Coke Turns Back the Clock With Return of Its ‘Christmas Bottle’

Coca-Cola Co., hoping to catch lightning in a bottle, is selling short Cokes in vintage, 6 1/2-ounce glass bottles for the holidays, 51 years after its fancy “Christmas bottles” last appeared on store shelves.

Inside will be Coke Classic, the soft drink’s traditional formula, not the revamped version that the company introduced in 1985.

“The 6 1/2-ounce bottle is always identified with Coke,” said Georgia Camp, a spokeswoman for Coca-Cola USA.

The packages will be available only in limited areas--Atlanta, New York state and parts of the Midwest--but if successful, may return next year to a wider audience, she said.

The bottles are heavier than today’s 6 1/2-ounce bottle, which itself is available in only about 65% of the country. In addition, the markings on the familiar greenish, hour-glass-shaped bottle are raised and unpainted, unlike today’s versions which are flat and white.

The “Christmas bottle” is an accident of bureaucratic routine. In the 1920s, the U.S. Patent Office issued patents on Tuesdays, and in 1923 the Tuesday fell on Christmas Day. As a result, all the bottles between 1923 and 1937--the life of the patent--carried a line saying “Bottle Pat. Dec. 25, 1923.”

The so-called “short Coke” is the favorite of many purists, who swear it tastes different from the beverage in other containers. The company insists that is not true.