Perhaps the most subtle soda advertising ever, a series of 1940s educational lithographs depicting important inventions and events in early America sipped for $100 each in the space of Jan Verdries at the Long Beach Show.There are no bottles of fizzy, no Coca Cola logos, no good looking women in bikinis, and none of those sappy Norman Rockwellish images that were printed on advertising trays. This educational and historical poster series, entitled “Our America” were sent in packets of four to teachers who were instructed to hang each of the posters for one week. The packets also came with workbooks complete with stories of early industry in America. It allowed children to color in scenes, place stamps that were in the rear of the book, and at the same time learn about inventors and important historical events. The colorful images look like they could depict the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair. The art is outstanding. According to Verdries , Coca Cola had the best artists working for them, including magazine cover artists Leyendecker and N.C. Wyeth. The images are priced at $100 each. Verdries can be contacted at (909) 949-7456. Before getting into American realist art, Verdries used to be an antique European furniture importer. The price of the euro, trouble with customs (especially since 9-11) and exorbitant taxes have prevented him from bringing containers out of Europe for several years.
