RC Cola Pins, 1967
Here's a weird thing! Though if you've seen my "Pins From the Bag" and "Stuff From the Box" posts, maybe not that weird. SO... remember RC (Royal Crown) Cola? I've probably had it, though I have no memory of it. Back 1967 (as far as I can determine), they released a series of pinback buttons, influenced by psychedelia (to a degree), and featuring "hilarious" slogans, many tied to well-known pop culture references of the day. I had six or seven of them, and eventually discovered that there were a total of 15 in the set. Time to get eBay-ing!
Here are the first three buttons! I'll wait five minutes for you to stop laughing and regain your composure. Notice the limited colors, magenta, orange, and white. What more do you need? Blue? What are you, some sort of weirdo? These aren't that different from generic, humorous "hippie" pinback buttons that were common back then. They also remind me of “Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In”! Sock it to me.
I enjoy dated references such as the Red Baron (was he in vogue because of Snoopy? Or was there another reason?), and the fact that he is called a "fink", very 60s. And Twiggy, well... she was the coolest fashion model out there. Send her to Vietnam, I guess.
Here's another pop-culture reference with Superman; and a joke about graduating. Because those hippies don't like school! Also... an oatmeal joke. Controversial!
"Mary Poppins" had been a smash in 1964, and it turns out that she was a U.F.O. "Don't Trust Anyone Over 17", amen, brother! Meanwhile, Charlie Brown was actually a middle-aged man (that explains the thinning hair).
We all know that hippies needed haircuts and didn't take baths; and that first pin was also a take on Lady Bird Johnson's "Beautify America" campaign: Throughout her time in the White House, she fought to make American cities more beautiful by planting flowers or adding park benches and by removing billboards and junkyards from the nation's highways. We get yet another pop-culture reference with Daddy Warbucks, and a report card joke for the kids still in high school.
They look great as a set!
I have more random sets of pinback buttons to share, stay tuned.
30 comments:
Major-
I certainly hope whatever ad agency thought up this tripe was summarily fired by RC Cola. (On the other hand... it's for RC Cola - what do you expect-?) Even if "inspired" by Laugh-In, it's still crap.
Maybe 'the kids' I hung out with, and the schools I attended were weird, but the only time the word fink was used in a sentence was in Mad Magazine. No one in my circles used that word, perhaps due to the word being more associated with the 'beatnik' movement than the 'hippie' movement. Hearing actor Ray Collins, portraying Lieutenant Arthur Tragg, use that word in an early episode of Perry Mason is sheer bliss, however.
Thanks, Major.
Like, far out! These are so marvy. Maybe the thing about "Draft Twiggy" was because her "profile"?
Thanks for sharing these, Major! And keep on truckin'!
Yep. "hilarious", as in, "So funny I forgot to laugh." ;-) I think these slogans deserve an "Ohhhh myyyy".
We used to get RC cola quite often in the '60s & '70s. I think it's still around? I remember liking it, but you know, cola is cola. Not much difference between them. I found out recently that I do prefer Diet Pepsi over Diet Coke; the Diet Coke had a noticeable aftertaste, not a lot, but some. Diet Pepsi doesn't, IMO.
Back to the hilarious pins: most of the slogans are just head-scratchingly bad (which makes them fun... I guess), while a couple are just head-scratchers. Like, "Draft Twiggy"... Why? I don't remember her being controversial, other than being toothpick thin. And "Daddy Warbucks is Alive"... Was he killed off in the comic strip? I don't think he was. I wasn't aware that oatmeal was joke material. I guess that's the joke: Bland, ordinary oatmeal is habit forming. hahahahaha. :-\
Like you said, I do like how the pins look as a set. And of course, your commentary actually did make it funny. So, thanks, Major.
In my early 60s childhood there was a line of similar but better buttons, packaged to fit on the same drugstore display with bubblegum cards and Wacky Package stickers. Like the cards and stickers, you didn't know what you got until you bought and opened it. The one I remember having featured an angry little face under the words "Same to you, Buster!". I remember the artwork looking like Jack Davis's work for Mad. And it included the color blue.
Buttons have always been popular, but for a moment in the sixties they were as hot as, well, Laugh-In. Besides ready-made models there were kits to make your own. One had blank buttons and a sheet of presstype letters to transfer onto them. Another let you put a photo or something under clear plastic and stamp it onto a base with a pin on the back.
I feel the same as JB....cola is cola. I was never a big soda drinker as a kid and I'm still not. Actually, nobody in my family was. We would only think about having it maybe in the summertime, and then my mom would by Shasta, because it was cheaper. I was fine with that! Plus, they had other flavors to choose from. Can you dig it?
"A friend in need is a pest". I remember back in high school we had the saying "A friend with weed is a friend indeed".
I dol like the color scheme of the buttons. It reminds me of the "Matterhorn Bobsleds" ride vehicles from 1978-2012.
Thanks, Major.
Ok, these are weird. Advertising buttons with no mention of the product? The designers must have had some wacky tobacky. And they aren’t even funny, but the colors are great.
They are effective in a block however. Major you should frame them in a shadow box frame as a monument to silly ads.
I may have had an RC Cola once, but it would have been long ago. I doubt it is even available out here now.
Fun stuff, thank you!
JG
Shasta Soda! We had that as a staple! Thank you Tokyo!
JG
Nanook, I recently watched episode #2 of “Laugh-In” on Amazon Prime (because the pilot is so different from the finished version). It’s fascinating, but man, not much funnier than these pins. It’s so weird, because I remember loving that show when I was a kid. When I hear the word “fink” I think of “Rat Fink”. I have no idea of the word’s origins, but it does seem to go back to before the hippie days.
TokyoMagic!, I guess I still don’t get why Twiggy should be drafted just because she was skinny. I admit that I’m slow. Here comes the judge!
JB, I used to be a Pepsi person, but now I drink Coke. Go figure. I do think they taste different, perhaps in subtle ways. I’m not crazy about Diet Coke, but I like Coke Zero. The button’s humor seems cooked up by 50 year-old ad guys trying to be hip to the younger generation. “Kids still love Daddy Warbucks, don’t they?”. I’m assuming that part of the oatmeal “joke” is that some people eat it every morning? I am happy to have this forgotten set of pins, even if they could be funnier.
DBenson, I think I know exactly the pins you are talking about, in fact I’m pretty sure I might have some of them (maybe even the one you mention). They might have been issued by Topps, who made a number of pin sets sold in packages much like baseball cards. There were “Ugly Pins”, but I forget if that’s the set I’m thinking of. My mom had a button-making kit, we still have buttons with pictures of my little brother in his little league uniforms over the years. None of me, for some reason!
TokyoMagic!, “cola is cola”?? Don’t you remember the horrible Cola Wars? Our nation has never healed. My brother is a soda fiend, and I’m sure I’ve tried RC Cola, I don’t think I cared for it. I guess when you are used to Coke (or Pepsi), anything else tastes funny. I did love Shasta’s various flavors, especially their grape soda!
JG, now I am craving both grape and orange sodas, with those wonderful artificial flavors and colors.
K. Martinez, I remember that saying too, though I was never a weed smoker. I was too square! I don’t mind the color scheme of the buttons, they manage to look “psychedelic” with just two colors on a white background.
JG, it IS pretty crazy that none of these pins mention RC Cola at all. I’m not sure if consumers got one pin per six pack, or how these were distributed. I like the idea of framing these, and have some other upcoming pin sets that I actually have put in nice displays - but I don’t hang them because sunlight would fade the old inks.
These are pretty stellar. Some make no sense, which is complete sense. Mary Poppins IS a UFO. Clearly. And Superman needed suspenders. Clearly. Draft Twiggy: YES. Of course. When Twiggy visited Disneyland they made a very big deal of it, with many photos and filming etc etc....clearly she was a big deal worthy of a button and drafting. Colors are very "Game Shows 1972". Very Goodson and Todman productions. Like Julie Andrews, they also sent a giant goodie basket to the TG's every Christmas season. Speaking of buttons...does anyone remember the "button lady" in front of the Chinese Theatre? I have a video of her: somewhere. She was most definitely "out there", but famous in her own right. Thanks Major!
RC Cola is my favored fizzy. I have to hunt for it around here, and when it shows up, stock up. Shasta Cream Soda was my favorite when I was a kid. I don't recall ever seeing any pins like these before. Ed "Big Daddy" Roth had the RatFink character in '50-60s hot rod scene. I think one has to look at the "Laugh In" tv show now as a reminder how humor and televised political comment was viewed and received back then. Openly mocking politicians, the Vietnam war, and social issues on a major network broadcast was pretty much unheard of. Now it's an everyday occurrence.
W
My family drank RC cola ( my mom loved Diet Rite made by RC cola) but like Tokyo Magic/ Chris … by family only drank soda during the summer on maybe outings or picnics or maybe a treat on the weekend. Birthday party’s too. And SHASTA was usually the brand I remember.
It’s funny you brought RC COLA up today because the other night I was watching WHATS MY LINE … I think it was a 1968 or 1969 episode and at the end they did their secret celebrity the panel had to guess . I can’t remember who the celebrity was , but the audience knew him very well as soon as he came out on stage … ( I think he was a sports announcer or news person) I was familiar with the person’s name but I cannot remember who it was now . ANYWAY… when they read some of his clues … they mentioned he was also co- owner of RC COLA …. (??)
As a collector it’s always exciting when you find out about additional pieces to a set of something when you previously didn’t know about them. I remember in the mid 80’s … long before the internet and no real Disney park collector groups yet finding out there was 1967 Tiki room poster and a 1967 version of the monorail poster!
Nehi Black Cherry was my drink of choice back in the 50s. 13 cents, and you got 3 cents back when you returned the bottle. I took mine in Abba Zabbas.
I did drink a little RC back then. For some reason I remember one afternoon peddling bikes around town one handed with Roger, the other hand holding an RC Cola.
Thanks, Major for memory lane stuff.
zach
Bu, from what little I’ve seen, Twiggy (or whatever her real name is) seems nice enough. But she was easy to make fun of I guess. I suppose that in 1967, which is when I estimate these are from, she was a pretty big deal. Did she really send a goodie basket every year? Seems “above and beyond”. What was the deal with the Button Lady? I’ve never heard of her.
Warren Nielsen, I’m sure RC is still available in places, maybe just at those stores that specialize in old candy bars and sodas (re: Rocket Fizz). I’m pretty sure my brother bought it not that long ago. He liked Tab long after it fell out of fashion - I always thought of that as a “lady’s diet cola”, but he claimed to like the way it tasted. I remember that people at the store checkout would often exclaim, “TAB? They still make that??”.
Mike Cozart, I don’t remember my mom buying sodas when I was growing up, unless we were on a road trip, and then we could get a cold can of whatever we wanted. There was this cherry soda that we thought was so delicious called “Worms”. Yes, “Worms”! You can find empty cans on eBay. We loved it. Especially after driving through the Mojave, we were definitely ready for something ice cold. In fact my younger brother saw a sign for Coldwater Canyon and said, “Let’s go there!”. Every now and then I still learn about attraction poster variations - I’m lucky to own a ’67 Monorail and a ’67 Tiki Room!
zach, I never had Nehi, but people who did seem to have fond memories. I like black cherry soda, but what I REALLY like is that that red, artificial, “cherry Lifesaver” flavor! Nothing like a real cherry, but who cares.
“ME AND MY RC….ME AND MY RC. WHAT’S GOOD ENOUGH FOR OTHER FOLKS AIN’T GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME!!”
I guess I still don’t get why Twiggy should be drafted just because she was skinny.
I was thinking they said that, because she was built like a boy. Not that there is anything wrong with that!
Don’t you remember the horrible Cola Wars?
Major, I remember taking the Pepsi Challenge at a mall, somewhere, and also at the Los Angeles County Fair. I'm guessing that the people over at Coca-Cola did not like that campaign!
Now with the mention of other sodas, I'm remembering Pepsi Light, which had a hint of lemon added (and less sugar, I think). And one of my favorites, back in the day, was Cactus Cooler (by Canada Dry). Oh, and I really liked Wink and Bubble Up, too!
Does anybody remember Simba? "It goes for the throat" was their tagline. It was a Coke product back in the late 60s early 70s. Citrusy, but not as sweet as Sprite or 7-Up, and not as sharp as Squirt. Nice balance of sweet/sour. Yummy. My wife liked Tab when we first met, I couldn't stand it.
W
Warren, I forgot about Squirt! I think it was the same flavor as Wink (grapefruit), but it must have been made by a different company. I just remembered one that wasn't around for too long in the late 70s and early 80s.....Aspen! It was apple flavored soda. According to the internet, it was made by by PepsiCo, and was replaced in 1984 by Apple Slice.
Besides Shasta (in cans), we also got Cragmont pop (in cans) back in the day. (In most parts of the country, "pop" is known as "soda". Here in the Northwest and upper Midwest, (hi, Sue!) soda is mostly known as pop... Let the wars begin!)
Cragmont is/was the in-house brand of Safeway... and Safeway is now part of Albertson's, or is it the other was around? One of my favorite Cragmont flavors was Sparkling Punch. It was red in color, but IIRC, it consisted of pineapple and orange flavorings. I think Cragmont is now known by another name?
I liked Canada Dry (in bottles) Cream Soda and Strawberry. I haven't tried it in decades. The flavor probably isn't the same now anyway. Sometime in the (I think) '80s, manufacturers switched from their tried-and-true imitation fruity flavors to more 'natural' tasting flavors. Yes, today's strawberry pop tastes more like the real thing, but I liked the old flavor! Grape pop is one of my favorites, but it's getting hard to find nowadays, for some reason. Only one store (among 4) in my 'neighborhood' carries Grape Crush now.
Funny, I know I've been using the word "soda," but growing up, we didn't use the words "soda" or "pop".....or even combined, "soda pop." We just referred to them as soft drinks.
I remember during the two years that I waited on customers at Knott's, it was very common for some teenager (usually female), to come up and say very bluntly, "GIMMEEEE-A SODA!" and then just stare at you. Like they assumed you could read their minds as for what kind they wanted. First of all....at that time, I thought the way they said, "GIMMMEEE" was like the rudest thing in the world. Also, if you are talking about carbonated drinks, we had several kinds to choose from. Of course, once you said what kind, they'd always say, "What do you have?" Hellllllooooo! Big menu board! Right there on the wall! It was worse when I went to the Ice Cream Parlor, for my second year at Knott's. We still got the "GIMMMMEEEEA SODA!" line from this cross section of rude teenagers (heck, I was a teenager at the time, too, but I wasn't brought up saying, "GIMME!"), but we also got, "I'll take a single scoop." Okay, what flavor? "What flavors do you have?" We had 10 different flavors. I wonder if the employees at Baskin-Robbins go through that all day long? I guess it would be even worse if management insisted that they memorize and repeat the entire list of 31 flavors, whenever they get asked that question by a customer.
Sorry for that digression. It must have something to do with the fact that St. Patrick's Day was my anniversary of being hired at Knott's. I won't say exactly which anniversary it was, but it's somewhere between the anniversaries of the Speedy Cleaners and Goldblatt's Delicatessen.
Mike Cozart, your passion is inspiring.
TokyoMagic!, it’s funny how fashion decided that the “skinny waif” look was THE thing at that time. Not sure why. I don’t think she should have gone to ‘Nam! I remember those commercials with the Pepsi Challenge. Too bad you weren’t on TV! I vaguely remember Pepsi Light, but do you remember Coke Dark?? It had coffee in it, and I liked it. I’ve never had Cactus Cooler, isn’t that what Fred Flintstone liked to drink? Wink! I have a badge with a picture of the Wink Gink!
Warren, not only do I remember Simba, but I just found a photo of me holding a can of Simba while visiting Calico out in San Bernardino. Maybe I’ll add it to tomorrow’s post! I remember Aspen, which sounds good, but I never had it.
JB, I never had Cragmont, it is one of those names that comes up occasionally. “Pop”, “soda”, “bug juice”, it’s all the same to me. Now I want to go to this place called Galco, in LA, they have all kinds of unusual and hard-to-find sodas!
TokyoMagic!, I remember once saying “soda pop”, and a friend of a friend thought it was the funniest thing, as if I’d stepped out of an episode of “Leave It To Beaver”. I don’t think I would have done well dealing with the public at Knott’s if they said dumb things like “Gimme a soda!”. Maybe they couldn’t read, did you ever think of that? DID YOU? You’d think that by adulthood, folks would know how to related the necessary information when placing an order. What size? What flavor? How many? Who dunnit? You should have told ice cream customers that there were nine weird flavors (liver, asparagus, spaghetti, etc), and then throw in “chocolate” at the end. “Gimme a chocolate!”. Folks at Baskin-Robbins always seem unhappy, it must be a terrible job. You started at Knott’s on St. Paddy’s Day?
Major, Coke with coffee in it? That reminds me of "Buzz Beer" (which was beer with coffee in it) on the Drew Carey Show. He and his friends came up with it and had a micro brewery in Drew's garage.
Major, you are right, Cactus Cooler is what Fred and Barney used to drink! I wonder if that is where Canada Dry got the idea for the name, or if it was the other way around?
Major, oh my gosh, you said "What size?" That brings up another buried memory! It was a little more understandable that people wouldn't automatically say what size they wanted. But at Knott's, we only had two sizes, Large and Small. This would turn into a comedy sketch, far more times than you would ever imagine. We would not ask the question, "What size?" Instead, we would just ask "Large or Small?" Again, a very large number of people would respond by saying, "Medium!" We'd reply, "We don't have Medium, just Large and Small." This same group of customers would then reply again, with the answer, "Medium!" The question for us who worked there was, just how many times will I have to repeat this same spiel, to the same customer, before they realize what it is that you are saying to them. Just how many times are they going to keep saying, "Um....okay, Medium!"
By coincidence, a friend shared this with me just last week: I was wondering if you have Coca-Cola products.......
You started at Knott’s on St. Paddy’s Day?
Major, I had my second interview and was hired on St. Patrick's Day. My first day on the job, was the first day of Easter Vacation/Spring Break. Oh, the memories! Of rats and roaches. And day-old popcorn and corn dogs. And wage freezes. Thanks, Knott Family!
Major : my first regular job was at BASKIN ROBBINS … for the most part it was lots of fun .. so many of my friends worked there and we’d spend the summer in the mornings at the beach then working in the afternoon and evening. I worked at a location that was expensive … the franchise could give price rangers but the owners could decide the actual prices . That was a BIG issue : people ( we called them CHOLESTER-mers) would be used to certain prices and then be shocked how expensive it was. People always wanted things for free - they didn’t want to pay for the larger sundaes and things but then think we’d give them fudge , butterscotch, almonds whip cream for free…
Another thing that was annoying : people would listen radio or watch tv originating from Los Angeles abd hear promotions from there and find out San Diego and orange country had totally different promos and specials.
And …. I hated how we would be so busy and people had plenty of time to look at the flavors available then when it was time to order : they would act like they just awoke from a coma and then try to describe some flavor they had 20 years ago and try to describe it over and over as if the flavor we magically gonna just show up if they talked about more ….
But it was fun too … we did a massive business with cakes and on evening shifts we would sometimes go and assemble ice cream cake boxes ( empty) and place them in the big freezer in back . When a customer would come to pick up a cake - we’d sometime go take a frosty cold empty cake box and bring it out to them making them think it was theirs … and we’d take a corner to close and crash the box into the edge of the door or make it crash into the counter … they reactions were hilarious… of course the box was empty and nothing was damaged but a cake box . I can’t believe we use to do that but really the customers loved it!
Fun pins! I have never seen any of these before. Dunkin [Donuts] also uses those colors....now I want a hot cup of coffee and a donut. Am still concerned about Twiggy.
"When I hear the word “fink” I think of “Rat Fink”.
Major, you made me chuckle. A couple weeks ago, my friend and her husband were at the Chicagoland WOW (World of Wheels) car show -- the husband had a car in the show. While the show was going on, my friend (who's in her mid-70s) wandered around and looked at the vendor booths. She was a bit chilly and bought the only "hoodie" she could find. I don't think she realized what was on the back....Rat Fink. :oP
"My mom had a button-making kit, we still have buttons with pictures of my little brother in his little league uniforms over the years. None of me, for some reason!"
Major, I bet your mom would be willing to make buttons of you in your blogging outfit. We'd wear them!
I'll be back; I have more to add....
"Bu, from what little I’ve seen, Twiggy (or whatever her real name is) seems nice enough.....Did she really send a goodie basket every year?"
Major, I may be mistaken, but I think Bu meant "Goodson and Todman Productions," not Twiggy. I think.
Hi, JB! Yes, I call it "pop"! All the other names sound too fancy, to my ears.
Major, please do show us the photo of you holding a can of Simba.
"You should have told ice cream customers that there were nine weird flavors (liver, asparagus, spaghetti, etc)..."
Major, a store was selling cicada ice cream, a few years back -- with real cicada's. You can google it.
"What size?"
"Large or small?"
Yes.
Does anyone remember Mountain Dew out of the bottle vending machine, in the 60s? It had more fizz and 'punch to it.' It's been rather bland for about 40 years now.
Green River is tasty, and a big hit around my area at St. Paddy's Day. Very sweet, lime-y tasting.
As a teen I loved Kayo (the chocolate pop).
My husband loved Yummy [brand] Black Cherry pop.
Fun post today. I enjoyed reading everyone's comments.
Major said to Tokyo!, "Too bad you weren’t on TV!"... It wouldn't have mattered, all we'd see is a white oval anyway. ;-D
Major, "bug juice". That's what my dad sometimes called soy sauce, when I was a kid. And it does indeed resemble the dark fluid that grasshoppers exude from their mouths when threatened (that is, when you pick them up)... I suppose it's a 'boy thing'. I do recall wondering at the time (I was only 4 or so) if it was indeed 'bug juice'.
Tokyo!, hahaha. Joan Crawford's *SLAP* was so much louder than the 'dialogue' that it startled me! One does not mention Coca-Cola in the presence of Joan Crawford!
Major, my oldest found a Simba glass bottle, the large size on a job site some years back and brought it home for me. It's out in the shop right now.
Lou and Sue, there's several bottles of Green River on the shelf in the garage. Special occasion stuff.
How about Apple Beer? Non alcoholic fizzy from somewhere in Utah (imagine that). Used to get a can of that with the combo pizza at Tony Filipi's restaurant in Bremerton years ago. Double yummy!
W
Major, I just re-read one of my comments above. I wasn't very clear. Please let me clarify....
"Bu, from what little I’ve seen, Twiggy (or whatever her real name is) seems nice enough.....Did she really send a goodie basket every year?"
Major, I may be mistaken, but I think you may have misread what Bu said. I think he was referring to "Goodson and Todman Productions," not Twiggy. I think.
^ I hope that's clearer than mud. I'm not always good with wording things.
Warren, you have good taste.
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