Twelve years ago(?), I bought an old Seven Up sign and a Pepsi thermometer at an auction in Bells, Texas for $50 apiece.
I was very green at the time. I'd scour the backroads looking for stuff...
One time I drove 3 hours (one-way)to a far corner of the state because an elderly lady in an antique shop told me she saw an old Coke sign still hanging on a closed down drugstore. Of course, there was nothing on the drugstore once I got there. BUT there was a porcelain Shamrock sign, still in the pole, right square in the middle of the town. That sign made the trip worth it...