World's Largest Catsup Bottle
Collinsville, Illinois
Built in 1949 in this former catsup company town, the World's Largest Catsup Bottle celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 1999. It's the water tower at the old Brooks Catsup Plant and headquarters. In the late 70s, Brooks Foods slipped out of town and relocated to Mount Summit, Indiana -- but their Condiment Monolith remained.
Nearly 70 feet tall, atop a 100-foot steel base, the WLCB Could hold up to 640,000 bottles of regular catsup (or 100,000 gallons of water).
The bottle has cast its benevolent shadow over the town like some pagan idol. Legend has it that it can cause red hair in the unborn, as pregnant women passing too close to it have discovered.
The bottle had deteriorated in recent decades, faded and peeling. In 1995, volunteers raised money to repaint and restore it, modeling it after an original 1949 Brooks catsup bottle provided by a sympathetic bottle collector.
World's Largest Catsup Bottle
- Address:
- 800 South Morrison Avenue, Collinsville, IL [Show Map]
- Directions:
- Illinois Hwy. 159, south of downtown. Take Collinsville Exit 159 Off of I-55/70.
- Hours:
- Daylight Hours. (Call to verify)
- Phone:
- 618-344-8775
Nearby Offbeat Places
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- In the region: First Due Fire Museum, Hazelwood, MO - 25 mi.
