Coca-Cola coincidence

Back in 1899, Chattanooga became the site of the world's first Coca-Cola Bottling Company.  The Coca-Cola taste had been invented by a pharmacist in Atlanta in 1886 and was originally only sold as a fountain drink.  Then, two businessmen from Chattanooga convinced the owner of Coca-Cola to expand into bottling the beverage.  I chose this illustration because I remember buying Coca-Cola for a nickel, and the bottle was green like that.

My neighbor Larry noticed me sitting alone at a table in our Circle@Crown Café the other day, so he brought his food over to join me.  Our conversation got around to my hometown being Chattanooga, and he asked me something like "wasn't your town connected to Coca-Cola somehow?"  Anyway, it was only a small bit of our conversation, easily forgettable.

That afternoon, I happened to be sitting in the lobby when Larry came back from shopping and started rummaging around in his bags.  He pulled out something small and came over to hand it to me.  It was a Coca-Cola coaster like at the upper right of that second illustration.  I had a puzzled look on my face, so he said, "I was at Goodwill and saw this.  What a coincidence that we were just talking about Coca-Cola!"  He had bought it to show me.  I smiled and reached out to hand it back to him, but he said, "No, it's for you!  You keep it."

So here I am in St. Louis, with my iced tea beside me on a Coca-Cola coaster representing Chattanooga.  (Are you confused yet?)

The coincidences continue (added late in the day):

Larry and I were both sitting around a table with other friends having a Café Conversations meeting, so one of us mentioned the Coca-Cola coincidence.  Someone in the group happened to look up at the large windows to the outside and shouted, "There goes a Coca-Cola truck!"  We were all astounished, to say the least.

The coincidences continue (added a whole week later):

I was reading Out of Time by Caroline B. Cooney (1996), and the main character had time traveled to 1898 (p. 74).  On the opposite page, I read this:

She didn't have to figure out how to buy a ticket; her driver and the porter accomplished this.  She did buy a Coke, which cost a nickel.  It made her happy to buy a Coke in a glass bottle and pay five cents for it.