My brother just shipped me an antique coke machine for a present.  How
do I find bottles of coke, and non-coke products to put in it that I
can purchase in San Francisco (or within 30 or so miles)?

Here are some hints:  I found that 8oz bottles of coke (from a
convenience store in the tenderloin) fit great.  Also, 10oz bottles of
Martinelli's sparkling apple juice also fit.

FYI - the 8 oz coke bottle bottom is 2.25" in diameter, and about 7.5"
tall. I think we can fit something a little taller in, but not any
wider.

What other beverages come in 8 and 10 oz containers?

BTW - kemper's root beer and associated products don't fit because
they are too wide at the bottom.

Oh yeah, 7UP and Root Beer are my favorite beverages!

Thanks! Alan

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Request for Question Clarification by juggler-ga on 15 May 2002 23:34 PDT

Would you consider mail-order, or is it absolutely necessary that the
vendor be located in the Bay Area?

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Clarification of Question by alans-ga on 16 May 2002 09:45 PDT

Mail order would be a last resort, there is a place in Dallas that
Mail Orders, but it seemed a bit expensive to ship the soda.

Hi Alan,

What a nice present! I'm putting together a list of links for you of
sodas that come in 8 and 10 oz bottles and then I'll give you a good
idea where to get them in the Bay Area [or if they're available via
mail order] and I'll try to stick within your flavor preferences.

The 7 Up Bottling Co is actually located in SF. I gave them a call and
they said they do sell 7-Up in 10 oz bottles. I asked them where they
sell it within a rough radius of the Downtown/Mission area and they
came up with two places:

1. Latino Grocery Store on 24th off Mission [didn't have specific
address, but I know this area and it shouldn't be hard to find, that
is the store name, not just a description]
2. Fred's Liquour across from Hilton Downtown O'Farell & Mason
[downtown]

If you need more locations and want to give them your exact street
address, you can call or visit them at:

7-Up Bottling Plant
1590 Yosemite Ave, San Francisco, CA 94124 
(415) 822-4534 or (415) 822-4700   

I spoke to Nick, he was very friendly and helpful. I also called the
Coca Cola Bottling  plant in Oakland CA

Coca-Cola Bottling Co   
7901 Oakport St # 1000,Oakland,CA 94621 
(510) 638-5001

I was sent to the voice mail of a sales rep and am waiting for a call
back, but I figured I'd get this information off to you now. There is
one more bottler in the immediate SFO area called Golden Brands, but
they had also not gotten back to me, they can be emailed at 
rstahl@goldenbrands.com

Had absolutely no luck in finding small root beer bottles, though
making your own root beer is a possibility

Some other mail order options I found, again I agree with you that the
prices are high.

Dublin Dr. Pepper [8 oz, mail order]
     http://www.drpep.com/Store/store_2.htm

Amazingly there is a Yahoo store with a page specifically dedicated to
soda in 8 and 10 oz bottles. They have the old 8 oz. Coke bottles
available via mail order
     http://shop.store.yahoo.com/drsoda/8oz10ozsodpo.html

If you wanted to go really hard core, you could also contact the head
of the California branch of the National Soft Drink Association:

Robert Achermann
1 Capitol Mall
Sacramento, CA 95814-3229
916/444-3568
916/444-7462 (FAX)
boba801898@aol.com

One more online retailer offers a large selection of soda types. The
reason I am pointing out this particular page is that it gives you an
idea of what sodes are available in the smaller sizes:

http://www.ifsandsbutts.com/sodas/listcategory.htm

You'll notice that all the 10oz bottles they have are "in store only"
because the bottles are tough to find.

Let me know if thise will work out for you. If you'd like to submit
your address formore clarifying information, I could get some closer
locations, but perhaps this is enough to go with. Thanks for writing.

jessamyn-ga

google searches used

"8 oz bottles"
"eight ounce bottles"
"eight oz bottles"
"8 ounce bottles"
yellow pages search for "bottling plants" in SFO area

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Request for Answer Clarification by alans-ga on 16 May 2002 23:38 PDT

After a quick trip to the market on 24th near mission, i realized that
the 10oz bottles of 7up and other sodas are the short, wide stubby
kind that you usually find in the hotel mini-bar.  These bottles are
too wide, and don't fit in the machine..

The picture in the Dr. Pepper link, looks like the right size.  The
picture in the Yahoo store of the 10oz diet drink is the same as the
7up bottle in the mission, short and stubby.  The coke in the same
picture is correct (i found a few 6 packs in the tenderloin)

Alan

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Clarification of Answer by jessamyn-ga on 17 May 2002 00:04 PDT

got it, sorry to send you on a wild goose chase. give me a bit more
time to research the slender soda varieties and I'll get back to you
with more options. --jessamyn-ga

I'm off to the mission to find some 7-up bottles! Sounds great.  BTW -
the 10 oz deli bottles won't fit in the machine, hopefully that isn't
what 7-up was referring to.. also, I live in SOMA so the locations are
great.

Waaaow - what an in-depth answer to a seemingly simple question.

Also - I don't know about the US, but in the UK you're more likely to
find these bottles on sale in restaurants and bars. So maybe you could
cut a deal to buy in bulk from a bar, or go to a wholesaler?

Cool answer, anyway.

Nick