Topp Cola
Title
Topp Cola
Subject
Soft Drinks
Foodways
Description
Topp Cola originated in Savannah. One side of the bottle says Savannah, and the other says Atlanta, meaning it could have been bottled in either city. Topp also made a root beer and Topp-Up soda, and later Topp Quality. According to an unsourced blog post, Topp was bottled in Atlanta by May's.
"Topp-Cola" was first copyrighted in 1958. From internet samples, it was also filed/bottled in (at least) West Virginia, California, Wyoming, Kuwait, and Germany. In 1959, they attempted to file the trademark in Puerto Rico, but Coca-Cola opposed it, resulting in a lawsuit claiming Puerto Ricans would confuse the two companies. It seems the Coca-Cola Company was trying to create a cola monopoly in Puerto Rico, but the court ruled in favor of Topp because the claim was quite unfounded.
The exact year the company stopped production is unclear. A Topp Quality bottle dated from 1972 on Ebay lists the Topp Cola Co. as a division of the Tasty-Mates Company in Camden, New Jersey. However Topp-Cola and Top-Quality bottles on Etsy from 1979 were still bottled in Georgia by the original company.
This would have been excavated in 1979 at the latest so it cannot date from after then.
"Topp-Cola" was first copyrighted in 1958. From internet samples, it was also filed/bottled in (at least) West Virginia, California, Wyoming, Kuwait, and Germany. In 1959, they attempted to file the trademark in Puerto Rico, but Coca-Cola opposed it, resulting in a lawsuit claiming Puerto Ricans would confuse the two companies. It seems the Coca-Cola Company was trying to create a cola monopoly in Puerto Rico, but the court ruled in favor of Topp because the claim was quite unfounded.
The exact year the company stopped production is unclear. A Topp Quality bottle dated from 1972 on Ebay lists the Topp Cola Co. as a division of the Tasty-Mates Company in Camden, New Jersey. However Topp-Cola and Top-Quality bottles on Etsy from 1979 were still bottled in Georgia by the original company.
This would have been excavated in 1979 at the latest so it cannot date from after then.
Source
https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/30945-topp-up-soda
https://wyomingdigitalcollections.ptfs.com/aw-server/rest/product/purl/WSL/i/8aad3264-223a-4aa1-8359-ef1c2d8fc37e
https://casetext.com/case/topp-cola-company-v-coca-cola-company-2
https://web.archive.org/web/20200221021835/http://www.bottlebooks.com/questions/May%202005/may_2005_questions__ask_digger_d.htm
Publisher
Phoenix Project
Date
1958-1979
Contributor
Emmett Cantkier
Type
Glass
Bottle
Identifier
p347 ACC 171
Coverage
CCU 310
Collection
Citation
“Topp Cola,” The Phoenix Project , accessed September 7, 2024, http://martaphoenixproject.gsuanthropology.com/items/show/239.
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