QUICK VIEW: The Coca-Cola memorabilia collection is a popular attraction! We came for the Coca-Cola history and left with a great appreciation for MOAS. This impressive Smithsonian affiliate has a cool planetarium, a rich collection of state prehistory, and inspiring art exhibits.
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This Blog is part of our travel series covering the state of Florida in the United States.
the Museum of Arts & Sciences (MOAS)
The Museum of Arts & Sciences is home to the Root Family Museum's Coca-cola exhibit, and more
According to the MOAS website, The Museum of Arts & Sciences is "the primary art, science, and history museum in Central Florida." The museum is nationally accredited and is recognized as a Smithsonian Affiliate. MOAS is a must-see if you value insights into the Daytona Beach area culture and history.
While we were especially interested in the Coca-Cola exhibit, we also really enjoyed touring many of the other MOAS exhibits and museums, including:
The Helena and William Schulte Gallery of Chinese Art
The Cuban Gallery
The Prehistory of Florida Gallery
The Dow Gallery of American Art
The Lowell and Nancy Lohman Family Planetarium
A painting from the Cuban Gallery in the Museum of Arts & Sciences
The Root Family Museum, which is located within the MOAS, houses the second largest Coca-Cola memorabilia collection in the world, the largest being at Coca-Cola Headquarters in Atlanta. We love the mystique of the Coca-Cola story, so we just had to see it!
The Root Family Museum's coca-cola collection is housed in Daytona's Museum of Arts & Sciences
The Root family has a long history strongly intertwined with the rise of Coca-Cola in America.
At one point, the Root Glass Company was the biggest Coca-Cola bottler in the United States. The museum chronicles the Root family story, starting in 1901 when Chapman Jay Root established the original Root Glass Company in Terre Haute, Indiana (USA).
The museum chronicles the role of the Root family in the history of Coca-Cola
Chapman Jay Root and his company played a key role in designing the original iconic shape of the Coca-Cola bottle. By 1915, competition in the softdrink category had increased significantly. Coca-Cola decided to challenge bottlers to design a distinctive bottle for their product.
Chapman's Root Glass Company team successfully patented the "hobbleskirt" shape we know so well today.
The inspiration for the shape was heavily influenced by the natural shape of the cocoa bean. Coca-Cola declared the Root bottle the winner in 1916. This original bottle weighed a heavy 14.5 ounces/0.411 kg and contained only 6.5 fluid ounces/192 ml of Coca-Cola.
The Root Glass Company's winning design of the original coke bottle, inspired by the shape of a cocoa bean
Chapman Jay's son, William Ruffle Root, and his grandson, Chapman Shaw Root, were both actively involved in growing the Root Glass Company in the decades that followed.
The grandson moved the company to Daytona Beach in 1951, hence the strong Daytona connection. Chapman Shaw Root had a great interest in car racing, and sponsored many cars in the Daytona 500 over the years.
The Roots moved their company to Daytona, which linked with their interest in race cars
All of this history is chronicled along the walls of the museum, along with sample Coca-Cola bottles as they evolved through the decades, including pre-1915 Coca-Cola bottles using the early generic "Hutchinson" design.
We were amazed to see that the exhibit had one of the original "hobbleskirt" bottles on display. There are only two left in the world!
The extensive collection of bottles from the Root Glass Company on display in the Family Museum
The Root Family Museum also houses a replica of an original pharmacy, fully equipped with replicas of the soda fountains used in the early days of Coca-Cola.
Dr. Pemberton's original secret recipe was developed and mixed with carbonated water in a pharmacy similar to this one. It was interesting to stand there and imagine patrons coming to the counter for their first Coca-Cola experience. And isn't it hard to imagine a world without Coca-Cola!?!
The replica of an old fashioned pharmacy, where patrons could order a coca cola product from the soda fountain
The rest of the collection focuses on the Coca-Cola distribution machinery. The museum showcases beautifully restored Coca-Cola delivery trucks, carbonation and vending machines, syrup barrels, and all kinds of Coca-Cola marketing memorabilia.
One of a diverse collection of Coca-cola vending machines in the Root Family Museum
The Root Family Museum has a lot more than just the Coca-Cola collection.
One of the sectors of the museum houses two fully-restored train cars in a replica of a train station.
One of the full size trains in the station replica in the Root Family Museum
We also very much enjoyed seeing Susan Root's huge teddy bear collection, featuring the history of the teddy bear, as well as teddy bear doll houses and life-size teddy bears in full costume.
The life-size bear was part of Susan Root's teddy bear collection
For those who can't get enough of car racing, they even have a few fully-restored indy cars on display.
The Root family museum has a display of racing cars, evidence of their Daytona passion
The tour was such a treat for us. We'd highly recommend a visit for anyone interested in American history and memorabilia.
