Advanced Search 
Ketchup container
designed about 1952; made about 1952-63
Object Place: New York, New York
Medium/Technique
Polyethylene (plastic)
Dimensions
Height x width: 4 1/4 x 3 3/4 in. (10.8 x 9.5 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Barbara McLean Ward and Gerald W. R. Ward
Accession Number2010.745
CollectionsContemporary Art, Americas
ClassificationsPlastics
As with so many shelf-stable pantry items developed in the 1950s, this ketchup container is fashioned of man-made or synthetic materials. In this case, they demonstrate a once novel design: flexible, squeezable plastic. This bright molded tomato, designed to house ketchup of any brand or variety, brings its contents to life with its round, ripe invitation to pick it up and squish its innards onto your plate.
Marks
Molded into base: "SQUEEZIT / CORP. / MORRIS HEIGHTS 53, N.Y.C. / PAT / PEND." Other markings on base: "10" and a "P" in a square surrounded by a circle.
ProvenanceBy 2010, owned by A Well Kept Secret Antiques, Kingston, NH; 2010, purchased by Barbara M. and Gerald W. R. Ward, Portsmouth, NH; 2010, given to the MFA by the Wards