1909 style Pepsi Cola Watch Fob - This fob does not feature U 6705 (see photo of reproduction from 1970’s and a hand-stamped individually numbered version) this item was gift to Richard Dean (RD) Russell from my mom ‘Pam Russell’ in October of 1981 – This is most-probably a hand-sculpted piece in Sterling that my mother hand carved for him, (she was a managed a dental lab and herself was a lauded artist/sculptor – she could have easily re-created this 1909 watch fob and she had the materials and tools to do so, see gold logo she created) Additionally, as you can see from the photographs this is NOT brass, also note that this fob does feature the normal:
“For Identification Address PEPSI COLA CO New Bern, NC GIVING NUMBER U”
Hello All, Jamie G here…
My stepdad (Richard"Rick" Russell) was an avid Pepsi-Cola Collector going back as FAR as I can remember to at least the early 1970's. He would take my mom, my younger sister and I to swap meets and flea markets every Saturday and Sunday when we lived in Los Angeles. I remember all the Pepsi stuff we would obtain week-after-week as that was our focus. But, but, but... I totally forgot about all the other “stuff” that Rick and my mom collected. Rick passed-away going-on eight years ago and my mom stayed rather status quo, but then on day about three years ago, she called me totally out-of-the-blue and said, "Come and get this Pepsi Collection and other stuff or I am going to throw it all in dumpster somewhere!" I was literally driving up from ATL to Detroit the next weekend to start to curate, photograph and relocate all their “stuff"from Detroit to Atlanta, which is where my family and I reside.
Let me be honest and upfront, it was not easy to empty a house of several decades of collected items, especially when you are a novice. I literally wince when I consider all the items that I thought were trash, that now (looking back) were ANYTHING but TRASH! This was a lesson I learned rather late in my life, and the lesson is"You never know what is of value to someone else!" Thankfully, I did secure the lions-share of everything and over the last few years I have gone back and forth and back and forth and back and forth in a rented truck. I did not like it much then; it was a ton of work. BUT truth be told, I was rather surprised at how much I enjoyed going through ALL the Pepsi Cola Collectibles,taking copious photographs, collating, curating and then time-to-time stopping and pensively reflecting and remembering when and where we found an item.
Rick would pay my sister and I a finder’s fee for anything we found Pepsi Cola branded with a double dot between the two words PEPSI and COLA (Pepsi:Cola), as that meant it was from 1953 or earlier!) What we were paid the most to find were items that featured "Pepsi & Pete," which were two cartoon keystone cops that Pepsi Cola used in their advertising-starting in the late 1930s.These unique items brought us triple our finder’s fee AND a huge smile toRick’s face!
So as I went through the Pepsi Cola Collection, what I totally forgot about and was the literal treasure-trove of other antique & vintage collectibles they amassed, it should be obvious that Rick and my mom collected much more than just Pepsi Cola items, they collected items that Rick though (in his own words) were Trick!" My mom was more old-school Californian, and she would have said, “Bitchin,” but I digress. They both loved collecting older items from 1900s to the 1950's. I have uncovered they had a lot of automobile items; emblems, badges, lights,hood ornament as well as: Original Ty Beanie Babies circa 1992-1998,WWII recruitment posters, old comic books, baseball cards, vintage magazines;Life, Collier’s, Saturday Evening Post, vintage ashtrays, Blue Cornflower &Other Corning ware, old marbles, early; mason/ball canning jars, eye-glasses, razors,matchbooks, advertising ephemera, metal signs and trays, US & foreign currencies and on and on… So now my non-Pepsi items are currently growing to nearly the size of the entire Pepsi Cola Collection!
It took me a few years to curate and photograph the Pepsi Cola Collection, and I have now moved on to the other stuff, so be patient with me as I am a rather novice Seller on eBay and this is not my actual job or profession. That just means that it takes me awhile to get everything posted and as my wife likes to tell me (near daily),she tells that me I am too verbose. But whatever, as Popeye said, "I am what I am... Agg, Agg, Agg!"
So that is my back-story, up for grabs today is a fantastically persevered:
Most certainly a one-of-a-kind Pepsi Cola watch fob, it isNOT the typical U6705 RePOP, I cannot confirm it is an actual 1909 Pepsi Cola Fob,but I can confirm it IS a one-of-a-kind. I have seen many that were not U 6705, but instead have a smaller individually hand-stamped #, but I have never seen one like this one or the fob may be an original from 1909, but doubtful
A couple quick items about what kind of eBay Seller I am:
(1) I will always accept a return from a buyer who is not delighted with their purchase. My stepfather was kind of an a-hole when it came to selling or trading to/with other people on what he collected. It was one of few times that I (as a kid) thought my stepfather to be incredibly cruel. He relished the power he had over people who wanted something that he had. To be honest, I hated this about him and as such, I justdo not do that. Furthermore, I will always negotiate the PRICE, as I do notwant the price to be the determiner that kills a deal. I will always do my best to not allow you to walk away unhappy just because I want to gouge you for a few more dollars on an item. Truth is, I know how much fun and what a huge part of Rick’s life was spent Collecting, so I have decided to honor his memory by finding homes for his very unique items with other collectors that are as passionate as he was about his collection(s). That said, I will obviously take your item back from you and provide you a refund, IF YOU ARE NOT 100% satisfied with your purchase. I believe this is the way that professionals conduct themselves, I am from the school of Treat Others as You Want to be Treated!So don't fret, I only ask that you ship it back to me unscathed,just as you received it from me!
(2) Should my listed price be too high, just take a moment and let me know and please feel free to make me a counteroffer. I know the value of many of these items, but again,price is only one part of my selling process. I used to offer my items via Auctions on eBay, but those just seemed to drag on and on and on and on and on and on. Then I learned about Buy it Now and that seemed a much better and faster way for me to get items to people who wanted them without having to wait XX days for an auction to end etc. Again, I obviously want to make a few dollars selling all this cool stuff, but it is truly not my biggest objective. It seems very strange to say that in a post where I am selling an item, but it's true. I want these items to find a home similar to where I grew up, we had so many rooms filled with antiques and vintage advertising, it was just commonplace for me, but when new friends came over to my house for the first time, they were floored with the Pepsi Parlor (I will include a few old photos so you understand).
(3) I forgot to express my abject hatred of other sellers who attempt to make up their low listing price, by obviously gouging on shipping costs. This is the main reason that I almost always offer my items to include: Free Shipping. This way you can calculate and know proof-positive exactly the REAL COST of what you are buying.I think it is the fair and reasonable way to conduct business.
As an example, I many times list as such; Blah-Blah item for $18.75 with free shipping to continental USA, (The stupid 'sales tax' is now charged upfront on every item), so I point this out as I want to ensure nothing is left as a surprise! So for that Blah-Blah item I listed it at $18.75, knowing and telling you that you will pay $1.31 in sales tax, then in the description portion, I will net-net it all out for you andsay, "This item will only cost you a TOTAL of $20.00 to buy and receive the Blah-Blah item delivered to your door." I try to make it as easy as possible for you and others to do business with me!
Therefore, today's example works out like this:
Pepsi Cola Watch Fob listed price: $175.75 + $12.25 sales tax (eBay charges it, nada I can do), so you will walk-away with gorgeous fob for a total price just $188.00 = Delivered to your door as I pay the shipping cost!
(4) Please know that I will review any offer that you make regarding any item I am currently selling.So please tell me YOUR story! Tell me why you want an item and let's work together to get you the item or items you want and need! Life is just too short and if I can make your day, maybe bring a smile to your face by getting you an item fora price that is a bit better for you, well, I do that quite often as evidenced by my very happy buyers, please go check out the feedback they provide!
The fact is that I want us both to walk away from the deal = happy, (You know that feeling where you just cannot wait to go and tell someone what you just got and for the great price you paid?! That feeling of “WOW!” Well, that is what I want for you because I get the same type of feeling when I sell an item that I may or may not have helped collect as a child or teen. Why? That's a two-fold answer: (1) I make $that then goes directly into my two teenage boy’s college fund or my wife’s “I need a new kitchen” fund! and (2) I enjoy watching people's joy when they get what they want for a fair and reasonable price, knowing I facilitated that joy!Weird I know, but that's me, and probably why I ended up in Training, Learning& Employee Development as my professional career. My passion has always been people and those who buy my items usually enjoy the process as well. In fact, the feedback I hear the most is that they enjoy buying from me, as they claim,“that I am different kind of Seller.” Now I am not so sure about all that, butI know this, there is no "Caveat Emptor" here (Latin/English = Let the Buyer Beware) - and “Yes, I learned that Latin phrase from watching Brady Bunch on tv as a kid!
I am not going to get rich selling my items on eBay. I could go on about how all that has changed in the last 5-10 years as there are now a shit-ton of new and different fees we Sellers’ face; insertion fee, selling fee, listing fee, listing upgrade percentage(fee), store subscription fee and let us not forget the nearly always subjective and baffling final valuation fee, but that would be like explaining to you the difference between the USA currently having high inflation versus being in a true recession, it still hurts, it's really boring and it doesn't matter truly matter because at the end of the day - Itis, What it IS.
...But hopefully my verbose explanation above will help you make sense of why I do what I do and how I sell, how I sell.
Plus, this is truly my side-hustle, I enjoy it, it's fun for me, and it makes a little extra money for my boy’s college fund, so I thank you for looking and if you like what you see - make me an offer you as you never know what mood I amin and what I will accept!
Thank you for looking!
Jamie G