Page 04 - Date Codes
The collecting industry accepts this date as the complete unit’s manufacturing date and I agree. But, it’s important to realize that this date code represents the tank manufacturing date, not necessarily when the cooler was manufactured. I came upon this example - A cooler posted for sale on ebay had a tank date code of Nov. 1936. However, this unit was built in 1937 to 1937 standards. The 1936 tank had been in storage until it was used for assembly in 1937.
The reason I could tell this was because the 2 cap catcher, mounting, shoulder-studs were in a horizontal position. In 1936 and before these 2 studs were in a vertical position. The buyer of this unit must shop for a 1937, not 1936, catcher.
If you need replacement parts just be aware.
Here’s an explanation of the embossed, about 3/8” high letters and/or numerals, DATE CODE on Coca-Cola Coolers. It’s found inside the tank on an end or back wall, near the top.
W- stands for Westinghouse as being the manufacturer of the cooler. The next 1 or 2 letters stand for the month number. The last 2 letters stand for the year number.
Their code word was ‘R A D I O T U B E S’. R=1, A=2 etc. S=0, or S could = 10 for a month code.
Sample Westinghouse Code.
Some examples I have found for Westinghouse;
W-RRDT = Nov 1936
W-DDU = Mar 1937
W-RIS = Jan 1940
W-SIR = Oct 1941
W-RAIR = Dec 1941
(!942-45 were war years)
W-RRIT = Nov 1946
W-O IU = May 1947
W-RSIB = Oct 1948
W- I IE = Apr 1949
TN – (1938 thru 1942) stands for Cavalier Corp. as being the manufacturer of the cooler (hence the nickname of ‘Tennessee Cooler’). In 1936 they used 7 & in 1937 they used T, which both stood for Tennessee Furniture Corp. (The parent company of Cavalier Corp.). 1946 and later they used CC for Cavalier Corp.
Their code is straightforward. The first two digits after the 7, T, TN or CC are the year and the last one or two digits are the month.
Sample Cavalier Code
Some examples I have found for Cavalier;
7-36-4 = 1936 Apr
T-37-4 = 1937 Apr
TN-38-3 = 1938 Mar
TN-40-11= 1940 Nov
TN-41-5 = 1941 May
CC-50-6 = 1950 June
CC-51 = 1951