A & E

The spacious family room of Bill and Gail Hughes' home in Peters is a Coca-Cola fantasy wonderland.

The centerpiece of the gaming area to one side is a red-felt pool table with a Coca-Cola Tiffany-style light hanging above. Near the center, an angled bay area is faced with a huge mirror sandblasted with the Coca-Cola logo and the shape of a cola bottle surrounding a Coke ice cream table and four chairs. A Coke pendulum wall clock, which the Hugheses bought out of town and took home aboard an airplane, hangs nearby. Coke afghans adorn the couches near Coke telephones in the sitting area.

Sparkling with lights and decked with crystal Coke ornaments, an artificial Christmas tree remains up year-round. Several miniature stained-glass buildings manufactured by the Franklin Mint and lit from within adorn the top of low display cases. Sculptures made from aluminum Coca-Cola cans represent airplanes, a train and a boat that cross the fireplace mantel.

Cardboard Coke promotional posters, Coke signs, Coke trays, Coke cans and bottles from at least 15 foreign countries -- each has a place. And two Coca-Cola vending machines, including an antique that once dispensed Coke in glass bottles, stand at attention.

"It has a cast-iron compressor," says Bill Hughes of the antique. "It costs $2 a day to run, so I don't run it."

Their huge trove of Coke treasures in the familiar red-and-white logo all seems to fit beautifully into the room. An adjacent bathroom has pink and burgundy Coca-Cola collectibles, the colors of which did not coordinate with the predominantly red and white family room.

"We built this house, so we knew it was going to be this way," Gail Hughes says.

The two have been collecting Coke items since Gail's stepmother, Judy Lewis of Kansas City, took a folk-art painting class. Lewis painted a flat wood Coke bottle with green-tinted glass, dark cola and effervescent bubbles, then gave it to Bill for his birthday in 1973.

"I think all collections start with an emotion," Gail Hughes says. "For us, it was a family emotion." Bill, now 61, and Gail, 58, liked the painted bottle so much, they placed it on the wall in Bill's den. Friends and family, which includes two grown daughters and their families, began giving Coke gifts to add to the ambiance. It helped that such gifts can be found "anywhere in the world," Gail says.

When the elder of the Hughes daughters, Kelli, married and moved out, the couple moved their collectibles to her former room.

Nine years ago, Gail and Bill built their current home, making sure their huge basement family room had plenty of room for their collecting passion.

It's a passion they share with thousands, including their younger daughter, Amy Bogardus, of Utica, N.Y., Beth Markowitz of Spring Garden, near York, president of The Coca-Cola Collectors Club -- one of several Coke collectors' organizations -- says her club has 2,700 members.

"I think people are attracted to Coca-Cola memorabilia for a number of reasons," Markowitz says. "For some individuals, the memorabilia connects them with their youth and, to some extent, a more idyllic time in their lives. Others, like myself, are attracted to the beautiful images and artwork that is featured on many of the pieces, especially older items produced when painted artwork ruled advertising rather than photography." Some pieces made in the first 25 years of the company's existence have sold for tens of thousands of dollars because they are rare and fragile, Markowitz says.

Coca-Cola was invented as a medicinal tonic by John S. Pemberton in 1886 in Jacob's Pharmacy in Atlanta. A trace of cocaine, an original ingredient that gave the product its name, was eliminated in the early 1900s. Now a multinational corporation, the Coca-Cola Corp. has produced thousands of memorabilia and advertising products, some of which commemorate an American past.

Markowitz says Coke advertising "represents a unique American art form. Not only is the art work beautiful, but it depicts the changing trends in American dress, manners and popular culture." Gail Hughes had various advertisements reproduced so they all were the same size, then framed them identically on one wall. Other pieces include framed Coke-themed puzzles and a checkers set with miniature bottles and caps for the game pieces.

Other advertising the couple collects includes various campaigns that coupled Coke with other companies, such as Mattel's Barbie, Tiffany glass or Delta Airlines. Hill's and Eckard Drugs at one time produced miniature Coke buildings to collect, and the couple has those, too.

The Hugheses own several large cardboard standup figures placed strategically around the room, which they obtained from merchants once the Coca-Cola promotion was over. One particular favorite cardboard figure depicts nearly life-sized riders on a rollercoaster. It's also the favorite of one of their grandsons, Derek Stewart of Peters.

"It was the hardest thing to get home because it's gigantic," Gail says.

"Rachel (Schreiber, of Peters), one of our granddaughters, enjoys opening up the cupboards with me," Gail says. "It personalizes the collection and adds to the emotion."

One of Bill Hughes' favorites is a 1955 selling kit owned by Coca-Cola salesman Ernest Fleming Jr. of Rocky Mount, N.C., which the couple found and bought at a shop in Ohio.

Markowitz says she suspects some people collect Coca-Cola memorabilia because, over time, some items have been proven to be good investments. But that's not why Bill and Gail Hughes, who have no idea what they have spent on their collection, have collected over the years.

"The (monetary) value isn't important," Gail Hughes says firmly. And for her, neither is the product itself. While Bill Hughes drinks Coca-Cola, his wife's preferred soft drink is Diet Dr Pepper.

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