Object Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
1999.016.263 |
Object Name |
Bottle |
Description |
This is an empty 24 fluid oz green glass bottle for Mountain Dew (beverage) from 1958. The bottle is labeled as "Mountain Dew by Charlie and Bill." "Charlie" is a reference to Charles Gordon, the sole owner of Tri-City Beverage in 1958. "Bill" was likely a reference to Bill Bridgforth who was hired that year at Tri-City Beverage. It features an applied color label (ACL) of the 'hillbilly' figure in red and white that was prevalent in the Mountain Dew marketing until the 1970s. The shoeless 'hillbilly' is pointing a rifle at a figure fleeing towards an outhouse on one side of the bottle. Next to the figure is a box reading: "A Special Blend of Mountain Water and Flavor in the Traditional Hillbilly Style." The other side of the bottle depicts the "Willy the Hillbilly" logo of a 'hillbilly' having a hole shot through his hat by the cork of a bottle shaped like a moonshine jug. Beneath Willy, it reads: "It'll tickle yore [sic] innards! Tri-City Beverage Corp., Johnson City, Tenn." To collectors, these bottles are considered the second most rare Mountain Dew bottles. These bottles were marketed only to discover that their liquid capacity exceeded taxable amounts. The bottles were taken back to the bottling plant and destroyed. Very few survived and most that did are in excellent condition, as this one is. |
Date |
1958 |
Collection |
Mountain Dew Collection |
Place of Origin |
USA/Tennessee/Johnson City |
Material |
glass, enamel |
Subjects |
local history |
Made |
Tri-City Beverage |