1970'S RC Cola Johnny Bench Transistor Radio & ball cap

[mrmopar]

I have been a bit of a fan of the food issues throughout the years. When I first got into baseball in the late 70s, RC Cola was selling cans with current ball players on them and I remember buying several. Over the years, I have added more cans, a few iron-on/transfers and other things. Can't say I recall RC Cola being something I really wanted to drink back then, but the baseball cans sure were cool.

I am always wanting to add unique food promotional items/cards related to sports, especially the soda items. This past week I saw an item I had never seen before and was unaware of. I probably overpaid and will see them pop up all the time now, but I just had to grab the lot. It was the Johnny Bench transistor radio, shaped like a RC Cola can and a ballcap advertising it. I would love to find an ad that showed the promotion and how you obtained the radio next.

Anyway, along with that, I found some other neat stuff RC put out over the years. All great stuff. The Unitas is mine, also a new pick-up. The rest are just scans I found online.

 

[finestkind]

That cap is very cool. It tried RC Cola once.

 

[Letch77]

RC was delicious...I always liked it better than Coke and especially Pepsi.

Neat stuff there!

 

[dano7]

Like RC cola, but don’t remember the baseball cans (regional issue?). I still have some Coke bottle caps, with an entire sheet of the football ones. Cool collection there!!!

 

[MrMet]

I’ve seen the cans, but the hat is cool


Sent from my iPhone using Freedom Card Board mobile app

 

[fordman]

The grocery stores all over Cincy had those RC promotional bottle cards. We had a local RC/7up bottler and those drivers hated having to put those things on when filling the store shelves. I only know this because I was a member of Teamsters Local 1199 (Pepsi/Coke/RC-7Up/Dr. Pepper) in the late 80's and you 'd hear the guys complain about returnable bottles being phased out. Those guys got $0.03 per return bottle. The Union hall had stacks of all kinds of bottle promotional items. They're all gone now as the Union hall was demolished years ago. Not sure if that stuff was thrown away or if someone boxed it up and kept it all.

Fordman

 

[tpeichel]

I have some Phillies iron-ons.

 

[smapdi]

Wow, Bake McBride is one of my all-time favorites and I have his RC can, but I never knew about the iron-ons but now I absolutely need one if it exists. One of those real 0 to 60 moments from complete ignorance to complete obsession.

 

[mrmopar]

As far as I know, each team had 5 players that were featured on iron ons. Sometimes you see singes, but often they were in 5 player strips.I don't know if McBride was one of the Cards (or Phillies) depending on when they were made/issued. Here is a photo of an A's strip I got not that long ago and have not stashed away yet. Unfortunately, they don't pop up often enough, but there may be some google images perhaps? If Rose was on the Philly sheet, there is a Rose collection site that must have it, but I think that would have been after the promotion when he went to Philly.

 

[mrmopar]

Well, my strip pretty much solved the year riddle. Gary Thomasson was only with the A's in 1978. It was only a very short time in 1978, in fact. He was traded by the Giants to the A's on March 15. On June 15, the A's traded him to the Yankees. it's possible that these were made and out there right before or even after the trade to the Yanks, but these are definitely 1978 and no way they were designed or issued before March, as there would be no way to know Thomasson would go to Oakland before then.

Furthermore, North is also a big clue too. He was traded to the Dodgers May 17, 1978. That only leaves about a 2 month gap where both North and Thomasson were on the A's, March 15-May 17! These were probably some sort of opening day roster type thing.

 

[zemansky]

Have tons of cans if anyone is looking for any player(s).