email: roadarch@outlook.com

Giant Containers: Other Bottles (page 1)

(hit "refresh" to get the most recent version of this page; click on photos for larger images)

The S-Bridge Cafe [gone]
Triadelphia, WV
This Beer Bottle sat in a pile of fiberglass ice cubes. When these photos were taken around 2001, the S Bridge Café was no longer there but the bottle remained. By 2010, the bottle was gone.

Giant Bottle [gone]
Tipton, MI
The Giant Bottle is installed next to the Irish Hills Fun Center. In 2005 (first photo), the faded lettering appeared to read "Tipton Waterslide & Beach". The waterslide was closed but the Fun Center still had go-karts. By 2011 (second photo), the bottle had been painted red. By 2014, the bottle appeared to be gone. This bottle was apparently from the same mold as the one in Triadelphia shown above. There was also a giant ice cream cone at the Fun Center which is gone now.

Big Buck Beer
Gaylord, MI
Big Buck Beer
Auburn Hills, MI
(now Orion, MI)
Corona Beer Bottle [gone]
Toronto, ON
These Big Buck Beer bottles were both located right beside I-75 at two Big Buck Brewery & Steakhouse locations. I believe they were installed around 1995. They are 47 feet tall and made of stainless steel. These bottles are used as grain silos for on-site beer and ale production. The Gaylord location was first, opening in 1995. Both giant bottles said "Gaylord" on their labels. The Gaylord bottle is still there. [map]

By 2007, the Auburn Hills location had closed. The bottle was removed around 2016 and moved to Powers Distributing. It now has a Miller Lite beer label. For more, see this website. [map]

The Corona Beer Bottle was installed on the roof of Crocodile Rock. These photos are from 2012. In 2014, the Bottle was replaced with a Coors Light beer can. In 2020, it was repainted for Sol beer. For more, see this website. [map]

Grain Belt Beer Bottle
St. Paul, MN
This Grain Belt Beer Bottle is installed in front of a former brewing plant. What was originally Grain Belt, later became the Minnesota Brewing Company. This brewery, which operated for nearly 150 years, closed in 2002. I don't know what the plans are for the bottle. It was still there in 2017. Does anyone know when it was built? [map]

Beer Bottles [gone]
Sparta, WI
Catsup Bottle Water Tower
Collinsville, IL
These Beer Bottles were located at FAST Fiberglass which is the largest producer of fiberglass statues in the country. The photo at the left shows the mold which is used to produce the bottles.

The Catsup Bottle is 70 feet tall. It is installed on a 100-foot-tall tower. The bottle originally functioned as a water tower. It was built in 1949 for the G.S. Suppiger catsup bottling plant which produced Brooks Tangy Catsup. The company moved to Indiana in the late 1970s and this water tower was left to rust. In 1995, the local community raised the $70,000 to save and restore the bottle. The paint job replicates the original 1949 catsup label. The bottle is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2013, it was put up for sale. In 2016, a new property owner bought the site. The bottle will be staying where it is. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2. [map]

Renault Winery bottle
Egg Harbor City, NJ
Renault Winery bottle
Hammonton, NJ
former Renault Winery bottle
Bayville, NJ

former Renault Winery bottle
New Gretna, NJ
2001: 2003: 2009:
2012:
There were supposedly eighty of these 24-foot-tall concrete champagne bottles built in the 1920s by the Renault Winery. These bottles were distributed as far away as California and Florida as part of a nationwide advertising campaign. I believe only these four bottles in New Jersey survive.

The Egg Harbor City bottle still stands in front of the winery itself. [vintage photo thanks Linda Hasenbalg] [map]

The Hammonton bottle is just down the road from the winery. [map]

In 2003, the Bayville Bottle was painted to advertise a nearby gas company as the "MGS, the Champagne of Propane". It was peeling badly for years. The bottle had been painted white and wrapped with a banner to advertise for Top Spot, the business directly behind it when these photos were taken in 2009. By 2014, the banner had been removed and the bottle was still painted white. Most likely, the bottle shown in this vintage photo of the Town Hall Bar is the same one. [map]

The New Gretna Bottle has a detailed base. I don't know if the other Renault bottles all had this originally. In 2001 (first photo), this bottle was still advertising for Renault. In 2002, the owner wrapped it in vinyl and began soliciting advertising. Around 2008, the bottle was painted entirely white. In 2011, the land and bottle were for sale. The bottle was still there in 2021 and the property had not been developed. For more, see this website. [map]

Wine Bottle
Tucson, AZ
2004: 2012:
The giant Wine Bottle is located at the Boondocks Lounge. It is 35 feet tall and is made of concrete over rebar. The bottle was built around 1973 when Peasant Villa, an Italian restaurant, was located here. The artist that created it, Michael Kautza, is also responsible for Tucson's Tack Room Boot, Matador & Bull, and the Cow Skull in Amado, AZ. The bottle was restored in 2004. In 2022, the bottle got a bright paint job. For more, see this website. [map]

More Wine Bottles:
Kelowna, BC