Twenty-Five Cents for a Coke!

This incident happened in 1949. I know for sure because that’s the year Dad bought his first pick-up truck.

I remember well when he announced to us three kids that we were going to San Antonio to a celebration. I imagine the occasion was the Cinco de Mayo celebration. I just know it was very hot that day.

A 1949 International pickup didn’t have much room in the cab so only Dad, Mom and my older sister rode inside. George Jr. and I rode all the way to San Antonio on the back of that truck. No air conditioning in the cab, but George and I enjoyed the breeze riding outside.

I don’t recall too much about that day except that we were watching the parade from the side of one of those very crowded streets.

It was a shoulder-to-shoulder crowd and Mom told us to be very careful and not get separated. After walking to the site and watching the parade, I got very thirsty and finally complained to my parents.

At first, my Dad ignored me but I made it clear that I was really thirsty. So Dad stopped one of the walking soda vendors and asked for a coke.

When the vendor told him the price for a 6-oz coke was 25¢, Dad nearly fell over.

“I’m not paying 25¢ for one bottle of soda,” he said to my Mom.

But after seeing me get paler by the minute, Mom convinced him to buy it for me.

I guess one could say that was the best tasting 25¢ bottle of coke I’ve had to this day.

One more thing I remember really well from that trip is that as we were on our way back home, we were stopped for a short time by a cop.

Seems there was an auto accident.

As we slowly drove by the wreck, I could see there was a body lying in the ditch with a sheet covering it.

That was the very first time I saw this type of accident and it sure made a lasting impression on me.

Florian Kana writes monthly about his memories of growing up in Fayette County.