Interesting Facts about the World’s Largest Catsup Bottle

Do you know where the world’s largest catsup bottle is? In this article, you will learn about the giant ketchup bottle, the Brooks Catsup Bottle water tower.

The Brooks Catsup Bottle water tower is one of the world-famous roadside attractions and regional landmarks. It is considered the “The World’s largest ketchup Bottle”. It is a water tower located south of Collinsville, Illinois, and is one of the world-famous attractions. 

A canning and packing plant started by a group of businessmen began in 1891. But only in 1907, the plant was bought by Brooks Brothers. The Company started producing ketchup and was soon renamed to Brooks Tomato Products Company. It became the number one seller of tangy ketchup. The Brooks brothers sold the Company in 1920 but its name was not changed because of reputation. The current name of the Company is “Brooks Rick and Tangy Ketchup”. 

The Brooks Catsup water tower was constructed in 1949 by the W.E Caldwell Company. It is the largest elevated tank Company that designs and builds tanks for water and wastewater industries. The Brooks Catsup plant that was owned by the G.S Suppiger Company wanted to build a tank for the water supply. Therefore, they approached the W.E Caldwell Company for the construction of the tank. However, the idea of designing the tank that resembles one of the Company’s catsby bottles was suggested by the president of the Company, Gerhart S. Suppiger. 

At the beginning of the 1990s, the building started to peel off, and later, in 1993, the Company decided to sell the property and the ketchup bottle water tower was about to be sold to the nearby city of Collinsville. Due to the high-cost projection for the restoration of the water tower, the city declined the offer. After two years, with the help of the Catsby Bottle preservation group, an amount of $80,000 was raised and saved the demolition of this unique roadside attraction. The volunteers sold 6,000 shirts and obtained donations from across the world. The project was finally completed in June 1995. 

It is a 170 ft. tall water tower atop a 100-foot-tall steel tower that can hold up to 100,000 gallons of water.  

Fun Fact- There is a legend that says that the bottle can cause red hair in the unborn. 

It was even featured in the movie “Twilight: Eclipse” and in the documentary by Rick Sebak called “A program about unusual buildings & other roadside stuff”. It was also recognized as a perfect example of 20th-century roadside Americana.  This famous attraction was also listed on the National Register of Historic Places in August 2002. Every year, the annual world’s largest catsup bottle fest birthday party is held. The Catsup Bottle Festival includes some fun and exciting events such as hula hoop contests, a car show, etc. The Giant Bottle was also the winner of Midwest Livinton’s Hometown Pride Awards program in 1995. 

The Company is now owned by Birds Eye Foods and is made in Canada. The ketchup is not available everywhere, however, it can still be found online.