Hilda Clark | |
|---|---|
 An 1890s advertisement showing model Hilda Clark in formal 19th century attire. The ad is entitled Drink Coca-Cola 5¢. | |
| Born | 1872 Leavenworth, Kansas |
| Died | May 5, 1932 (aged 59–60) Miami Beach, Florida |
| Occupation(s) | Stage actress, model |
Hilda Clark (1872 – May 5, 1932) was an American model and actress, known as the basis for the character depicted in the early-20th-century Coca-Cola advertisement Drink Coca-Cola 5¢.
Hilda Clark was born in Leavenworth, Kansas, to Lydia and Milton Edward Clark.[citation needed]
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As a young adult Clark moved east to Boston to become a popular music hall singer and actress. However, Clark became famous as a model in 1895 when she became the first woman to be featured on a tin Coca-Cola tray. Hilda Clark remained the advertising "face" of Coca-Cola until February 1903 when she married Frederick Stanton Flower in New York, taking the name Hilda Clark Flower.[citation needed]
Flower was a nephew of New York Governor Roswell P. Flower. Clark had been an active socialite in Boston but retired from the stage when she married. Frederick Flower was a millionaire, involved in banking concerns and director of several railroads. Flower died in December 1930.
Hilda Clark died on May 5, 1932, in Miami Beach, Florida.[citation needed] She was buried at Brookside Cemetery, Watertown, New York.