Rare Vintage RC Royal Crown Cola Bottle Cap, International Version 1980s

This is a great find as there aren't a ton of these left out there. The iconic image of RC Cola that we all remember, plus the cola symbol for international buyers before they switched to the crown cap. This is a unique cap and not in many collections.

These were found in an old bottling plant in Jefferson, NC in the 1990s.

This company was founded in a basement in Columbus, Georgia and was one of the most innovative in the industry. If things had gone just a little differently, they would be as large or larger than Coke or Pepsi, and we would all be reaching for an RC right now while reading this. This company's accomplishments include coming out with the first canned soda, the first caffeine-free soda, and the first 16-ounce soda. They were also the first to promote and make Diet Cola a desired product. You all remember the taste tests advertising campaigns Pepsi did vs Coke in the 1970s. Well, they got that idea from Royal Crown Cola, who did the exact same thing in the late 1930s and 1940s. I read about the Pepsi Coke Challenge while researching this, and it seems a lot of them don't seem to realize that RC started this marketing as they give credit to Pepsi for being bold and innovative. They were backed by major stars like Rita Hayworth, Bing Crosby, Joan Crawford, Shirley Temple, and Lucille Ball.

The list of things that went wrong for this company is extensive, unfortunately. A lot had to do with lobbying by Coke for the Cola trademark and Sugar companies pouring money into studies to prove RC's innovative diet soda was cancerous, which has been found to be untrue but totally destroyed the diet soda industry. Then there were some strange ownership decisions which make no sense. You can read all about this company that is still on the market today here: 

This soda still has a cult following in the South for being the scrappy underdog soda brand. It is common, from what I hear, to have a Moonpie and RC Cola as a way to unwind from a day. The roots are so strong in the South that they even made a song about the two together: 

They also have a strong following in Chicago as it is served at Bears games and also local pizzerias staying strong to its Blue Collar roots.
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