1970s Coke beach pants

One of my favorite pieces of Coke memorabilia in the World of Coca-Cola is a pair of “beach pants.”

If these don’t epitomize the 1970s, I don’t know what does! Coke offered these pants – and matching floppy hats and tote bags (what today we’d call a messenger bag) – as a special promotion in 1972.

For $2.98 (plus proof of purchase), you could own your own pair of beach pants! ($1.98 for the hat and $2.98 for the bag.) A magazine ad from the time said, “Nothing’s over $2.98, so you won’t bend your summer budget out of shape.”

This is the height of summer in the U.S. As people head on summer vacations or head to the beach, let’s just be glad the fashions of the 1970s are over and in their place in the World of Coca-Cola!