Playing ketchup with an old favorite: the world's largest catsup bottle is up for sale

 The Collinsville, Illinois tower dates back to 1949, and when the Brooks company relocated to Indiana in 1959, the bottle remained.

 In 1993, the bottle's owners wanted to sell the property and the Catsup Bottle Preservation Group was formed to keep it standing.

If you have $500,000 lying around and you're in the market for a 70-foot tall, 100,000-gallon water tower that carries bragging rights as the world's largest catsup bottle, have we got a deal for you. Bethel-Eckert Enterprises, the owners of the bottle, decorated in 1949 to resemble Brooks Old Original Rich and Tangy Catsup which used to be bottled at the plant next door in Collinsville, Illinois, just outside St. Louis, put the bottle and the property on which it sits up for sale last June and so far offers, much like ketchup pouring from a bottle, have been rather slow. It came as a surprise to us, and many other of the bottle's fans, that it was privately owned, as it has been on the National Register of Historic Places for some time and has been the source of a Catsup Bottle Preservation Group and yearly catsup festivals in Collinsville. A Mr. Mike "Big Tomato" Gassman, leader of the Preservation Group, is optimistic a sympathetic buyer will be found soon.

We hope so, too, because if the future of the bottle is in a pickle, we hope a buyer will mustard the strength to overcome doubt and relish it, if you catsup our drift.

Happy birthday, Bob Newhart

"I don't like country music but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down'." More about our visit to the Bob Newhart statue here.

I'll take that as a condiment: The World's Largest Catsup Bottle of Collinsville, Illinois

Collinsville is a cute little town...

...and they've got another nice, albeit more traditional, water tower.

They know how to put on a nice sunset, too.

We're big fans of water towers here at Eccentric Roadside and there's a Grade A Fancy one in the pleasant St. Louis suburb of Collinsville, Illinois. In 1949, the bottlers of Brooks Old Original Rich and Tangy Catsup commissioned the W.E. Caldwell Company to build a 100,000-gallon water tower next to their Collinsville plant. Not ones to miss a marketing opportunity, they designed their tower to closely resemble their slender, tapered catsup bottle, making it a giant condiment in the sky. The Brooks brand had great success and in 1959 the company merged with another. Bottling operations were moved to Indiana but the bottle tower remained in Collinsville. By 1993, the current owners wanted to sell the property and the bottle's future looked doomed. This is when a group of Collinsville's bottle-lovers formed the Catsup Bottle Preservation Group. The catsup company agreed to deed the tower to the town of Collinsville, but the town balked at the cost of painting and maintaining the tower, so the preservation group began a two-year fund raising drive (complete with a visit by the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile) that resulted in the eventual designation of the tower on the National Register of Historic Places. They've had a yearly catsup festival for the last 13 years, complete with a hot dog eating contest, musical chairs, a please pass the catsup tournament, and the crowning of Little Princess Tomato and Little Sir Catsup. Next year's event is scheduled for July 8, so mark your calendars.

You mayo may not realize it but it's great to see how, when in a pickle, a local group can mustard the strength to overcome adversity and relish their victory, if you catsup my drift.

A Streetcar To Desire: Gardner, Illinois' Streetcar Diner and Riviera Roadhouse on Route 66

Route 66's Riviera was one of Al Capone's old haunts.

Out back, they've got a great old streetcar diner.

Illinois has a great stretch of Route 66 with many well-preserved roadside delights. Just north of the small town of Gardner sits two, two, two eccentric roadside attractions in one. Out front is the Riviera Roadhouse, dating back to 1928. Gene Kelly and Tom Mix liked to stop here in the old days, and liquor and slot machines could be found here for discreet patrons during Prohibition. None other than Al Capone was one of the notorious VIPs way back when. It was closed when we stopped by, but a quick web search tells me they're still open for business, serving good grub and a Schlitz or two if you so desire. Behind the Riviera sits a true gem: a former horse-drawn streetcar diner that's over 100 years old. It's been in Gardner since 1932 and was a food stop for the Greyhound bus line until it closed in 1939. It was moved to its current location behind the Riviera in 1955 and was used mostly for storage until the Illinois Route 66 Preservation Committee restored it to its original appearance. It's a serene sight, like a retired racehorse gently grazing out its days in the meadow behind the barn.

Signs and things around Chicago, the Miami of Canada

We had some fun riding around Chicago on top of one of those open air double-decker buses. I couldn't get enough of the buildings and signs along the way. What a great city. I also like a city with a nickname and Chicago's got a ton of them. "The Windy City" is probably the best known, but one theory purports that "windy" isn't a reference to the weather; rather, the talkative nature of the city's politicians. "The Second City" is another, and was first used in a snotty New Yorker article comparing New York to Chicago. The origin of the name "Chicago" itself is funny too: an Indian word for smelly onions. Here are a few more, from wikipedia:

• "The Miami of Canada" - As referred to by Mr. Burns in an episode of The Simpsons.

• "New Gotham" - Because of the vast amount of footage used of the city for the 2008 film The Dark Knight.

• "The Chill or Chi Ill" - Also used by rap musicians from the area.

• "City by the Lake" - Used in the Smashing Pumpkins' song "Tonight, Tonight."

• "City on the Make" - From "Chicago, City on the Make" (1951), a prose poem by Nelson Algren.

• "The City That Works" - According to former Mayor Richard J. Daley.

• "The Big Onion" - An homage to the original Native name for the area (which meant "onion"), in parallel with a popular New York nickname, "The Big Apple."

• "City in a Garden" - English translation of the Latin motto on the city seal: "Urbs in Horto."

• "Beirut by the Lake" - From a Wall Street Journal article during the Council Wars of the 1980s.

• "My Kind of Town" - According to the song "My Kind of Town (Chicago Is)" (music by Jimmy Van Heusen, words by Sammy Cahn, 1964) popularized by Frank Sinatra. (Originally from the film, Robin and the Seven Hoods, about a fictional popular Chicago gangster).

• "Paris on the Prairie" - From the 1909 plan for the City of Chicago created by Daniel Burnham.

• "Sweet Home" - From the Robert Johnson song Sweet Home Chicago.

• "Heart of America" - Chicago is one of the largest transportation centers in America and its location near the center of the United States.

• "That Toddling Town" - According to the lyrics of the song "Chicago" (music and words by Fred Fisher, 1922) also popularized by Frank Sinatra (as well as Tony Bennett).

and last but not least:

• "Hog Butcher for the World" - Described in a poem by Carl Sandburg.

Super size me: Chicago's enormous Rock & Roll McDonald's

Two stories, two lanes of drive-through, too too much!

It looks more like an airport than a McDonald's.

They've got some cool pop culture exhibits upstairs.

Chicago, Illinois hosts one of the largest and most unusual McDonald's in the world. On the block bounded by West Ontario, West Ohio, North LaSalle and North Clark sits a behemoth tribute to American fast food culture. More than just a McNugget dispensery, it's a bi-level combination restaurant/museum three times the size of the average Mickey Dees, with a two-lane drive through and seating for 300. The decor is chic with plasma screen TVs and Italian lighting, and lattes, gelato and biscotti are served in the coffee bar upstairs. Outside, two 60-foot arches beckon you to take a break today. Pop culture artifacts going back to McDonald's early years are displayed upstairs and an adjacent building in the parking lot houses tributes to Elvis, the Beatles and other rock and roll luminaries. Chicago's Hard Rock Cafe is in the same neighborhood and may be why this particular theme was chosen. Best of all, clean public bathrooms are available to all seekers -- quite a rarity in the middle of a huge metropolis. The original 1983 McDonald's on this block was demolished in 2005 so this incarnation could be built to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the original franchised McDonald's restaurant in nearby Des Plains, now a museum itself. And the food... well, it's exactly like every other McDonald's in the world, which, depending on your outlook, is either a good thing or a bad thing. And, yes, I'll have fries with that.

Walking in a wiener wonderland: Springfield, Illinois' Cozy Dog Drive-In

Springfield, Illinois has a lot to offer the eccentric roadside attraction fan, not the least of which is a glorious stretch of Route 66 that runs through town. A must-stop, especially around lunchtime, is the Cozy Dog Drive-In, birthplace of the hot dog on a stick. The story goes something like this: While patronizing a Muskogee, Oklahoma eatery in the 1940s, Ed Waldmire Jr. was enjoying the hot dog baked in cornbread he was eating and wanted to come up with a way to modernize it. His friend Don Strand developed a mix that would stick on a wiener while being french-fried. Ed put the battered dogs on cocktail forks and deep fried them with spectacular results, which led to their official launch in 1946. Originally called crusty curs, the more pleasing moniker cozy dogs was developed with Ed's wife's prodding. In 1949, the Cozy Dog Drive In was born, built on Route 66 at South Sixth Street. In 1996, Cozy Dog moved to its current location, where Ed's daughter-in-law and grandsons continue on with the business right next door to the original location.

They've got great Route 66 decor inside with their funky hot-dog-boyfriend-and-girlfriend logo and signage. They've also got the standard road food fare like bacon and eggs, cheeseburgers and ice cream. But how can an out of towner not get a Cozy Dog while in the presence of such greatness? I ordered one with a side of fries and, truth be told, it was the best deep fried battered weenie on a stick I ever ate. Frankly, we relished every moment we were at the Cozy Dog Drive In until we mustard up the energy to leave and ketchup on the rest of our journey. Bun voyage!

Aye carumba! Burritos As Big As Your Head in Chicago

"Can I take your order?"
"Yes, I'd like the burrito as big as my head, with the enchilada as big as my sternum, the chalupa as big as my patella, and a side of the chimichanga as big as my medulla oblongata."

Saw this place out the window of the Untouchables bus tour window in Chicago and had to snap a picture. I love the expression on the lady's face. Looks like the burrito as big as her head she just ate is doing a Mexican hat dance in her stomach right now.

Holiday Inn's new logo and signage: Inn-excusable

The late, great Holiday Inn sign

Looking out the back of the station wagon with a Holiday Inn sign on the horizon... life is sweet!

The interim sign from the 1980s-2000's: corporate but still a little kitschy.

The new signage (ZZZZzzzzzzz, snore)

Nice motel, really boring signage.

They still had the old logo on their deluxe coffee cups inside, though.

A reworked old gem.

An homage to the master.

We had a very pleasant stay at a Holiday Inn hotel near Chicago's O'Hare airport recently. Nice room, great service, friendly staff, terrific internet deal on the rate, quiet, clean. No complaints at all. Well... almost. It seems the InterContinental Hotels Group which owns the chain has begun what they call a world-wide relaunch of the brand that includes a redesign of their logo and signage. There are some things that should just never be redesigned. The Mona Lisa. The Taj Mahal. The Holiday Inn sign. When the chain began in the 1950s, road travellers were beckoned by a giant green and yellow gleaming 42-foot tall monolith with a friendly hand-written-looking script typeface and a chaser-bulbed arrow topped with a shining neon star to lead you to to the comfort and luxury of the best motel chain on the open highway. When you saw that sign you just had to ooh and ahh. It was a true American icon blinking you in the face. In the 1980s, they did away with the big signs for a more contemporary backlit box, but they kept that distinctive script, to remind you of those comfortable kitschy American roots. But now it seems even the script is gone, replaced by a bland sans-serif typeface suitable for any generic purpose. Bring it back, oh please bring it back. Doing away with that old logo is Inn-considerate, Inn-correct, Inn-comprehensible, Inn-defensible, and, well, you get the idea.