
IN 1970, I WAS FOURTEEN YEARS OLD. In those days, if a person wanted to get somewhere, they walked. The Schmidt Brewery was always
fascinating, with its wildwoods mural and real trickling brook.
Landscaped trees were lovingly tended within a tiny wooded triangle
on the brewery grounds in the middle of urban Saint Paul. That
was nice and all, but it was the giant beer bottle that really piqued
my interest. Towering two stories tall, it was to a small person such
as myself one of the wonders of the world. Sometimes with friends,
sometimes alone, I’d climb up into the bottle. The beer bottle was
a hollow shell with two shelves inside that could hold one or two
small people. It was the perfect getaway. In those days, it was open
to the passerby, not chained in like today. Wedged against it, like
two giant wings, stretched giant billboards on either side called
out to who-knew-who to buy the best beer around.
Inside the beer bottle was a place to percolate one’s imagination.
I could imagine being a message in a bottle, bobbing along the
wide, rough sea. Next, I was a salty pirate, walking the billboard
plank, or a magical genie ready to grant a wish, or . . .
“Hey you, kid! Get out of that bottle!” a man screamed as
he shook his meaty fist from the bottle-house entrance.
He shook his fist with exasperation, as if he had to do this
several times a week. Scrambling down the bottle, walking
along the planks of the billboard shelf, and jumping
to safe ground, I knew I’d come again someday soon.
The giant beer bottle stands as a reminder of the
old days, a monument to West Seventh Schmidt
beer, bottlers, and blue collars. Now I may
not be living near the bottle,
but I’m close enough so
that if I close my eyes,
my imagination will
take me back to
those hot summer
days so
long ago . . .
Story: DEBORAH COSTANDINE is a visual artist whose heart has never left the West Seventh Street area. Deborah has a BA from Metropolitan State University in experiential creativity and an MA from Adler Graduate School in counseling and psychotherapy. She is a practicing Adlerian psychotherapist and an art therapist. She loves to collaborate with people of all ages, using art materials in her practice to promote health and healing.

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