liquid for the given size and the cork allows it to be reusable.

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2

u/The_Mr_Awesome Jan 29 '23

The shrinkflation is real

2

u/RunSkyLab Jan 29 '23

Damn 1915 is looking like Pixar made her into a mom.

2

u/nolongerbanned99 Jan 29 '23

They should bring back the 1899 version and charge a premium for it.

2

u/zesteroflimes Jan 29 '23

1899 and 1915 are where it's at.

2

u/InevitableHimes Jan 29 '23

I would love to find an 1899 version. Love the design.

2

u/Reeferologist- Jan 30 '23

Shouldn’t it be getting fatter after getting off the cocaine?

2

u/Outrageous_Chicken95 Jan 30 '23

Offering even less since 1899

2

u/FlacidBarnacle Jan 30 '23

Had it right the first time. Just like everything else they couldn’t stop touching it and went blind.

2

u/GunnSho Jan 30 '23

1915 was thicc

2

u/Key-Win-8602 Jan 30 '23

They’d have to change to top to make it safer, but I would start buying coke again for the 1899 bottle. In glass of course…

2

u/NikkiBriar Jan 29 '23

When did they stop adding cocaine... I'm doing research

6

u/AlarmedSnek Jan 29 '23

It’s tough to say because the coca cola museum in Atlanta denies that cocaine was ever used. You have to go to the Dr Pemberton museum in Columbus, GA to find out more about the original recipe. I went to it when I was stationed at Fort Benning but forgot that info.

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2

u/dexterthekilla Jan 29 '23

The opposite evolution happened to those who drink it

1

u/[deleted] Jan 29 '23

1899 would make a sick bong

0

u/serphenyxloftnor Jan 29 '23

I would have said it got progressively worse with each design...but then there is the 1915 one. It looks atrocious.

-2

u/CopyNinja0 Jan 29 '23

I bet they taste lile shit in every those bottles

1

u/learning2greenthumb Jan 29 '23

Dr Pepper was out before Coca Cola, wonder what their bottle looked like

1

u/Wasabi_Guacamole Jan 29 '23

Weird. I see more of the 1957 design where I'm from.

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1

u/cosi_bloggs Jan 29 '23

1899 is far and away the best, but the cork would be deemed a safety issue today. That's where we are as a society.

1

u/AnotherAnonymo Jan 29 '23

I'll take that coke laced concoction from ye olde shoppe.

1

u/FullMetalComedian Jan 29 '23

Anybody know what the style of the first bottle is called?

1

u/SnowyMuscles Jan 29 '23

It got a lot smaller

1

u/BrilliantWeb4367 Jan 29 '23

1899 looks like a fragrance bottle.

2

u/Low_Dream_1481 Jan 29 '23

Nah it looks like a potion that would make you shoot crows out of your hands

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1

u/ternic69 Jan 29 '23

Am I the only one that’s curious what the original one tasted like? Cocaine and all, with cane sugar etc. I have a suspicion it was quite delicious but guess none of us will ever know

1

u/Limp_Clue8704 Jan 29 '23

WW1 Coca Cola bottle be hella THICC

1

u/spookinky987 Jan 29 '23

If I recall, the designer of the Ferrari also designed the 1957 bottle. Discuss...

1

u/ds_afk Jan 29 '23

Why does it stop THIRTY YEARS AGO

1

u/Acrobatic-Appeal-833 Jan 29 '23

1915 be looking pretty thicc

1

u/[deleted] Jan 29 '23

That 1899 bottle goes hard.

1

u/ognnosnim Jan 29 '23

The first iteration (#1 on the left) looks so fancy imo! Kind of like a nice cognac bottle.

1

u/citrausa Jan 29 '23

Can't find actual 1899 bottles for sale

1

u/MR24Rathod Jan 29 '23

1915 is "Thick" dude

1

u/RandomYorkshireGirl Jan 29 '23

I relate to the 1915 bottle.

1

u/sycamore_years Jan 29 '23

Why does the 1899 one look oddly futuristic?

1

u/Scarlet-Fire_77 Jan 29 '23

I have a couple of the 1900s. Of course the paper label is long gone. And they're more of a lighter amber color.

1

u/consumercommand Jan 29 '23

1915 bottle was thhikk

1

u/AdUnusual9932 Jan 29 '23

1915 kinda thicccc, Id smash...

1

u/Total-Addendum9327 Jan 29 '23

Dang if that 1915 don’t be thiccccc!!!

1

u/MBVakalis Jan 29 '23

I love the 1915 bottle

1

u/fletchy30 Jan 29 '23

They should go super retro and bring back 1899. Cocaine and everything!

1

u/Spike310300 Jan 29 '23

1915's version is awesome

1

u/Dednotsleeping82 Jan 29 '23

Thats not even all of them

1

u/SponsoredByChina Jan 29 '23

I want the 1899 one but not cause of the bottle

1

u/JwubalubaDubdub Jan 29 '23

Aye 1915 could get it

1

u/lasvegashomo Jan 29 '23

I get why they moved away from original bottle design but it looks cool af. They need to upsale and make some more

1

u/YetiGuy Jan 29 '23

I wonder how much sugar was used in the earliest version

1

u/beefcake_sweepstake Jan 29 '23

Which bottle is the point it stopped having cocaine in it?

1

u/RIRI5665 Jan 29 '23

It's evolving, just backwards

1

u/Sinatra94 Jan 29 '23

Cant wait to see what 1999s looks like

1

u/NerdicusTheWise Jan 29 '23

I like the first one

1

u/Salmol1na Jan 29 '23

Shrinkflation

1

u/The_ManWithoutAPlan Jan 29 '23

1899 looks like it's gonna make me shoot crows outta my hands, I dig it

1

u/Narwhalpilot88 Jan 29 '23

1916 design was iconic and superior

1

u/BrisketOnABiscuit Jan 29 '23

That 1899 bottle looks fucking sick. They should bring those back with metal caps.

1

u/Toke_Khalifa Jan 30 '23

That 1899 will allow you to tame some strange

1

u/Competitive_Pipe9488 Jan 30 '23

Don't care about the bottle.. just want yayo back in it 😩

1

u/jgalt5042 Jan 30 '23

Brown colored sugar water all the same. Why would anyone drink this poison is the real question.

1

u/lordofedging81 Jan 30 '23

The 1899 one was flat, they made it without carbonation.

But it had cocaine.

1

u/MBeebeCIII Jan 30 '23

I kinda like 1899 the best. Just 'cause it would feel the best working over my prostate...

1

u/RRXXDD Jan 30 '23

The 1899 version looks very "useful"

1

u/Sad_Comparison_1385 Jan 30 '23

Bring the 1899 back, along with the cocaine. . .

1

u/redditor_the_best Jan 30 '23

1899 slaps and not just because it had cocaine in it.

1

u/Sensitive-Ad9508 Jan 30 '23

The 1899 one looks so cool, bring it back!

1

u/Mike_Hunty Jan 30 '23

The 1899 bottle hits differently. I love it.

1

u/SouthWestWicked Jan 30 '23

Put the cocaine back in plz

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1

u/mdruckus Jan 30 '23

1899 looks classy AF!

1

u/TWiTcHThECLoWN Jan 30 '23

They new they fucked up in 1915. Tippy!

1

u/Gloworm02 Jan 30 '23

Is it my imagination or are they getting smaller, yet more expensive.

1

u/Gloworm02 Jan 30 '23

r/mandelaeffect

There’s a dash in 1957, and possibly some of the no paint labels. I can’t tell.

1

u/PeyoteComputerFungus Jan 30 '23

I don't like coca cola but I would buy a bottle for collection if they remade the old bottles

1

u/Educational-Spread41 Jan 30 '23

1957 is the best 😬

1

u/Best_Confection_8788 Jan 30 '23

Bring back that 1899 bottle

1

u/Psilocvbin Jan 30 '23

They probably have all costed the same lol Just keeps giving us less and less

1

u/SnowBuried Jan 30 '23

the corked bottle probably tastes so devine

1

u/Just_wondering_2257 Jan 30 '23

It feels like we only go backwards

1

u/Zylonnaire Jan 30 '23

Which one had coke

1

u/OdysseyZen Jan 30 '23

1899 had class

1

u/PSYOP_warrior Jan 30 '23

Not gonna lie, I would love to try the original "coke". I wonder how good the buzz was?

1

u/generatorland Jan 30 '23

It got less and less cool.

1

u/Alistair_TheAlvarian Jan 30 '23

The one case where less cocaine made something thinner.

They removed cocaine around 1903

1

u/Teejaydee3 Jan 30 '23

Yea the bottles look less Cocainy as you go right.

1

u/mammothpdx Jan 30 '23

Hit me with that 1899 bottle homies.

1

u/NopeRope13 Jan 30 '23

We need to party like it’s 1899

1

u/Esmeralda_Lavender Jan 30 '23

Someone take me back to 1899.

1

u/iamlejo Jan 30 '23

Getting smaller…

1

u/MightyMoose91 Jan 30 '23

We need to go back

1

u/worldsbestlasagna Jan 30 '23

now I want coke

1

u/myphilosophicalbutt Jan 30 '23

1899 or 1957. Bring those back. Rest are trash

1

u/ko-central Jan 30 '23

Bring back 1899 bottle and the cocaine

1

u/l33tn0ob Jan 30 '23

What I noticed was less and less coke.

1

u/NoodleIskalde Jan 30 '23

I like how much like a potion that first one looks.

1

u/Spirit_Miku Jan 30 '23

A left to right representation of coke in Coca-Cola to no coke in Coca-Cola

1

u/RackOffMangle Jan 30 '23

Devolution.. fify