A bottle is a narrow-necked container made of an impermeable material in various shapes and sizes that stores and transports liquid substances. It is usually sealed either internally with a stopper or externally with a closure. A bottle can also be used to store or preserve dry products. The term is sometimes extended to refer to a receptacle for holding liquids such as soap or medicine. Bottles can be affixed to a lid or other type of closure to provide an airtight seal and prevent leaking, or they can be topped with a cork.
Bottles have been made of glass, wood, stone and other materials since ancient times. Plastic bottles were first developed in the early twentieth century and now are an important part of human life, used for food, drink, medicines and other substances, both solids and liquids. There are many different types of plastic, each with its own specific properties. A few common examples include high-density polyethylene (HDPE), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC or vinyl), and polypropylene (PP).
Plastic bottles are produced through a variety of manufacturing processes including injection molding, reheat and blow molding, co-extrusion blow molding, and extrusion blow molding. The most important factor in designing a plastic bottle is aligning the manufacturing technique with the desired bottle design and final application of the bottle.
Some bottle physical characteristics are easier to visualize than describe. For this reason, pictures and illustrations are often used to illustrate some bottle features. If a picture is available for a particular bottle feature, it will appear to the right of its description if you click on it. If you would like to see more pictures for a particular bottle feature, please visit the General Bottle Morphology page.
Applied finish (or lip) – A molded surface on the neck of a bottle that resembles the top of a barrel or the tip of a snifter. The Applied finish is not to be confused with the more commonly encountered sheared finishes on older bottles which were created by cutting a shearing tool into the bottle to remove slivers of finished glass from around the mouth. (Click applied finish for an illustration)
Calabash – A large, gourd or pear shaped bottle popular during the mid 19th century. The name presumably derives from the resemblance of these bottles to the hard shelled fruit of the tropical American “calabash tree” – Crescentia cujete. See the Bottle Shapes typology page for more information on calabash bottles.
Bakelite – An early phenolic thermosetting plastic invented in 1927 (Berge 1980). This was the first plastic to be used for bottle closures but was also used on thousands of other items such as billiard balls, phonograph records and telephone and radio cases.
Dimple – A molded depression or hole on the bottle neck into which the lever wire of a toggle closure device is hooked. It is also called a yoke or a bail. Click Dimple to view a picture of this bottle feature.