Rich Schumacher enjoys his collection of old pop bottles.
Rich Schumacher has about 435 classic pop bottles in his garage.
By Rich Wicks | Panora Times
Rich Schumacher of Panora has an impressive collection of pop bottles in his garage. He explained how this collection — and hobby — came about.
“Around 30 years ago, my cousin was moving from Carroll to Missouri, and he had two old Pepsi Cola bottles full of pop yet, and he was going to pitch them. So, I said I’d keep them, even though I didn’t know what I was going to do with them yet,” Schumacher said. “My wife, Deb, and I like to collect some antiques, and I realized how old those two bottles were, so I kept them and started collecting other bottles.”
Over the past three decades, the collection has grown steadily.
“I probably have about 435 bottles out here in the garage all together,” Schumacher said. “Probably 90% of them are prior to the return for deposit. If I found anything that said ‘return for deposit,’ I didn’t keep them, because I figured they weren’t very old.”
That Iowa law, known as the Bottle Bill, passed in 1978.
Although some old pop bottles and related items can be quite valuable, especially Coca Cola items, Schumacher’s collection is mostly just for fun and reminiscing. He doesn’t pay high prices for bottles and doesn’t have any item he considers his favorite. Schumacher said he’s collected some bottles from overseas, but most have been found during his local travels.
“I found most of them at sales, flea markets, here and there, just scattered around,” Schumacher said.
In his childhood, Schumacher’s favorite pop was a brand called Grapette, and he pointed out a few of those bottles on his shelves. He said they’re hard to find nowadays, so he figures that brand didn’t last long.
Schumacher explained how some slight variations in bottle or label design can make a particular bottle much rarer, and, therefore, more valued. But Schumacher isn’t into his collection for the dollar value. It is more for the simple fun of finding something new for his collection.
Asked about a unique story of how a bottle was added to his collection, Schumacher pointed to an odd-looking Pepsi bottle on his shelf.
“I’ve got a green Pepsi bottle. It had a paper label on it,” Schumacher said. “It was found in my sister’s house when they were doing some remodeling, and they said that addition to their house was done in 1936. So, I looked it up, and that green Pepsi bottle was only made from 1936 to 1939. Since the house was remodeled in 1936, it was probably put into the wall when the remodeler took his break.”
Some of the bottles are unopened, so Schumacher keeps his garage warm enough that the pop won’t freeze in the winter.
Although Schumacher is still adding to his collection, he explained that he isn’t actively searching as much as he used to.
“I’ve run out of room,” he said.
Schumacher says just about every bottle in his garage is different.
“My wife always says that I know every bottle that’s in here,” he said. “But I’m not sure about that, because sometimes I’ll buy one that’s a duplicate of one that’s already here.”
Rich Schumacher has Pepsi bottles in many different styles.
Most every major pop brand, and many others, can be found on Schumacher’s shelves.