Friday, July 4, 2014

#151: World's Largest Catsup Bottle

Claims to be the 'largest catsup bottle' in the world. Unless there's some little known place in, say, Germany, Russia or some small place in Pennsylvania, then the city of Collinsville can claim the bragging rights.

I'm amazed that not a lot of St. Louisans (well, the Missourians) knew about this gem. Most of you know I have lived in Glen Carbon all my life and for us Glen-Ed people who travel down Hwy. 159 to go to Fairview Heights, this was a no-miss. Over the years it was like the tiles on the wall, it was just there. But the bottle has been getting lots of attention lately. I remember 3 years ago I logged onto MSN to check my e-mail and there was a picture of the catsup bottle on MSN's homepage. I was like, 'Wha....?'. As you are leaving downtown Collinsville on Hwy. 159, you'll see it creeping up in the trees.

  • Constructed in 1949 as a water tower for the now-defunct Brooks Catsup Company. Brooks Foods would later re-locate to Mount Summit, Indiana in the late -1970s. 
  • As the bottle faded within time, several volunteers gathered to raise money and restore the bottle in 1995. 
  • The 'new' bottle is modeled after an original 1949 Brooks Catsup bottle.
  • Nearly 170 feet tall; the bottle itself is 70 ft. 
  • The city of Collinsville has been hosting its own 'Catsup Bottle Festival' every year since 1997 (first year was known as 'Catsup Bottle Appreciation Day'), at different places.
The cake, which has (sort-of) a Route 66 theme, but the logo is not seen on here. I've heard people say this cake spotlights all the special places and landmarks that once graced that highway:
Back side of the cake
Right side of the cake


Left side of the cake


From the bottom of the tower
*UPDATE*  7/22/2014
-Apparently the Catsup Bottle is up for sale. This happens two weeks after the Catsup Bottle festivities. It's yours for 500 grand. (source: Riverfront Times)

World's Largest Catsup Bottle on FB
Wikipedia link
Official website

800 S. Morrison Ave., COLLINSVILLE, IL, 62234
Cake artist: Julie Krovicka

UPDATE (8/24/2016): The cake is still there.
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Location: 800 South Morrison Avenue, Collinsville, IL 62234, USA

2 comments:

  1. Julie KrovickaFebruary 3, 2015 at 12:40 AM

    The cake isn't a Route 66 cake, though some of the signs were (and some still are) on that highway. It was meant to be a nod to some of the cool vintage signs in the St. Louis area. The majorette sign is on St. Charles Rock Road, Switzers was painted on an old building on the Landing, Pevely Dairy was on Grand Ave. and the old Vess bottle is downtown.

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    Replies
    1. The Jason VoigtFebruary 3, 2015 at 11:48 PM

      Thank you for commenting and the clarifications! It's always cool to hear from the artist. Apologies for the error

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