Catsup Bottle Festival and WLCoWSVoWLT

Yes, that acronym is a mouthful, and what it stands for is even more mind-blowing. Erika Nelson, curator of the World's Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things Traveling Roadside Attraction and Museum visited the Catsup Bottle Festival in Collinsville, IL last weekend to display her stupendous collection and show off her art car. Courtney took off work for the catsup but I was there for the WLCoWSVoWLT.



Erika painted that herself. You can buy postcards and prints (and all kinds of other cool stuff!) at worldslargestthings.com.



Speaking of a mouthful, this here is the Rotate-O-Matic Whirlwind Wonderhouse of World's Largest Things (Seriously, I love everything about this entire concept. LOVE IT. Erika is living the dream. You should buy things from her. Perhaps you'd like to start with the World's Largest Challenger Ball Stater Kit?)













We got to see the Cereal Killer freak show, too. Pictures can't do Erika's performance justice, and I thought about leaving them out so that you would have to seek out WLCoWSVoWLT on the road, but I am overruled by Keith. Speaking of which, he doesn't like for me to shine the light on him, but I never even took my camera out of my pocket on this trip. If you've been reading for awhile you have probably already figured out that the good pictures are his.



BEHOLD! CEREAL FREAKS OF NATURE!







A few pictures of the WLCoWSVoWLT Art Car:







So the other reason we were in Collinsville last weekend was for the Catsup Bottle Festival, a birthday party for the World's Largest Catsup Bottle. Yes, I know this is America and we say ketchup, but this is Brooks Catsup Bottle so it's catsup today. Even though Brooks has since started spelling it ketchup. Get over it.



Courtney loves catsup. Girlfriend can eat some catsup like no one I've ever seen. Like I said, she took off work for this. However, she failed the Brooks taste test. We're Heinz people over in Missouri. I'm not much of a catsup person myself, but I hear Brooks is spicier than average (it's the tangy-est!)



Funny story, though: the food booth where we got hot dogs had Heinz on their condiment table and the girls in front of me in line were offended. They actually went over to the taste test booth to get Brooks.



Some facts about the World's Largest Catsup Bottle: The bottle itself is 70' tall on a 100' base. It was built as a water tower for the plant in 1949, and holds 100,000 gallons of water. It was saved from demolition and renovated in 1995 thanks to the Catsup Bottle Preservation Group, and in 2002 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.



There was also a Princess Tomato and Sir Catsup pageant. I expected it to be more pageant-y, but this one is just for fun. Each kid had to tell a catsup fact and perform a talent. Most of them sang a song.



Next up, the Hot Dog Eating Contest. Possibly the most boring Hot Dog Eating Contest ever. Sorry, dudes, but six hot dogs in four minutes? Kobayashi wept. Of course, you know what that means: a perfect opportunity for the CC&G Action Cam!


(disclaimer: Courtney would not actually steal children. Thanks to Robbie for the video!)



And finally, one for the locals: It's the dogs from Insta Credit Auto Mart! You want to say Buckley, but the current dogs are Buckey J and Baxter K.



The Catsup Bottle Festival is held every year in July, but you can see the Catsup Bottle itself any day of the year at 8000 South Morrison Ave in Collinsville, IL.