It’s been more than 100 years since the owner of a little candy store in downtown Vicksburg decided to bottle Coca-Cola, putting his mark on history and starting a business phenomenon. Now reproductions of those distinct bottles are making a comeback in retail stores across the country. The classic Hutchinson bottle, first used by Joseph A. Biedenharn in 1894 to hold the soda, has been replicated — complete with the embossed Coke logo — to, perhaps, bring a little nostalgia to the table this Christmas, said Nancy Bell, director of the Vicksburg Foundation for Historic Preservation, the organization that established the Biedenharn Coca-Cola Museum in the Washington Street building where Coca-Cola, sold as a soda fountain solution, was first packaged for “take out.”

“They must have been looking for something different to catch people’s attention,” Bell said. “I think it’s a cool, little thing.”

The new container marks the first time the Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Company has sold “America’s favorite soft drink” in the vintage bottles since Biedenharn replaced them with straight-sided crown bottles in the early 1900s. By 1915, the more uniform, “hobble-skirt” bottle design now associated with Coca-Cola was introduced.

The reproduction bottles look a bit different from the original and have a twist-off crown-top in place of the rubber stoppers that were used in Biedenharn’s day. Then, the rubber disk was pushed into the neck of the bottle and held with a wire. The rubber changed the flavor of the drink after about a week, which, eventually, led to the different bottle design.

The holiday bottles join hundreds of other special edition bottles and cans, many of which fill the Vicksburg museum, which was the second site for the Biedenharn Candy Company. In addition to the vintage bottles, plastic, ornament-shaped Cokes have lined shelves at stores, giving consumers an extra holiday treat. Bell said the museum’s Coke representative told her that the collectible items will be available only through the holidays. The 9.3-ounce replica Hutchinson bottles are being sold in six-packs with the original Coca-Cola Santa, first brought on the scene in 1931. The bottled beverages are also for sale individually at the museum.

The bottle’s return, Bell said, is a good way for people to learn more about the beginnings of Coke bottling in Vicksburg.

“Anytime you use a Hutchinson, people start thinking about where it came from,” she said. “A lot of people haven’t seen one.”

Museum employee Donna Boone said there has already been interest in the newest line of Coke merchandise.

“I sold a six-pack this morning,” she said.

The museum had a reproduction of the original bottle, which held between 6 and 7 ounces, made in 1979 when the museum opened. The bottles, though not sold with Coke in them, are $34.95.

Bell hopes the vintage bottles will bring attention to Vicksburg’s role in beverage history.

“It’s a good history lesson. I hope it will bring attention to Vicksburg,” she said. “If someone picks one up in Michigan, they might be interested enough to go online” and learn more about the museum and Vicksburg.