Date: January 2000
  • Things just keep on happening for the World’s Largest Catsup Bottle. There’s just never a dull moment around here! Try as we might, it’s actually become difficult to keep up with everything! Ever since we started the publicity for the Catsup Bottle’s 50th birthday party celebration, the momentum keeps going and going and going... just like that ol’ Energizer Bunny! 

Date: February 2000
  • Jason Bliss from the Food Network in New York, called for Catsup Bottle photos to use in his program “Food Today.”

Date: March 2000
  • "Offbeat Food, Adventures in an Omnivorous World" by Alan Ridenour is published by Santa Monica Press.
  • The PennWell magazine, World of Water 2000: the Past, Present, and Future shows our Catsup Bottle among 60 other water towers on its cover. The fun feature article inside is titled “170 Foot Tall Catsup Bottle Doubles as Water Tower.”

Date: April 2000
  • Bowling Green student Brett Bosard was writing his masters thesis on roadside architecture and wanted to include the Catsup Bottle. The Society of Commercial Archeology has relocated its headquarters into the Popular Culture Department at Bowling Green University in Ohio.
  • Roadside magazine issue #30 features the Catsup Bottle and the Preservation Group on its cover and a multi-page article titled “Town Saves Catsup Bottle… Catsup Bottle Saves Town” inside. The article was penned by Mike Gassmann. The editing duties were handled by Teri Dunn and Randy Garbin took care of all the graphic design chores. (Although Randy was the publisher of Roadside, he was also the chief cook and bottle washer!
  • Ten Angry Pitbulls, the up and coming ad agency based in Vancouver, Washington, called to use the Catsup Bottle in one of its new campaigns.

Date: May 2000
  • Country Discoveries magazine featured a brief article about the Catsup Bottle called “Fries with that?” which was submitted by our ol’ friend, Roma Diedrich of St. Clair Shores, Michigan.
  • As part of the new Illinois Tourism campaign “Right Here Right Now,” Jocelyn Brumbaugh of Chicago’s WGN contacted the Collinsville Convention & Visitors Bureau on May 9th. A big thank-you goes out to Mayor Stan Schaeffer and City Councilman Diane Meyer for participating in the interviews!

Date: June 2000
  • Bon Appetite magazine includes a photo of the Catsup Bottle and pens a brief article titled “Ketchup, Part 1.”
  • In “Spotlight Another Roadside Attraction” by Lisa Ko, Yahoo! Magazine shows a picture of our attraction. It refers you to the Internet to “learn where to gawk at the gargantuan.” 
  • Our eagle-eyed buddy, Mike Castelli, informed us that he caught the Catsup Bottle on the ZDTV program “Internet Tonight” that had a clip about roadside attractions.
  • The upcoming birthday party celebration was mentioned on KSDK Channel 5’s “Show Me St. Louis” program with Dan Buck. It’s a great half-hour of television - so if you can’t watch, tape it at 3:00!
  • On the KFUO Living Jubilee radio program, Joni Harwell and Dianne Summers called because they wanted to hear that the World’s Largest Catsup Bottle really did exist! 
  • As another new and exciting way to share the Catsup Bottle with the community and the world, the Catsup Bottle Lady Judy DeMoisy, hatches a plan to place a giant, 16 ft tall Santa Claus decoration on the Catsup Bottle during the Christmas holidays. This novel idea was met with great enthusiasm around town, but the Catsup Bottle Preservation Group wanted nothing to do with it. And for the time being refused to provide any support.

Date: June 29, 2000
  • J.C. and the Breakfast Club of KLOU 103.3, broadcast live from the Catsup Bottle the morning of June 29th. Their show promoted the upcoming birthday party and also kicked off the fund-raising for the Santa Claus decoration project. J.C., Karen Kelly, Diana Kay, and everyone else, (including the great folks at the Hostess/Wonder Bread store!) were a blast to work with and a major help to our efforts!

Date: July 2, 2000
  • On July 2, 2000, everyone celebrates the 51st birthday of the World’s Largest Catsup Bottle!

Date July 13, 2000
  • On July 13, the Catsup Bottle water tower is certified as having historical and architectural significance to the City of Collinsville. It is placed on the Collinsville register of historic places and designated as a historic landmark.

Date: August 2000
  • Mary Lee Kitulunki and the Collinsville High School chorus sang at the Statue of Liberty in New York, taking along a poster of the Catsup Bottle with the intent of getting on the Today Show!
  • The owners of the Catsup Bottle water tower, Larry and Jim Eckert, recently received the prestigious “Electronic Commerce Award” from the US Air Force for the great service they provide. Not only are these guys one of our larger local employers, they run a great business and it’s wonderful to see them get the recognition!

Date: September 2000
  • In the Savannah Morning News, Marty Hair’s article “Pour-Trait of a traditional American Favorite” appears. This was a Knight-Ridder Newspapers piece that appeared around the country.
  • The Collinsville Italian Fest Committee creates posters and merchandise featuring the “Leaning Tower of Catsup” to promote their event. The concept utilized some computer magic to merge the Catsup Bottle and the Tower of Pisa into a really clever graphic!

Date: October 2000
  • Kelly Murray, in County to County magazine, features an article about the history of the Catsup Bottle and her intimate childhood relationship with french fries and Brooks catsup! One of the “tangy-est” pieces we’ve read in a long time. It was a nice touch, Kelly, thanks! And your magazine looks great!
  • Cartoonist Bill Griffith, creator of Zippy the Pinhead, includes the Catsup Bottle in his October 13th strip entitled “Tangy Encounter.” Zippy is distributed by King Features Syndicate and appears in over 200 newspapers nationally.

Date: November 2000
  • November 12 marked the 45th wedding anniversary of Tom and Barbara Johnson of Alton, Illinois. A wonderful event in and of itself, but what Barbara wrote to our mutual friend Sid Hiken makes it seem all the more special! Her note read in part: “We remember our trip to acquire our marriage license. The Justice of the Peace gave us ‘the newlywed package’ containing sample food items. The only product I remember is a bottle of Brooks catsup. The reason I remember so well is that it still has a permanent place in our refrigerator. It has moved with us to five different cities over the years. I can not imagine discarding it after all this time.” Well, Barbara, we can’t either! Congratulations to you and Tom, and best wishes for another 45 years together!
  • The American Water Works Association granted the “Water Landmark Award” for significance in the history of public water supply. The nomination was turned in by Judy DeMoisy and Bob Frank, head of the Collinsville Water Department. This tid-bit of information gets picked up by an "Offbeat News" wire service and is broadcast around the country.
  • The metro-east’s Times Independent features a nice article by Casey Wiegand titled “It’s as zany as it is renown, and it’s in Collinsville.”
  • The gang at Roadsideamerica.com in Middletown, New Jersey is featuring the Catsup Bottle in it’s latest project. It will be a roadside attractions map published in conjunction with a major automobile company. Details to come soon - sounds cool!