Bicentennial mania was everywhere in 1976 and the lingering effects of it were felt well into the eighties if you were a fan of flea markets and garage sales. I went to both and at nearly everyone I could find some product that someone saved with special Bicentennial packaging. I had started a soda pop bottle collection back then, so any that I could find that seemed interesting I would pick up. I guess in 1976 everyone assumed that the hundreds of thousands of limited Edition bottles put out by 7 Up would gain value.
From experience I can tell you, they did not. I would pick up dozens of these and the 7-Up cans for about a nickel a piece. When they started taking up too much room in my collection, I tried giving them away. Eventually they started showing up at my family’s garage sales where they went for just about the same price as I paid for them.
Nowadays they are slightly rarer, but you can still pick them up for a reasonable price if you are interested in bottle collecting.
Here is a commercial that ran to promote this slice of soda promo history. I watch it now and I still feel the urge to buy them. It plays off my patriotism and my love of soda in a glass bottle. That is a win/win strategy in my book.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0jmsZ46jGE
The Retroist
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