Package Design Trivia: Why Soda Bottles Used to Have Round B

On Etsy and antiques retail websites, you can find glass bottles for sale that look like this:

在Etsy和古董零售网站上，你可以找到这样的玻璃瓶销售：

Image:

Vintage Arts

图片来源：

Vintage Arts

Image:

Vintage Arts

图片来源：Vintage Arts

These are handblown glass soda bottles, typically from the 1800s. As you can see, the bases are round, and that's not a manufacturing limitation, but a design decision. These bottles were purposely designed to

not

be able to stand.

这些是手工吹制的玻璃汽水瓶，通常来自19世纪。正如你所看到的，底座是圆的，这不是制造限制，而是设计决定。这些瓶子是故意设计成

不能

站立的。

Image:

86home

图片来源：

86home

The reason is because at the time, bottles were all sealed with corks. Corks tend to dry out and shrink over time. With carbonated beverages, that's a problem; as the cork shrinks it becomes looser, and the built-up carbonation in the bottle can then cause the cork to pop right out, causing a major headache for the shipper or stockist.

原因是因为当时，瓶子都是用软木塞密封的。软木塞往往会随着时间的推移而变干和收缩。对于碳酸饮料来说，这是一个问题;随着软木塞收缩，它变得越来越松，瓶子里积累的碳酸盐会导致软木塞直接弹出，给发货人或存货商带来很大的麻烦。

Image:

86home

图片来源：

86home

As a result, these bottles were designed to only ever be stored on their sides, which would keep liquid in constant contact with the cork, which would prevent the cork from drying out.

因此，这些瓶子被设计成只能侧着存放，这将使液体与软木塞保持持续接触，从而防止软木塞干燥。

In 1892 American mechanical engineer William Painter invented the crown-style bottlecap we know today:

1892年，美国机械工程师William Painter发明了我们今天所知的皇冠式瓶盖：

Image: KMJ,

CC BY-SA 3.0

图片：KMJ，

CC BY-SA 3.0

As Painter's invention gained popularity, round-bottom bottles went away, and at last soda bottles could stand.

随着画家的发明越来越受欢迎，圆底瓶消失了，汽水瓶终于可以站立了。