Sometimes you just never know who’s gonna walk through our front doors. It could be someone who is looking for the rarest soda that we carry, or it could be someone who is looking to buy us out of all the art we have on our walls. You really just never know…

Take this weekend, for instance. While most are out and about, walking off their Thanksgiving feasts, and recooperating from their families, some were out in our neck of the woods, litterally buying up most of the artwork we’ve had on our walls for the last few weeks. I think word is starting to get around that we are a great little secret of Dallas’ when it comes to primo contemporary art. While some people take days to mull over a piece of art, thinking about where in their home/office it should go, do they really want to spend the money for it, and do they really like that art? Others say “Hey, I like this, this, and this. How much for all of it? Great, I’ll takes these, as well.” Before things are said and done, someone has dropped some nice coinage for new art, and good art, at that! I have to admit, I was almost shocked to see an art lover drop money like that on art. It’s nice to know there are people who will buy what they like, despite the price. As an artist, you should buy art because you really like it, not because of the potential value that may or may not be attached to the art in the long run. At The Soda Gallery, we love to exhibit art that we really like, and it seems that we are starting to do a good job at it. Everyone else seems to like the art, too! I’m hoping word will further spread, because we want Dallas, and the rest of the country to know that we aren’t just a place for specialty sodas. No sir…we are a great little space for art, too!

As luck, fate, chance (or whatever you want to call it) would have it, we are one step closer to getting glass-bottled Barq’s Root Beer on our shelves! Hard-core RB fans know there is a distinct taste with sodas bottled in glass. I need not mention Barq’s already distinct taste, but can you imagine how great it would be to finally savor the flavor of Barq’s out of a glass bottle, like it was meant to be consumed?!?

Legend has it that there are only a few bottlers left in the South that still bottle this wonderful liquid in glass, and the bottlers are even fewer still, thanks to a little ‘ol hurricane called ‘Katrina.’ Primarilly, Barq’s in glass can be found in Louisiana and Mississippi. As I was snooping around on ebay the other day, I won a bid for an antique Barq’s RB soda crate, that was once the property of the Coca-Cola Co. I wasn’t thinking much about it, but after the auction was over, I noticed the item location was Biloxi, MS, the originating home of ‘Barq’s RB. It dawned on me, only after a few seconds of starring at the word ‘Biloxi’, to contact the seller and ask for a huge favor…to possibly locate and ship a few cases of Barq’s RB to The Soda Gallery. The seller contact me back and said that it shouldn’t be a problem, but to call after the holidays to arrange something. So, to make a long story short, come next Tuesday, I’ll know for sure if ‘we are in business’!

While I’m on the subject of ‘desperately-needed/wanted’ sodas, it has been confirmed that we will have several cases of Cheerwine delivered to our door next week, which also means that we are taking advanced orders for Cheerwine for the holidays. Give us a call, and to guarantee your reservation, reserve your order with a credit card, and we’ll ship it to your door, as soon as our stock arrives. Call us toll free at 1(866) 946-7632. But you better hurry. We’ll have a limited supply for the holidays, and we anticipate all of our stock to go fast!

Before I sign off for the night, I wanted to share with our patrons that you’ll soon see a new addition to our store. I couldn’t resist purchasing a reproduction Coca-Cola cooler for myself, as I have always wanted either a cooler or vintage soda machine. It looks just like the 1930s model, except this one is brand new, comes with a warranty, and I’ll be the first one to break it in. It will be at the gallery to get some use for awhile, but afterwards, it will find a space in my new home come summer 2008. It may not mean much to our readers out there, but as a new ’soda collector’ and enthusiast, I thought it would be great to have something like this in a place that I’m frequently occupying. So, if you happen to stop by the Soda Gallery soon, you’ll get to have a gander at my latest ‘toy’, and remember the good ol’ days of opening up one of these babies and grabbing a cold one!

Happy holidays and season’s greetings, everyone! Can you believe it’s not even Thanksgiving yet, and we’ve already started decorating for Christmas!?! I suppose it’s not as bad as it’s sounds, since most retail shops start decorating after the first of September. It could be worse…we could be one of those places in those small Texas towns you hear about, where they have Christmas decorations up year ’round. I don’t know why, but I find that a bit on the creepy side. No one has THAT much Christmas cheer to spread. Anyhoo…

Yeah, so…the holidays are rapidly approaching, which means that we are needing to restock most of our specialty sodas, not only for the store, but also for the website store that will be up and running VERY SOON (I promise!) So, all you ‘Cheerwine’ fans will be rejoicing soon, as we will have plenty of Cheerwine in stock to tie you over (or until we run out again.) I know it’s been awhile since we last had some, but hey, sometimes it’s difficult to come by all these great sodas. It also looks like we’ll have to make another run to Dublin, TX, to pick up another load of Dr Pepper. Around here, this stuff flys off the shelves in a heartbeat. For the Coca-Cola collectors, we’ve acquired a small batch of Limited Edition Holiday 2007 Coca-Cola 6-packs, featuring the ‘pre-contour’ 1899 bottle design. Coca-Cola fans and collectors alike will dig these 6-packs, as they are designed to look ‘vintage’, similar to what you would find in the good ‘ol days. I’ve seen several of these specialty 6-packs sell on ebay for high dollars, already! If you can find them in the stores, grab while they are going fast. Afterwards, you’ll only be able to find them in the after-markets.

Aside from all the decorating going on, it’s been quiet around these parts. I suppose everyone is gearing up for their holiday travels next week, since Thanksgiving is just around the corner. We are still featuring Dry Soda Co.’s ‘Rhubarb’ soda as our ‘Flavour of the Month’, which goes really well with turkey and the fixings. Before you head out of town for ‘turkey day’, swing by The Soda Gallery and pick up a few bottles. You’ll be glad you did. If you want to skip the meal and head straight for dessert, pick up one of the limited edition “Jones Soda Dessert Packs” featuring apple pie, cherry pie, blueberry pie and lemon meringue pie. I’m sure it beats the turkey and dressing soda from last season! As always, this stuff is made with 100% pure cane sugar, just like nature intended (hint hint Coca-Cola Company of North America!) People want their SUGAR!

Eat hearty, folks!