It's the real thing, bones in a bottle.

July 2, 2006 8:13 PM

Any ideas on the value an unopened 12 ounce bottle of Coke, purchased in the spring of 1960, with pork bones inside?

With the afternoon sun shinning through this Coke bottle, my parents saw that something was inside. Pork bones. My mother wrote a letter to coke about it and she never received a reply, so it’s been a fun novelty we have had at the house.

I was telling my folks about eBay and the strange things that people sell, and I was reminded about the Coke bottle. I told them that I thought that it would be worth something to some collectors , (and to think that my brothers and sister use to take this to show and tell).

The syrup has separated over all these years and a lot of sediment is at the bottom, along with a piece of fat floating at the top there are two pork bones inside.

posted by ok to grab bag (32 comments total)

Not very much. The last one (item #160000500535) went for a buck. (Of course, it doesn't have pork bones in it.)
posted by dobbs at 8:23 PM on July 2, 2006

The problem with unique items — and dear lord, I hope this one is unique — is that it's hard to get the sort of precedent you need to appraise them. Normally, you could ask a bottle collector what similar items had sold for recently. But with this... well, I'm guessing there just aren't any similar items.

If you sell it, its "value" will be whatever the buyer pays. Until you sell it, I doubt you can put a dollar value on it at all.
posted by nebulawindphone at 8:29 PM on July 2, 2006

Umm, I hate to even mention this, but are you sure that it's pork bones? Were there err.. any industrial accidents in the bottling plant in 1960?

it's made of people. PEOPLE!!!
posted by Saucy Intruder at 8:34 PM on July 2, 2006

From the peanut gallery -- I'm guessing some consumer disposed of trash (the bones) inside a returnable bottle, returned it, and the machinery didn't clean it out.
posted by chef_boyardee at 8:53 PM on July 2, 2006

chef_boyardee probably has it nailed. If you want to take your chances with eBay, that would probably be your best shot.

Now I really want to get the image of pork bones in coke out of my head because damn.
posted by The Deej at 9:09 PM on July 2, 2006

This would fall under the category of, "Why the fuck would anyone save, let alone pay money for, something like this?" — which puts it squarely in the purview of eBay. Post lots of pictures, link the auction here and elsewhere, start the bidding at 1¢ and see what value the market determines.

Anyone who tells you he can accurately predict its "worth" is lying. Take an ordinary grilled cheese with a dubious image on one side, list it on eBay, and you'll attract precisely zero bidders — until the story gets picked up by the one blogger in a hundred who would find it amusing, and he convinces another that it's worth writing about, and their friend posts it to a community weblog, and the news media picks up the story for their "Offbeat News," and eventually a shady, shameless corporation buys it for a couple hundred bucks of free publicity. It's pure luck.

If I were you, I'd throw the bottle into the nearest dumpster and wash my hands; but I also wouldn't have kept it as a family heirloom for as long as you obviously have, so it's safe to say that you and I grew up in different neighborhoods — so, what the hell, list it on eBay and see what happens.
posted by cribcage at 9:31 PM on July 2, 2006

These pork bones are still together in one piece? I would have imagined the acidic Coke would have dissolved the bones by now...maybe it's amazing for that reason alone?
posted by Jimbob at 9:31 PM on July 2, 2006

I will give you five dollars for this bottle of pork bones.
posted by jtron at 9:36 PM on July 2, 2006

$10.
posted by planetkyoto at 9:42 PM on July 2, 2006

until the story gets picked up by the one blogger in a hundred who would find it amusing, and he convinces another that it's worth writing about, and their friend posts it to a community weblog, and the news media picks up the story for their "Offbeat News," and eventually a shady, shameless corporation buys it for a couple hundred bucks of free publicity. It's pure luck.

This essentially is good advice. Publicize it a bit, somehow. Create a webpage for it with pictures. Get bloggers to notice it (hint: make the page interesting) Get it picked up by wierd news columns in papers, etc. Later, list it on ebay. You'll at least get the attention of some "must-have-everything-Coke-related" collector out there who will pay you a mint.

Otherwise, yeah, maybe $5.
posted by vacapinta at 9:47 PM on July 2, 2006

I would offer it to that casino with the Wall O Crazy. Didn't they pay thousands for the cheese sandwich that looked vaguely like Jesus?
posted by fshgrl at 10:04 PM on July 2, 2006

$15, but I bet you can get more with appropriate marketing. Post it to eBay and then post links to that on every place you can (BoingBoing would love this).
posted by Kickstart70 at 10:15 PM on July 2, 2006

I think you can write your ticket on this one, buddy. I know I'd pay just about anything for a bottle of coke with pork bones in it. My uncle had one with a wadded up colostomy bag in it, and man was that ever a gem.
posted by kookoobirdz at 10:15 PM on July 2, 2006 [1 favorite]

See if the guy from One Red Paperclip will take it.
posted by SenshiNeko at 10:20 PM on July 2, 2006

Definitely, spread the word. Problem with these things is you get fake bidders who put real bidders off.

Are the pork bones all rubbery?
posted by porpoise at 10:47 PM on July 2, 2006

Obviously, we can only answer properly after seeing photos.

omg pork bones


posted by mzurer at 11:15 PM on July 2, 2006

I think the first way to find out is to post plenty of good pics of this thing. Post it on Flickr, be sure to tag it, then submit the story to Digg and BoingBoing... that'll be enough to get people talkin'.

With a little luck, you'll have YouTube mashups of this thing, t-shirts, and even photoshop contests. Then you'll be making zillions when you sell the idea to some industrious (and brave) Japanese beverage company that'll market a special brand of pork cola.

Okay, maybe not :P. Definitely, start with the photos and then Digg and BoingBoing.
posted by freakystyley at 11:51 PM on July 2, 2006

You need some kind of marketing solgan. Coke builds strong bones. Worried about bone density, drink coke! Don't be fooled by the others, this is a pig in the coke. How to turn a pig's ear into a silk purse.
posted by zackdog at 12:39 AM on July 3, 2006

If you promote this all to hell and back as a "weird and/or gimmick" auction you will pretty much guarantee that you get piles and piles of fake bids. You'll get all the jokesters that think it's a good idea to create a fake ebay account just so they can bid ten million dollars on your gimmick auction. So, I wouldn't necessarily say that getting tons of exposure is a good thing.
posted by Rhomboid at 12:42 AM on July 3, 2006

Don't be fooled by pig in a poke, get pig in a coke.
posted by zackdog at 1:25 AM on July 3, 2006

Whatever you do, please, please keep us informed.

Pork bones. In a coke bottle!
posted by slimepuppy at 1:32 AM on July 3, 2006

People collect Coke products like crazy. It definitely has value.
posted by agregoli at 7:21 AM on July 3, 2006

Recycled bottles (to the same bottler) have a life cycle like this: bottles come in. They are put through a washer that washes the outside and sticks a wand inside to wash the inside. Then a dryer that blasts them with air, then on a conveyer belt and *past an inspector* that is supposed to verify that there is no foreign material inside and the glass isn't chipped, then on the bottling machine to be refilled and capped.

I'm guessing the bottle inspector isn't paid all that much.
posted by jellicle at 7:53 AM on July 3, 2006 [1 favorite]

I believe the Coca-Cola bottle with pig bones should be the table centerpiece of EVERY MeFi meetup (at least those in the lower 48), so I am now offering $20 toward its purchase and shipping to the next qualified meetup.
posted by planetkyoto at 7:56 AM on July 3, 2006

Get these motherfucking pork bones out of this motherfucking Coke bottle!
posted by languagehat at 8:36 AM on July 3, 2006

Fire up the grill.

You're almost ready for the next ingredient in Coca-Cola Barbecued Ribs
posted by Sallyfur at 10:34 AM on July 3, 2006

Interesting. My friend once purchased a similar bottle sealed with a bent straw inside. The cashier initially hesitated to sell it to him, offering instead a less obviously disgusting coke. This was within the past 5 years though (it was a Mexican coke), so I guess bottling procedures there haven't changed much.
posted by unknowncommand at 10:42 AM on July 3, 2006

Dammit, Rash, I'd been reading this thread just hoping nobody had made that comment yet...

Seriously, though, figure out the lowest amount where you'd be willing to part with it and set it as the reserve (in case nobody bites), then hope GoldenPalace Casino sees your post wherever. They're legit, at least as far as eBay goes, and seem to buy all the weird-but-somehow-notable stuff that makes the news.
posted by SuperNova at 10:54 PM on July 3, 2006

Here's your angle.

It's HAUNTED!!!
posted by tomble at 2:23 AM on July 4, 2006

Here are some pictures of them bones

Thanks for the laughs and help. I'm somewhat new to Ask MetaFilter, is it ok (scratch that), is it proper to re-post or a make a new post now that pictures are supplied?
posted by ok at 6:40 AM on July 4, 2006

No.
posted by cribcage at 9:34 PM on July 4, 2006

You don't need to repost. Not only has the question been answered, it's currently receiving plenty of attention via the MetaTalk post.

*views pics*

OMFG that is NASTY!!

You should run a open a FearFactor style website and get someone to drink it. Assemble a crew of volunteers. Get them to sign disclaimers/waivers. Take donations as votes to determine who drinks it. "Winner" gets x amount of the total donations, you pocket the rest.

You'll probably make more money off the novelty cokepork this way.

But you never know. eBay+insane people+blog fame sometimes equates to untold riches - if your idea of untold riches can be counted on one hand and includes the concept of being a target for every screwy doof herder on the internet.
posted by loquacious at 1:10 PM on July 16, 2006