A bottle is a vessel for holding liquids including water, beer, soda, and other beverages. In general bottles are made of glass or other plastics but metal can also be used. Often the bottle has a narrow neck and a wider body for holding the product inside of it.
Bottles have been used to carry a wide variety of products for hundreds of years. Traditionally the bottle shape and style were closely associated with a specific product or even product category such as “beer” or “soda”. This was due to the practice of “form follows function” where the bottle design matched or at least closely resembled the shape or form of the container it contained.
The bottle shape was the main factor for this association as the overall look of the bottle is the first thing a consumer notices and recognizes as that particular product’s bottle. For example, a tall and thin short-necked bottle was often seen as a beer bottle in the past despite the fact it could have held other types of liquids. There are many exceptions to this rule and many “standard” bottle shapes have a much broader range of potential product usage than others, but in general it is true that bottle shapes are highly connected to the original product they contained.
Most bottles were embossed with the product name or type when the bottle was new, so it is possible to know what a specific bottle originally contained. This is especially true for bottles that were produced in large quantities (such as the more common varieties of soda and beer). However, when a bottle was not embossed or otherwise labeled, it can be difficult to determine what the original contents may have been. This is where bottle “typing” or “diagnostics” can be very helpful.
While bottle “typing” is not an exact science and there is a certain amount of subjective judgment involved in determining a bottle’s bottle type, it can be very helpful for someone trying to identify what a specific bottle may have been used for. These morphology pages provide details about the various bottle parts and their relationships to each other that can be very helpful in determining a bottle’s most likely original use or purpose.
Several states have passed bottle laws which require manufacturers to sell beverages in environmentally friendly containers. This helps reduce waste and also makes sure the consumers are getting a beverage that is actually safe for them to drink. In addition, the aluminum in the bottle is recycled and can be used again. This is important because the world’s natural resources are limited and it is best to not use them up too quickly. Using aluminum for bottles is more efficient than using other materials such as paper or cardboard because these materials can degrade over time and contaminate the environment. It is also a better alternative to plastic bottles because of the potential health risks to humans and marine life from the chemicals in the plastics.