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Capturing the past
Published November 17, 2009
Nostalgia and one of the most famous name brands in the world are on display at the Boaz Public Library.
Boaz City Councilman Jerry Don Sims and his wife Jenny along with Boaz building inspector Don Bouldin and his wife Linda are sharing some of the interesting pieces in their massive Coca-Cola memorabilia collections.
The two families have thousands of authentic Coke items going back decades. Some of those pieces are on display in the Sand Mountain Room at the library until the end of the year.
Sims said his father-in-law, Perk Milwee, worked for Coke for 37 years and sparked his interest in collecting.
“I worked in the summers as a helper at the Coca-Cola warehouse in Albertville in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s,” Sim said.
Some 50 years later, Sims is still interested.
“It’s kind of an investment and an obsession,” Sims said. “You get started in it and then you’re kind of like, ‘I need that.’ You keep adding on and before you know it, you have more things than you know what to do with.”
Sims said some of his more precious items include an old thermometer, a radio and a train that his father-in-law gave his son in the ‘70s.
“For the display, I just tried to put some unusual things that probably nobody remembers or hadn’t see in a long time like glass 2-liter bottles,” Sims said.
The councilman said Coke put its name on just about any item — cigarette lighters and matches, pencils and pencil sharpeners, even rulers.
“I told my oldest grandson Davis one day this will probably be passed on to him,” Sims said, smiling. “He said, ‘All right. I’ll start selling it on eBay.’
“I think my daughter Jennifer would still like to carry on the collection. She’s lived in Texas, Florida and China, and she brings me things.”
Sims and Bouldin said they enjoy some friendly competition, but they help each other out when they can.
“Sometimes there’ll be an unusual advertisement and I try to head him off and he tries to head me off,” Sims said. “If we see anything unusual, I call him or he calls me.”
Bouldin said Sims and Milwee perked his interest in Coke memorabilia.
When Bouldin was a young boy in the 1950s, his family owned a grocery store, and Sims’ father-in-law was their route man.
“I would help separate the bottles in the store, and Mr. Milwee’s helper on the route would give me a Coke,” Bouldin recalled. “I used to collect knives, and then my wife gave me a birthday party, and Jerry and his wife came over and gave me an Alabama and Auburn tray and Coke glasses.”
Like Sims, Bouldin considers his collection an investment, one he’ll probably hand down to his children.
“I’ve studied the history of Coke, and it’s amazing,” Bouldin said. “It’s been interesting and a lot of fun collecting it.”
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