Ernie SmithJan 27

Hey all, back at the @tedium commissioned search game—it’s been too long!

Our current one comes from Amandeep Jutla, who has a question about two-liter plastic bottles, and how they used to have multiple pieces of plastic—“a short opaque piece on the bottom and a taller clear piece on top.” [thread]

Show threadErnie SmithJan 27
A broadcasting note: After some time away, I am going to try to get back into doing a few of these as time allows. (If you’ve been waiting on me a while, apologies! Please reach out and nudge!)
Show threadErnie Smith
Alright, back to it: What happened to the second piece?!
Jan 27 at 6:41pmWeb
Show threadErnie SmithJan 27

For those who did not grow up with this, this 1978 commercial for DADS Root Beer shows the bottle in action. The top part is clear, and shaped like a torpedo—the bottom opaque and flat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1w2s8txIS8

Dads Root Beer - "New Plastic Bottles" (Commercial, 1978)

YouTube
Show threadErnie SmithJan 27
Why is that? Well, the secret was that it was necessary. The process for making these bottles was new, and the footing hadn’t quite been nailed down. So the bottom also looked like a torpedo. It needed more time in the oven.
Show threadErnie SmithJan 27
This early patent filing, from 1975, shows what I’m talking about.
Show threadErnie SmithJan 27
Throughout this time, other companies were working on this problem, such as Sewell Plastics, a major bottle-maker.
Show threadErnie SmithJan 27

Manufacturers were motivated to fix this—after all, that second piece added complexity and cost to the process.

The challenge was, how do you create footing that can stand on its own feet?

Show threadErnie SmithJan 27
This challenge, as far as I can tell, was easier to solve on smaller bottles, which have patents for design dating as far back as the early ’70s.
Show threadErnie SmithJan 27

This is me speculating, but I’m guessing that large plastic bottles might have been hurried on the market because of issues with glass bottles that caused recalls.

https://tedium.co/2023/01/07/canada-soda-bottle-ban-history/

Why Canada Had to Ban 1.5-Liter Glass Soda Bottles in 1979

Resurfacing that time, in the summer of 1979, when the Canadian government recalled every large soda bottle because the bottles would explode when shattered.

Tedium: The Dull Side of the Internet.
Show threadErnie SmithJan 27
Sewell first took a stab on larger bottles around 1979. Others quickly followed.
Show threadErnie SmithJan 27

But it took awhile for the single-piece bottles to reach the market. There were numerous iterations, and Sewell was notably involved in a lawsuit with Coca-Cola around this time over unfair competition.

https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/720/1196/1768766/

Show threadErnie SmithJan 27

If you look hard enough, though, there are examples of the single-piece feet out there. I found this example of an ad promoting 4-liter (!) Coke bottles, circa 1985.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fh1uEmOv2LE

1985 - New Coke 4-Liter Bottles - Phil Fourman Commercial

YouTube
Show threadErnie SmithJan 27
Ultimately, though, the reason we switched from two-piece bottles to single-piece is simple: Plastics technology had matured, and the old way cost more.
Show threadErnie SmithJan 27

Anyway, that’s all I’ve got. Thanks again to Amandeep Jutla for the question.

Find this one an interesting topic? Want me to do another dive? Commission one here: https://ko-fi.com/c/caf0972c99 Oh, yeah, subscribe to @tedium: https://tedium.co/

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