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It’s the Real Thing: Coke’s First Wall Sign Pops Up

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James Couden may have been a better salesman than a painter, but it is his artwork that is attracting attention. Preservationists Alison Free and Aggie Ferguson have put in a month of work on the side of Young Bros. Pharmacy in Cartersville, Ga., about 30 miles northwest of Atlanta, to bring to light what Atlanta-based Coca-Cola executives agree is the first of its kind--a Coca-Cola wall sign painted 95 years ago. Restoring the large red-and-white sign, which says “Drink Coca-Cola,” was the idea of the pharmacy’s owner, Dean Cox, who said townspeople had told him he had a historic treasure under layers of paint on the wall. “I’d heard the rumor for years,” Cox said, “and then I finally got confirmation from Coca-Cola that this was the first painted wall sign.” Coca-Cola representative Randy Donaldson said the original sign was painted in 1894 by Couden, who set the precedent for what later became a standard offer: Sell Coca-Cola in your shop and the company would paint your wall for free. “Couden was a salesman first and painter next,” Donaldson said, “so his sign is not quite up to specs. The letters are kind of squashed.” Free and Ferguson, who operate a restoration company called Signs of the Times, used heat guns and spatulas to chip away layers of old paint.

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