Coca-Cola Bottling Company Marion Indiana

Coca-Cola Bottling Company Marion Indiana Postmark: SAN JUAN NOV 25 9 AM 1937 P.R. FIRST DAY OF ISSUE Stamp: U.S. 1937 3c Puerto Rico Territory Scott #801 Addressed to: Joe Rademaker, 1810 S. Boots, Marion Ind.

Marion Indiana BCN7322

The addressee's father John Theodore Rademaker began bottling soft drinks in Marion, Indiana in 1896.   J.T. Rademaker's bottling operation moved from 1219 South Branson to 17th & Washington in 1898.

In 1918, Rademaker acquired the franchise to bottle Coca-Cola in Grant County and for the next seven decades, Coca-Cola was produced in a 2-story frame building at 101 East 17th.

After four generations of bottling Coca-Cola in Marion, the business was sold in late 1985. Coca-Cola Bottling Company in Marion, Indiana closed its doors in May 1986 as Coca-Cola celebrated its centennial.

Rademaker Bottler Family:
John Theodore Rademaker (1855-1935)
Joseph Francis Rademaker, Sr (1923-2003)
Joseph Francis Rademaker, Jr (1950-2015)

This is an interesting Friday Day of Issue Cover (FDC) with a Coca-Cola bottling company envelope.  The cover is addressed to the young bottler Joe who was 14 years old at the time.  His father J.T. had passed away 2 years earlier.

I wonder if Joe was a stamp collector himself or if someone in the family or an associate of the Coca-Cola bottler had sent away for the First Day of Issue cancellation on the company stationery.

The address 1810 S. Boots is just 2 short blocks from the bottling plant at 17th & Washington.  Was it the Rademaker residence at the time?

References:
Grant County History
Wiki Marion
Brickwork Project