Aaaah, it’s a beautiful day here at Beastie Towers! The sun is shining, the birds really are singing… it couldn’t be more perfect for sitting outside with a good book and an ice-cold can of something fizzy. So it’s lucky that Coca-Cola Beastie is making his special guest appearance on the BeastieBlog today!
The tale of Coca-Cola Beastie really begins with another Beastie. A couple of months ago, I decided to make a monster to celebrate our national obsession with Tayto cheese and onion crisps. These delectable delicacies are one of the things Irish people living abroad miss the most (along with strong tea and decent bacon), and I would estimate that a sizable chunk of Tayto’s annual output ends up being unofficially shipped overseas in care packages and holiday luggage. Tayto crisps also have their own theme park, and when Mr Tayto (an anthropomorphised potato in a suit, who is the company’s mascot) published his autobiography a few years back, it sold more than 60,000 copies. I figured the Beasties deserved a bite of the crispy, delicious action as well, so I set about making a miniaturised bag of tasty felt crisps for one of them to enjoy… You can see Tayto Beastie here, on the right in front of the teapot!
Tayto Beastie was lucky enough to find a new home that very day, and it wasn’t long before his new family were looking for another snack-loving Beastie to keep him company! This monster needed to reflect his new mum’s love of Coca-Cola, “Great Expectations” and purple, so…
The book’s cover is designed to look like an old-school Penguin Classic, as specially requested in the commission… Great idea, don’t you think?
And of course, there’s the all-important can of Coke! It’s made from felt, with hand-embroidered lettering.
And here are the two Beasties together on the day they met! (Picture from Instagram)
Let’s hope they get a chance to enjoy their snacks outside later… maybe today’s the day the Beasties will have their picnic!
I’m amazed!!! Both by your last Beastie and by the Penguin school book cover!! Since I studied English language and literature at college, there are a lot of Penguin classics at mine
… As first,I had read Dickens’ “The Old Curiosity Shop” ….
I know, I love the design of those book covers as well… And I have a few at home myself! I haven’t read “The Old Curiosity Shop” yet, so that’s going to have to go on my summer reading list. Did you ever read “A Tale of Two Cities”?
No,I haven’t… It is a long time since I have read an English classic. I’m reading the third book of Larsson’s trilogy right now and then it would be a good idea to purchase this book š
It’s definitely worth a look… I remember reading it years ago and not being able to put it down! That said, it might be a bit of a change of pace after the Larsson books!
I particularly love your coca cola beastie, I drink loads & the books is great too. I live near the church where pip from great expectations & his family are buried. He would be very much at home.
Sounds like you and the lady who requested this Beastie have a lot in common! It’s interesting that you have a local connection with the story too… Are the characters actually based on real people, or is the church the one that’s mentioned in the book?
The church is St James Cooling Kent. It has castle ruins too, the area is on the marshes on the Thames estuary. Dickens lived at Gads Hill in Higham ( now a school) in a nearby village. Yes we have coach loads of visitors going by for the summer months.
I’m sure! I loved the setting of the book, especially the descriptions of Pip’s home town š
We live on that road to the castle,I love coke to your tin is great ,the book is just right
Thanks! I really enjoyed doing the Penguin logo, I’ve always liked the little guy š It’s nice that you have that personal connection with “Great Expectations” too, it must really bring the book to life!