$150 in Enterprise, AL

lawrence

Looks like they cheapened the materials used for the drawers by 1951.  My mom's '49 had dark porcelain enameled drawers.  But just like my mom's, the original bake element had to be replaced, but the original broiler element survived for the duration.

Tom, we had a Coca-Cola bottling plant here and as kids we'd ride our bikes over to watch the same scene that you described, always hoping somebody inside would offers us a bottle.

Often had aluminum drawers, they also used painted steel drawers that could rust, I doubt they ever used porcelain on steel for storage drawers.

John L.

During college I worked at the Coca-Cola canning plant in College Park, GA for a short time.  The same scene took place in the canning operation as in the bottling operation.  The open cans were sanitized, filled, and capped; then strapped into 6-packs and sealed in cardboard boxes (4 packs to a box).  I ran the drop-loader, which was the machine that basically built the box around four six-packs.  The cans had to cool sufficiently after the canning process, before being boxed or they would explode.  Those exploding cans were my dreaded enemy.  Usually if a can popped or exploded, I had to shut down the entire line until the mess was cleared.  It wasn't hard work, but it could be nerve-wracking.

I worked the second shift for about 6 weeks, at which time management decided to eliminate the second shift.  After that I worked in the warehouse the rest of the summer, salvaging boxes with damaged 6-packs.

lawrence

Tom, the cans were hot after being sanitized.  I don't know the temperature of the Coke.  The cans were the problem, not the product.

lawrence