About Brooks Catsup Bottle Water Tower
The Brooks Catsup Bottle Water Tower, officially known as “The World’s Largest Catsup Bottle,” is one of the most unusual examples of roadside architecture in America. Rising above Collinsville, Illinois, the oversized red-and-white bottle is not actually filled with catsup. It is a historic water tower built in the shape of a giant condiment bottle.
The structure was constructed in 1949 by the W.E. Caldwell Company for the G.S. Suppiger Company, the makers of Brooks Rich & Tangy Catsup. The tower was originally designed as a functional water storage tank serving the nearby catsup manufacturing plant. Company president Gerhart S. Suppiger suggested giving the tower the appearance of a Brooks catsup bottle, turning an ordinary industrial necessity into a massive advertisement visible to travelers passing through the area.
The finished structure consists of a 70-foot-tall bottle sitting atop a 100-foot steel support tower, creating a total height of approximately 170 feet. The tank could hold roughly 100,000 gallons of water, making it both a working piece of infrastructure and a memorable piece of mid-century novelty design.
After the Brooks plant closed, the future of the landmark became uncertain. In the early 1990s, the aging tower faced possible demolition when restoration costs became a concern. Local volunteers organized efforts to preserve the structure, raising funds to repair, strip, and repaint the giant bottle. The restoration was completed in 1995, and the landmark was later added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.
Today, the Brooks Catsup Bottle remains a beloved symbol of Collinsville and a classic example of the creative roadside attractions that defined 20th-century American travel. Visitors stop to photograph the towering bottle, celebrate its unusual history, and experience a piece of advertising history that became something much bigger than its original purpose.