Comments on: Ketchup Pump-It

By: Darillyn

Darillyn — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 19:13:19 +0000

My father, Harris Posey, manufactured, promoted and sold a “ketchup pump” in 1947 in the Los Angeles area. It was not successful as he did not have the venture capital to properly handle the mass manufacturing. I do not believe he was responsible for the invention nor do I believe he was ever involved in a patent application. The only point I make is that there is nothing new under the sun, and Mr Bachellor likely capitalized on an earlier idea.

By: Toronto

Toronto — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 19:11:33 +0000

The excitement we lost from moving away from the ’smack and thwop’ of the ketchup bottle has been replaced by the half-litre of relish you get from the pumps on the side of the local hot-dog trucks in cold weather. (They have a 1.5 cm/ .75″ nozzle to handle the thicker contents, but they don’t handle freezing well.)

By: Dawn

Dawn — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 17:08:41 +0000

Since no one else said it: a pump takes all the fun out of hearing the loud smack on the bottom of the bottle

By: Alan J. Richer

Alan J. Richer — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 16:42:56 +0000

Re: R&D: The other trick here is a small cheap pump that can handle the viscosity of ketchup. Ketchup, hand lotion and things like that have all of the vices and none of the virtues of a liquid – they cavitate (pump and the goop doesn;t fill in – it just opens up a cavity), don’t flow well and forcing them through a narrow tube just plain sucks from a pressure standpoint.

More power to ‘im…he did well.

By: StanFlouride

StanFlouride — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 15:35:00 +0000

It appears as if he not only got a patent, he took the next step which is to start manufacture before a big corporation has a chance to rip you off.
I think a similar pump may have existed before this, for instance an oil can hand-pump, but a simpler, inexpensive, and food-safe one had not.
I have 3 bottles on my counter of the sort Charlie describes: for catsup, mustard, and honey. They’re great, the contents don’t go bad or get moldy, even if not refrigerated (I hate cold catsup on hot food!).
I have thought about how long it took to get to these. I think the self-sealing valve on the little hole is what sets them apart.

By: MrG

MrG — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 13:13:13 +0000

I wonder if this guy actually got the patent on the bottle pump? I must have a half-dozen of these
things around the house — lotion and liquid soap containers for instance. He could have made a
bundle off of it. Cheers — MrG / http://gvgpd.proboards.com

By: Charlie

Charlie — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 12:54:02 +0000

Al Bear: Of course the real solution is to have an upside down plastic bottle, so that you can squeeze it out through a little hole. If you just store it upside down, it goes all over the place.

By: rsterling78

rsterling78 — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 08:32:49 +0000

“He worked out the plans and when he left the hospital he made one pump after the other until he found the perfect answer.”

Exactly how much R&D would be required for this? I have a hard time imagining that this sort of thing hadn’t existed for a long time already by 1951.

By: Al Bear

Al Bear — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 06:42:15 +0000

I also remember the Colgate toothpaste pump from 1985. Yep, it didn’t make it either. How about just turning the ketchupo bottle upside down like they do nowadays? cheaper than having a pump! anbd Glendale CA is just 3 cities away from me! Woo-Hoo! they is some smart peeps in Glendale ;P